A year after LA-area wildfires destroyed thousands of homes, fewer than a dozen have been rebuilt

"On the first anniversary of the most destructive wildfires in the L.A. area, the scant home construction projects stand out among the still mostly flattened landscapes. Fewer than a dozen homes have been rebuilt in Los Angeles County since Jan. 7, 2025, when the Palisades and Eaton fires erupted, killing 31 people and destroying about 13,000 homes and other residential properties."

"The streets of the coastal community of Pacific Palisades and Altadena, a community in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, remain lined with dirt lots. In the seaside city of Malibu, foundations and concrete piles rising out of the sand are all that's left of beachfront homes that once butted against crashing ocean waves. Neighborhoods are pitch black at night, with few streetlamps replaced. Even many homes that survived are not inhabited as families struggle to clear them of the fire's toxic contaminants."

The Jan. 7, 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires killed 31 people and destroyed about 13,000 homes and other residential properties across Los Angeles County. Fewer than a dozen homes have been rebuilt in the county since the fires. Insurance payouts are often inadequate or tied up, leaving many homeowners unable to start reconstruction. Relief organizations are providing assistance, but overall progress remains slow. Some homeowners, like a 67-year-old Altadena resident, liquidated retirement savings and moved quickly to rebuild. Many neighborhoods remain dirt lots or foundations, and surviving homes sit uninhabited while families address toxic contamination.

Read at ABC7 New York