"At 3:20 a.m. on January 8, Steve Gibson and his wife were jolted awake by a phone call: the Eaton fire was approaching their home in Altadena, California, and they had to evacuate. "We left in about 15 minutes," Gibson says. "So we only took our passports, our insurance papers, three pairs of underwear, and our little dog, Cantinflas." They thought that they'd be able to come back within a few hours. But they soon learned that their house-and their entire block-had been destroyed."
"They spent the next few weeks moving from short-term rental to short-term rental, and finally moved into an apartment, though they knew that insurance would only cover the cost temporarily. Then they faced the next challenge: what would it take to rebuild their home? More than 10 months after the L.A. fires, the rebuilding process in the fire zone is painfully slow. In Altadena, where more than 5,000 houses burned in the Eaton fire, only a few hundred are currently being rebuilt."
A pre-dawn phone call on January 8 forced Steve Gibson and his wife to evacuate their Altadena home as the Eaton fire approached. They left with minimal belongings and expected to return quickly, but their house and entire block were destroyed. The couple moved through short-term rentals and into an apartment, aware that insurance would only provide temporary support. More than ten months after the L.A. fires, reconstruction across the fire zone remains slow. In Altadena, over 5,000 houses burned and only a few hundred are being rebuilt. Some homeowners are turning to prefab construction to accelerate recovery.
Read at Fast Company
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