The Eton Fire destroyed something unique, something loved, something even more cherished by death nearly nine months later, the mountains are still scarred and dusty streets crisscrossing the disappearing neighborhoods, a ghost town.
If time does heal all wounds, the clock moves slowly in Altadena, where 9,400 structures are destroyed and 19 lives are lost.
There is no doubt that it will be resurrected. Building permits are grinding slowly through bureaucracy, hammers are swaying, and one day new Altadena will rise from the ashes.
I know a homeowner wants to be in his new house within a month or two. Victoria Knapp of Altadena Town Council told me she knew people sold a lot of people immediately after the fire and now regretted it. Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said the licensing process had been improved and she didn’t feel many people were on bail in Altadena.
But when we headed to Halloween and Thanksgiving and turned the corner the next year, about two-thirds of the property owners have not yet applied for a building permit, and there is widespread frustration, exhaustion and uncertainty.
Those who were working on reconstruction immediately after the destruction are now rethinking because they are tired of the slogan.
“It could be years of living in the building area, which made me wake up in the middle of the night,” said Kelly Etter, who lost the house he lived with his husband and runs a Pilates studio.
“When I go there every week, his home is shocked and needs interior decoration,” said Elisa Nixon. “I find it really sad and frustrating. I think it’s really hard to imagine myself living there. ”
Taylor Feltner lives with his wife at the home of Pasadena, which is damaged by smoke from the edge of Altadena, and he wants to stay in the area because his wife’s Altadena family is a big part of their lives. But they are no longer sure what to do or how to decide.
“We were shaken a lot throughout the process because every time we fought with an insurance company, it was like trauma from that night again and again,” Feltner said.
Aerial view of cleared houses and houses under construction in Altadena this month.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
He and his wife are in their eighth makeshift home since the fire. His mother-in-law wore a mask while gardening in the backyard, and his mother-in-law’s residence survived the fire. Feltner said he and his wife planted fruit trees in their yard, but given the widespread pollution and casual testing when they returned home, whether it was possible to eat fruit safely.
“Now everything is broken,” Feltner said.
I get it, honestly, I don’t know if I can stand what people from the Altadena and Palisades regions are going through. If the problem is not solved in one day, I will be impatient. Firefighter survivors are still in trouble, but they don’t know what it takes for years to turmoil.
Joy Chen, co-founder of Eaton Fire Survivor Network, has been tracking community sentiment for months. The initial “almost provocative” pride, with a T-shirt and property logo, announced that “Altadena is not for sale” but is still hovering. But, the “one dose of reality” has begun.
Chen said that this is what people are sorting out:
How long does it take to get home? Can we afford to rebuild? Will our children be safe considering the lingering pollution? Is the Southern California Edison settlement proposal a reasonable contract or a strategy to avoid larger spending? Will the new Altadena remotely resemble what we like? Will we sleep in an area where we don’t see the last wildfire and the terrifying wind?
Chen said there is a gap between the cost of insurance settlement and reconstruction even for those who can go beyond all of these ways.
“The average is about $300,000, which is a huge obstacle,” Chen said.
Bagh said Edison’s settlement advice could help close the gap for some people. However, the investigation into the fire cause has not been completed, and some lawyers advise clients not to accept what they think is a low ball offer. However, for those who make an offer, it can take years to file a lawsuit in court.
Chen, a former mayor of Los Angeles, has been asking insurance companies to provide fees paid by clients and begging state insurance specialist Ricardo Lara to keep them up. According to nonprofit organizations Angel Department Of the approximately 2,000 insured Eaton and Palisade Firefighters survivors surveyed, 70% said delays, denials and insufficient payments were “actively phased out recovery.”
“These delays and denials are not only devastating to families, but are illegal under California laws,” Chen said. “The job that stops them is Lara’s job. His refusal to act is stopping the whole of Los Angeles from recovering. It has taken decades to build stable families for kids to watch those future futures slip away.”
Litigation is waiting Targeting multiple insurance companies, including Feltner’s operator: Mercury.
“They are fighting us,” Feltner said, filing a complaint against what he calls “toothless” state insurance commission.
For the Altadena family who survived a house with minimal loss, it was not an insurance issue that exhausted their determination. They initially promised to move back, and later sold the house and moved to another area. They asked me to withhold their names for privacy reasons.
“It boils down to risk,” the husband said. The husband is worried about pollution, years of building noise and dust, and it is impossible to know if the new Altadena would be similar to the Altadena that draws them there in the first place.
A logo for a decorative homeowner’s Altadena property.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
“It’s a head decision, not a heart decision,” his wife said. His wife still feels about her home, streets and Altadena. “I don’t think it’s going to go away. Obviously, this trauma is part of us now, but our hearts and memories will be there forever.”
Tim Kawahara, executive director of the UCLA Ziman Real Estate Center, grew up in Altadena, and his mother still lives in a surviving house. He said the reconstruction of Altadena was in its early stages. With thousands of independent projects to drive the licensing process, and a construction labor shortage aggravated by immigration raids, the new Altadena is yet to arrive.
“You’re talking about starting to see some pretty big buildings happening in three years and maybe something happens to some extent. But it can take up to 10 years,” Kawahara said. “It’s not just a house. It’s a school, a park, a library, a police station and infrastructure.”
You might argue that the opportunity to paint a new community on old canvas is exciting. But if you are going to breathe dust, when speculators move in and transfer property, who will be responsible, how much will the homeowner’s insurance cost, and the role and history will survive?
“People are suffering and trying to find their way, and they no longer trust anyone,” Nixon said. “What comes with that is feeling, that’s too much. It’s been hijacking my life and I can tell you. It’s overwhelming, the amount of work required to stay above this goal and keep your life balanced.”
“Having so many unknowns is just incredibly exhausting and limits the ability to enjoy other areas of life,” Ett said. “Connecting with the community, with neighbors and survivors is really a lifeline. There are shared resources, hugs and midnight texts when you’re panicking about anything.”
Over the next few weeks, I will explore different angles of the Eaton Fire Recovery story, so feel free to share your thoughts with me.
What can be done to speed up the process?
What measures should Gavin News and lawmakers take to speed up fair solutions to insurance disputes?
Given climate change and the natural geography that is prone to fire, would you consider moving to Altadena?
In five years, two out of ten, what would Altadena look like?
Who should decide?
Who will decide?
steve.lopez@latimes.com
