LA Podcast - Another Year Smolder

One year ago this week Los Angeles was forever changed by the most destructive natural disaster in the county’s history. Alissa, Mike, and Kate survey the impact of the firestorms, and discuss what year two of recovery looks like for the thousands of Angelenos who are still displaced. Plus LAFD’s after-action report is deemed a “cover up,” and the real story behind the collapse of the state’s insurance system.

Listen at Apple Podcasts, on Think Forward, or almost anywhere you get your podcasts.

SHOW NOTES

Listen to Kate’s Rebuilding LA podcast

Although the death toll for the firestorms is officially 31 — revised up in July when additional remains were found west of Lake Avenue in Altadena — a recent study estimated that up to 440 people died due to the dangers of wildfire smoke

One (1) house has been rebuilt in each burn area, although the completed Palisades home is actually a spec house that was built by a developer with demolition permits that had been approved on the morning of the fires. Additionally, an ADU was completed in November that received the first certificate of occupancy in Altadena

As of mid-December, permits have been issued for 16 percent of the homes destroyed in Altadena and 14 percent of the homes in Pacific Palisades. Even though permitting is starting to pick up survivors are facing challenges like city rebuilding fees 

LAist: “Investors are buying close to half the empty lots in LA burn zones, report says”

Listen to Kate’s conversation with Greenline’s Jasmin Shupper, who is trying to help Black homeowners and business owners hold onto their Altadena properties through land banking and other alternative financing models

Washington Post: “A year later, Altadena fire survivors confront hard choices about housing”

Meanwhile, the Palisades mobile home community is just now getting its debris cleared

The big after-action LAFD report that we talked about last time was described as “watered down,” “highly unprofessional,” and, finally, deemed a “cover up” by fire experts in a bombshell LA Times investigation. And LAFD is also impugned in new text messages that showed questions about the presence of native plants might have impeded the mop up of the Lachman Fire

Listen to Kate’s conversation with Councilmember Traci Park, who told Kate councilmembers are not briefed on deployment: “I certainly don't get a briefing anytime the fire department or LAPD are called into action”

There are allegations that FEMA has been clearing lots sloppily and dumping debris illegally, without enough soil testing. And an absolutely devastating report from the New York Times shows families going back into smoke-damaged homes insurance companies said were fine and finding lead levels 27 times the federal limit 

The LA Times also has an investigation into California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara’s campaign finance and ethical violations and why the state’s insurance system failed so spectacularly

Kate also looked into where the FireAid concert money ended up

Alissa wrote about the failure to create a Resilient Rebuilding Authority for the Los Angeles Review of Architecture

Kate’s spoke with Cal Poly Pomona professor Nicole Lambrou about social infrastructure. Read Lambrou’s Zocalo piece: “How do you rebuild community after wildfire?”

The annual relighting of Altadena’s Christmas Tree Lane and how the majestic deodar cedars may have saved the houses below

This week’s episode was produced by Sophie Bridges

The reporting and analysis you hear in the show is put together by our rotating cast of producers and co-hosts every week. All opinions expressed on the show are solely those of co-hosts and may not represent the views of LA Forward

Our first subscriber-only event will be held in 2026! Become a paid subscriber at thinkforward.la and you’ll be the first to know the details