Latest news with #LAFires
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Big Rock Burning,' Documentary On Devasting L.A. Wildfires, Being Shopped In Cannes
EXCLUSIVE: Buyers in Cannes are getting a look at a documentary on the L.A. wildfires directed by Conscious Contact CEO David Goldblum, a resident of the Big Rock community in Malibu that was devastated by the runaway blazes. Production just wrapped on Big Rock Burning: An Untold Story of the 2025 LA Fires, executive produced by actor Mark Hamill, Oscar-winning director Bryan Fogel (Icarus), Secret Sauce Media founder Julie Parker Benello, Trevor Burgess (The Dating Game, The White House Effect), and Marilou Hamill. More from Deadline L.A. Wildfires: Newsom Sends More National Guard Personnel To LA To Halt Looters, Fires – Update Tenacious 'T': Filmmaker Ondi Timoner And Family Rebound After L.A. Wildfires Destroy Their Homes Iranian Director Saeed Roustaee's 'Woman And Child' Gets 10-Minute Ovation In Cannes Debut 'The film captures the raw aftermath of a harrowing night when residents were left to fend for themselves after officials deemed the area too dangerous to enter,' notes a release. 'With no help coming, neighbors turned into first responders — some fighting back flames with garden hoses, others forced to flee through walls of fire.' Goldblum, who narrowly escaped his own home 'with nothing but his life, began filming within days, determined to preserve the stories of survival, loss, and unanswered questions.' The Palisades Fire erupted January 7 in extreme Santa Ana wind conditions, 'spreading at an unprecedented rate of five football fields per minute,' tearing through Pacific Palisades, and parts of Topanga and Malibu. The Eaton Fire broke out to the east that same night; it took more than three weeks to completely extinguish the wildfires, which destroyed over 60 square miles — an area larger than the city of San Francisco. 'In the weeks leading up to the disaster,' the release states, 'multiple warnings from scientists and fire officials went unheeded. Fire hydrants ran dry. Resources were stretched thin. Communication broke down.' 'People are grieving, but they also want accountability,' Goldblum said in a statement. 'How was a city like Los Angeles so catastrophically unprepared for something we were warned about again and again?' Over two dozen fire-impacted residents contributed to the film, 'offering firsthand accounts of the fire and its aftermath.' Big Rock Burning is being produced by Goldblum and James Costa (The Dating Game, Welcome to Chechnya) through his Bird Street Productions. Co-producers include Jyoti Drummond, Colin Drummond, and Wade Major, who also lost their homes in the fire. Additional funding support was provided by the Around The Table Foundation. Goldblum's recent producing work includes Grassland, executive produced by Common; Sell/Buy/Date, executive produced by Meryl Streep; and Uvalde Mom, which premiered at SXSW. Big Rock Burning is now in post-production and is being fast-tracked for distribution, per producers. 'The documentary explores not only the devastating impact of climate-driven disasters but also the question: what happens when a community is left to burn?' Best of Deadline Every 'The Voice' Winner Since Season 1, Including 9 Team Blake Champions Everything We Know About 'Jurassic World: Rebirth' So Far 'Nine Perfect Strangers' Season 2 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out?
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Autodesk supports pre-approved home designs and AI-powered permitting to accelerate Los Angeles wildfire recovery
With technology, funding, and expertise, Autodesk backs community-led efforts to cut rebuilding costs, speed wildfire recovery, and scale climate-resilient housing across Los Angeles. SAN FRANCISCO, May 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) announced new funding, technology, and support to accelerate rebuilding efforts in wildfire-affected areas of Los Angeles, following this January's devastating fires across the region. Autodesk is partnering with The Foothill Catalog Foundation (TFCF), a nonprofit organization and network of volunteers creating a first-of-its-kind catalog of modular, pre-approved home designs for survivors of fires in the Los Angeles region. The plans provided through TFCF are expected to reduce architectural and permitting costs for survivors—which can often exceed tens of thousands of dollars—by up to 95%. The plans will also help cut permitting timelines—which can take up to a year—down to a matter of weeks. Autodesk is also funding an AI-powered software tool to supercharge the approval of building permits and speed recovery from the LA Fires, in partnership with Governor Gavin Newsom, LA Rises and other companies. "Our technology powers the industries that are rebuilding Los Angeles — from planning, architecture, engineering, and manufacturing to construction," said Andrew Anagnost, President and CEO, Autodesk. "This is about designing and building for resilience—not just to recover from disaster, but to efficiently scale solutions, inspire recovery models everywhere and futureproof our communities." A scalable blueprint for wildfire recoveryWith Autodesk's support, TFCF is enlisting hundreds of volunteer architects, engineers, and students to create home designs tailored to neighborhoods like Altadena. The plans will meet stringent climate resilience standards, including resistance to extreme heat, wildfire, and power outages, while preserving the region's unique architectural character. TFCF is also developing a standardized Revit template to ensure each design meets pre-approval and sustainability requirements from the outset. Architects contributing to the catalog will use tools including BIM Collaborate Pro, as well as tools from the Autodesk AEC Collection, such as Autodesk Forma, to streamline collaboration, provide AI-powered analyses and help deliver more resilient homes to families faster. "This partnership is helping turn our vision into reality at a time when families can't afford to wait," said Alex Athenson, co-founder of The Foothill Catalog Foundation. "With Autodesk's established role as a Design and Make leader and their invaluable resources, we're making sustainable, regionally sensitive home designs more accessible—and creating a pathway for faster, more resilient recovery for communities that need it most." With a focus on design for long-term resilience and sustainability, Autodesk is deepening its commitment to helping communities recover. The company's Design and Make platform is used by AEC industry teams worldwide to reduce waste and lower environmental impacts. These community-centered donations offer real-time solutions to urgent system challenges for those impacted by the fires. About Autodesk: The world's designers, engineers, builders, and creators trust Autodesk to help them design and make anything. From the buildings we live and work in, to the cars we drive and the bridges we drive over. From the products we use and rely on, to the movies and games that inspire us. Autodesk's Design and Make Platform unlocks the power of data to accelerate insights and automate processes, empowering our customers with the technology to create the world around us and deliver better outcomes for their business and the planet. For more information, visit or follow @autodesk. #MakeAnything View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Autodesk, Inc. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Paris Hilton's nonprofit grants $1M to women-owned businesses
Paris Hilton's nonprofit is helping 50 women-owned small businesses affected by the Los Angeles wildfires get back on their feet. Hilton's 11:11 Media Impact, in partnership with is donating $1 million in grants to 50 women-owned businesses. Each business will receive $25,000 each. The grant will help businesses like childcare centers, neighborhood restaurants, florists, fitness studios, boutiques and more. Richard Sherman's family robbed at gunpoint 'Last week, I had the incredible honor of meeting some of the inspiring women whose small businesses were devastated by the LA Fires—and are now getting a second chance,' she wrote on Instagram. 'I personally read every application, and I just want every single one of these women to know: I see you, I believe in you, and I'm so honored to support your journey.' According to L.A. County's Economic Development Corporation more than 1,800 businesses were located in the Eaton and Palisades Fire zones employing thousands and generating nearly $1.5 billion in annual sales. The recovery grants aim to help those businesses rebound. 'Let's keep showing up for women entrepreneurs—because when women thrive, we all thrive,' she continued in her post. 'Full House' star Dave Coulier says he's cancer free In the wake of the fires, the heiress also worked with the Pasadena Humane Society to help reunite families with their pets. Hilton herself lost her Palisades home during the January wildfire. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Jimmy Kimmel presses Adam Schiff on why California can't permanently cut red tape in wake of LA Fires
California Sen. Adam Schiff agreed with Gov. Gavin Newsom's decision to cut red tape and speed up the government's response to rebuilding Los Angeles communities ravaged by wildfires, in an interview Thursday. "This idea that I've been hearing about speeding up the building permits here in California to rebuild faster – why don't we do that all the time?" ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel asked Schiff. "We should do that all the time," Schiff said. "I think, actually, the path back to power for the Democratic Party is to show that we can get s--- done again." Newsom Declares State Of Emergency To 'Fast-track' Wildfire Measures After Trump Attacks Over Previous Blazes Newsom declared a state of emergency on Saturday in an attempt to fast-track wildfire prevention projects. President Donald Trump blasted Newsom's handling of the wildfire response in January. The order suspends certain environmental regulations that would have delayed forest management projects and other wildfire prevention measures. Read On The Fox News App "This year has already seen some of the most destructive wildfires in California history, and we're only in March. Building on unprecedented work cutting red tape and making historic investments – we're taking action with a state of emergency to fast-track critical wildfire projects even more," Newsom said in a statement. Newsom's Free-phone Giveaway To State Business Leaders Paid For By Nonprofit Run By Ex-staffers Schiff's call for California to fast-track environmental cleanup and rebuilding efforts after fires devastated the state comes amid a movement of Newsom and other major Democratic Party political leaders in California making moves to the center. In San Francisco, Mayor Daniel Lurie embraced government efficiency with a memo on Tuesday that directed city employees to return to the office at least four days a week. Lurie has positioned himself as a common-sense Democratic Party leader, with Lurie spokesperson Charles Lutvak saying that "[b]ringing our workers back to the office will make our services more effective and responsive to our residents." "That is what San Franciscans expect and what Mayor Lurie will deliver," Lutvak said in a statement to Fox News Digital. Fox News' Anders Hagstrom and Deirdre Heavy contributed to this report. Original article source: Jimmy Kimmel presses Adam Schiff on why California can't permanently cut red tape in wake of LA Fires
CBS News
18-03-2025
- Business
- CBS News
FAIR PLAN SECRETS: Why California's insurer of last resort is so secretive
Since the LA fires on January 7, much more attention has been put on the California FAIR Plan, the state's fire insurer of last resort. Once thought of as a small, rarely-used backstop, the plan is now one of the largest in the state. Yet, it's also one of the most secretive insurers in California, able to withhold more information than even the private companies that run it. This may not have mattered much when the plan was small and needed little oversight. But new rules passed last September mean that anyone with property insurance will now pay to cover the FAIR plan's debts. "The reason all of us should care is that we're now on the hook, all of us, in case the FAIR Plan runs out of money," said Dave Jones, California's Insurance Commissioner from 2011-2018. The plan did run out of money and, on February 11 , current Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara signed an order authorizing the California FAIR Plan to collect $1 billion from its member companies -- half of which can be passed on to ratepayers. A CBS News California review of public records and data found: Often misidentified as a "state-run" plan, the California FAIR Plan has only a loose connection to the government. It operates as an independent non-profit and is run by a "Governing Committee" mostly consisting of people from the insurance industry. In most years, the plan operates like any other by collecting premiums from customers and paying claims from its revenue and reserves. But, when times are good and the plan runs a surplus, the committee can decide to "disburse" some of those funds back to the member companies like in a stock dividend. If the plan runs out of money, it can request additional funds from its member companies in what's called an "assessment," as it did last month. The last time the plan issued a disbursement was in 2017, right before the historic Tubbs and Thomas fires. At that time, the plan was still small and not yet a major player in fire insurance. "The FAIR Plan used to be an insurance policy mostly in urban areas that would cover your mortgage," said Michael Wara, who researches climate and energy policy at Stanford University. He said the original purpose was never to cover fire catastrophes but to cover inner city homes that had trouble finding coverage after the Watts riots in 1965. California is one of about 30 states nationwide that have FAIR plans. Each has its own rules and governing structure. Sometime after 2017, said Wara, the FAIR Plan began to transform into something different. "It's been changed into something that's much more like a normal insurance policy that will allow you to rebuild after a catastrophe," he said. A spate of non-renewals by major insurers, including State Farm and Farmers , fueled the FAIR Plan's rapid growth. According to the latest data, the California FAIR Plan is the sixth largest in the state and is on track to grow even larger. Just a few months before the LA Fires in January, Helen Meisel in the Pacific Palisades received a strange letter from State Farm, her home insurer. As she feared, it was a notice of non-renewal -- but only partially. "Fortunately," the letter read, "State Farm is keeping your policy, but will exclude fire insurance." Now she had two policies: The California FAIR Plan for fire and State Farm for everything else. She said the total cost was more than $6,000. "I'm paying two policies," she said, "more than double what I was paying before." Along with its unique status as the insurer of "last resort," the California FAIR Plan also enjoys protection from Prop 103 , the main law governing California's notoriously strict insurance regulation. While most every other private insurer in the state must publish regular financial statements, as well as detailed justifications for its rate increases, the California FAIR Plan discloses only the rate filings. That means the details of how much money it has and how it spends it are effectively secret to the public unless the plan chooses to disclose. Unlike similar plans around the country, such as the Florida Citizen's Plan, the California FAIR Plan's governing meetings and minutes are not public. The plan won't even reveal the names of the governing committee members. "I'm a pretty well-known insurance consumer advocate," said Amy Bach, Executive Director of United Policyholders . "People say to me, Amy, who's on the FAIR Plan governing board? I can't find that information out. Like, it's not public." Jones -- California's former insurance commissioner -- recalled that he tried to send a deputy to attend the FAIR Plan meetings. But when his deputy arrived, the FAIR Governing Committee went into a closed-door "executive session." "He showed up, they convened the meeting, and then they went to executive session and left the meeting," said Jones. Lara, the current insurance commissioner, is backing a bill that would add two representatives from the legislature to the committee. But it's not clear how much that would increase transparency if those members are excluded from any real decision-making just as Jones' representative was. While the FAIR Plan posts some select data and statistics online , its board chooses what to disclose and when. Prior to the LA fires, the last time the California FAIR Plan disclosed significant financial information was before the California State Assembly Insurance Committee more than a year ago. President Victoria Roach verbally described the plan's cash flow and reinsurance structure -- leading Representative Jim Wood to remark , "If this were on Wall Street, I'm not sure you'd be able to get away with this." The latest FAIR Plan bylaws seem designed to increase transparency on this front. The plan would be required to issue new reports that include details such as policy counts and total written premiums in distressed areas. However, this all resembles the data currently available on the FAIR Plan's website and fails to include any data about surplus cash or reinsurance. Insurance companies take out their own insurance to help manage particularly large disasters such as the LA fires. In 2022, a Department of Insurance audit found that the California FAIR Plan carried far less reinsurance than comparable plans in other states. Experts told CBS News that this leaves the FAIR Plan significantly more exposed to big disasters. "What that tells you is the FAIR plan is banking on the ability to assess," said Wara. "They're not charging the high-risk people enough, and the plan is to just assess on everybody else." The department's audit had a similar conclusion: "The FAIR Plan believes that its reinsurance needs are much different than a traditional market insurer since it can assess its insurance company members to fund liquidity needs." Prior to the latest rule changes, an assessment would have been a relatively private affair between the FAIR Plan and the insurance industry. But now, every ratepayer in the state is paying as well. For Rex Frazier, a lobbyist for the insurance industry, a lot of this amounts to growing pains. "Right now, this is a private organization that has come into prominence and is growing in an obviously haphazard way," said Frazier. When asked whether he thought the public should be privy to its meetings and financial statements now that the public is on the hook, he replied, "You can understand how someone would have that opinion. But that's not the law today."
