The Eaton fire devastated Altadena’s hillsides, homes and hearts alike, and more than nine months later, rebuilding still feels painfully slow. I speak with survivors daily and one truth is clear: recovery isn’t stalled because of a lack of will, but because the system is strained under the weight of complex and unfair practices.
Successfully rebuilding Altadena rests on two essential pillars: money — the financial resources survivors need to rebuild — and an efficient, effective and accessible rebuilding ecosystem that allows them to move forward once ready. When either pillar weakens, recovery falters.
A recent study by UCLA’s Latino Policy & Politics Institute analyzed the first seven months after the fire and found that one in four homeowners remain stuck mid-application, unable to advance to the next phase of rebuilding. The study identified financial constraints as the biggest obstacle. Many residents lack the funds to cover design and construction costs while simultaneously paying for temporary housing and living expenses. My office waived all county permitting fees for Eaton fire survivors to remove one financial burden, but larger barriers remain. Underinsured homeowners face steep obstacles, and even those with adequate coverage are being terribly failed by insurance companies. Too many families are still waiting for payouts, delayed or disputed, leaving them stranded. Insurance companies must do better and be held accountable for the harm their delays are causing.
The second pillar—the rebuilding ecosystem—is where the county must lead.
According to Los Angeles County’s Rebuilding and Permitting Progress Dashboard, more than 2,100 rebuild applications have been submitted, yet only 28% have received building permits and just 251 homes are actively being rebuilt. The largest drop-off occurs between when people submit their full building plans and when the county issues permits. These numbers are more than statistics. They represent hundreds of families still displaced, waiting to restart their lives.
I’ve made it clear to our county departments that, despite efforts to streamline the rebuilding process, gaps remain and must be closed. We need to pinpoint the causes of delays, communicate clearly with applicants and ensure every step of the system is truly responsive.
Many survivors, faced with high local demand, have had to hire architects, engineers and builders from outside Los Angeles County or even out of state. While these professionals are skilled, their unfamiliarity with local permitting requirements causes unnecessary slowdowns and costly plan revisions. At the same time, the shortage of qualified local experts has left existing professionals overextended, straining their ability to meet survivors’ needs. These delays leave survivors in limbo and slow our community’s overall recovery.
Rebuilding Altadena cannot succeed through government alone. The private sector — architects, engineers, builders and insurers — are vital partners. They can accelerate recovery by coming to the table with scalable solutions that honor Altadena’s rich history while efficiently helping survivors rebuild. I’m calling on the entire building community to work with the community as a public service. We need qualified experts to meet the incredible demand. Every home restored is a family returning, a neighborhood revived and a community’s faith renewed.
I’m also calling for collaboration: partnerships between design professionals and county permitting departments that build knowledge locally, shared mentoring and case management networks to guide survivors through plan submissions, and rebuild alliances that pool expertise, resources and economies of scale to accelerate progress.
My action plan is unwavering: push insurers to pay what is owed, hold County departments and systems accountable for timely reviews and call on private-sector partners to treat recovery as a humanitarian mission. Altadena’s residents have already proven their resilience. Now, it’s time for the institutions around them, both public and private, to meet that same standard.
Kathryn Barger represents the 5th District of Los Angeles County, which includes Altadena, on the Board of Supervisors.