A year after the deadly January wildfires, we’ve reached out to elected leaders in the Palisades and Eaton footprints, inviting them to weigh in on the past few months.
We were curious about their challenges, their attempts to respond and, in the end, what they learned during the year.
Many in their constituencies were displaced by the unprecedented Jan. 7 disasters, and many have demanded accountability from government over the causes and the responses.
We presented each with the same array of questions. They share their perspectives in this “one-year wildfire anniversary Q&A ’round-table.”
1) It’s been one year since the Palisades/Eaton fires. What is your biggest lesson learned in this tragedy and recovery and how do you plan to put that lesson into practice as the area recovers?
2) The rebuild itself is moving at varying speeds, too slow for many. Many leaders have promised to cut the red tape. But concern remains over bottlenecks and the pace. Many are concerned about underinsurance, outside investors coming in, proper compensation and environmental issues. What do you say to these concerns? How do you plan to counter these issues in your role?
3) What was your most humbling moment over the past year? And what was the biggest triumph you’ve seen over the past year? What have you learned from them?
Kathryn Barger, L.A. County Supervisor, 5th District (Includes Altadena, Sierra Madre and Pasadena)
1. The biggest lesson is the importance of emergency preparedness—at both the personal and systems level. The Eaton fire reached deep into Altadena, far beyond the foothills, and outpaced everyone.
With hurricane-force winds and extreme dryness, our first responders were stretched beyond their limits.
While we can’t control extreme weather, we can control how prepared we are. That’s why I’m prioritizing strengthening our emergency preparedness, response, and recovery systems by investing in the County’s Office of Emergency Management.
As Altadena rebuilds, we’re also guiding residents to incorporate fire-resistant materials and landscaping into new homes. Preparedness must be part of how we live, build, and respond. That’s how Altadena will emerge stronger and more resilient.
2. Recovery never moves fast enough for those who’ve lost so much.
I stand tall knowing that Los Angeles County has dramatically streamlined its permitting process. The permit approval process that, before the Eaton fire, took up to six months now averages about 30 business days—meeting the goal I set at the outset of recovery.
That progress matters, but I’m also candid about the challenges that remain. The biggest is financing recovery. In this nation, disaster recovery has always relied on a patchwork of federal, state, local, philanthropic, private and nonprofit resources.
My role is to keep survivors’ needs front and center and to relentlessly pursue funding. A major recent milestone was establishing an Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District to reinvest local property tax revenues directly into Altadena’s infrastructure recovery. It’s an example of using both proven and innovative fiscal tools to ensure Altadena can rebuild.
3. My most humbling moment came on January 8, when I visited the emergency shelter operated by the American Red Cross at the Pasadena Convention Center.
I wanted to hear directly from survivors and what I encountered were raw, overwhelming emotions—grief, fear, anger, confusion, and shock. Families had lost homes, memories, and a sense of stability overnight. Meeting with them, listening to their stories, and witnessing their pain was something I will never forget. Those conversations became my fuel.
They created an urgency that has guided every decision I’ve made since that day. Recovery stopped being abstract and became deeply personal. That moment reinforced my responsibility to act decisively and compassionately to help Eaton Fire survivors rebuild and heal.
I see triumph in the small, meaningful victories that happen every day. The sound of hammering as I drive by a block where a house frame is being erected brings me joy. The signs posted on front lawns affirming residents’ resolve to recover and stay in Altadena is powerful. Visiting the first rebuilt homes in the Eaton fire footprint was also incredibly moving.
Meeting the Dysons in West Altadena as they received their certificate of occupancy. Seeing the joy in survivor Ted Koerner’s face, who rebuilt his house as quickly as possible so his 13-year-old dog Daisy May could return home. These moments will forever stay with me. They remind me that recovery isn’t a single moment. It’s steady progress, one family and one house at a time.
Lindsey Horvath, L.A. County Supervisor, 3rd District (Includes the Palisades)
1. The biggest lesson I’ve learned is how essential everyone’s participation is — in emergency preparedness, in response, and in community recovery.
We all have a role to play. That means knowing your evacuation routes, having a go-bag ready, and checking on your neighbors, especially those with mobility or access needs. We’ve been hosting preparedness events for years, and we’ve continued them throughout the fall. We’re not stopping — preparedness is a 24/7, year-round commitment, and I am fully dedicated to it.
At the County level, this tragedy also made it clear that we need a stronger, better-resourced Office of Emergency Management.
We are actively building that capacity now so we can respond quickly and effectively to whatever threats come our way in a county of 10 million people. Putting these lessons into action is how we ensure our communities are safer and more resilient moving forward.
2. These concerns are real, and I take them seriously. That’s why we have waived permit fees, created one-stop permit centers, and are using AI and predictive modeling to accelerate permitting and staffing. But I also know many residents are facing difficult decisions — especially those who are underinsured, contending with challenging terrain in the Santa Monica Mountains, or navigating issues like geological studies and modernizing infrastructure along PCH.
While the cities of Los Angeles and Malibu will lead rebuilding efforts in their respective jurisdictions, LA County will lead in our unincorporated communities of Sunset Mesa, Topanga, and the Santa Monica Mountains. My job is to make sure we rebuild safely, quickly, and resiliently – and that we meet people where they are in their recovery journey. That means eliminating bottlenecks, pushing for fair compensation, protecting communities from predatory investors, and ensuring our rebuild is resilient for the long term. We won’t stop until every family has the chance to return home.
3. It has been extraordinary to witness fire survivors — people who have lost everything — step up to support their neighbors.
In the midst of absolute heartbreak, Angelenos have turned toward one another and shown the very best of who we are. This unwavering resolve and compassion are powerful proof that our community will not only recover, but come back stronger.
Karen Bass, L.A. Mayor
1. The Palisades Fire was one of the worst disasters Los Angeles has ever experienced, and I remain devastated for every family that can’t return home, especially as we approach the holidays.
I learned early on in my tenure as Mayor how critical it is to cut red tape and streamline processes at City Hall. During my first week in office, I issued Executive Directive 1 to dramatically accelerate the building of affordable housing. Under ED1, City approval processes were significantly reduced for affordable housing projects. As a result, we have more than doubled the number of affordable housing units in the pipeline.
I’ve acted with that same urgency to clear hurdles in Pacific Palisades, issuing 12 executive actions aimed at expediting the recovery. As a result, Palisades rebuilding plans are being approved in half the time compared to single-family home projects before the wildfires, and more than 70% of home permit clearances are no longer required. Families deserve the full support of the City to clear barriers in the rebuilding process. I will continue taking action to make it easier for families to rebuild.
2. Due to executive action, Palisades rebuilding plans are being approved in half the time compared to single-family home projects before the wildfires, and more than 70% of home permit clearances are no longer required.
While rebuilding is underway, one of the biggest hurdles residents continue to face is dealing with delays and underpayments from the core institution meant to help people recover: the insurance industry. Financial barriers like these should not serve as a hindrance to residents’ ability to rebuild. As the recovery moves forward, I will continue to strongly advocate for reforms to strengthen consumer protections and accelerate recovery for wildfire survivors.
I’ve also urged banks and mortgage servicers to voluntarily extend mortgage payment relief for homeowners, and I took executive action in April 2025 to suspend the collection of permit and plan check fees associated with the repair or reconstruction of homes. I will continue to advocate for a fee waiver ordinance to be approved by Council to provide this critical relief.
3. No matter what, every day that families can’t return home is a day too long. I remain focused on working with all levels of government, the private sector, philanthropy, and the community to get families home as quickly as possible.
Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, Congress
1. One of the biggest lessons of the Eaton Fire is that our emergency response systems were not up to the task of responding to such widespread, fast-moving fires.
After the fire, we learned that west Altadena residents did not receive evacuation orders until nine hours after the fire began, a delay that cost lives. It’s why I called for an independent investigation and for our local, state, and federal authorities to take all necessary steps to ensure that we will be prepared for the next disaster so such a failure never happens again.
Another lesson reinforced by the deadly Eaton and Palisades fires is that recovery does not end when the flames are out, and that listening to survivors must guide every step forward.
From the very beginning of the fires, I knew that our responsibility would extend far beyond the immediate emergency response. While the first priority was safety, shelter, and disaster aid, experience has shown that the most difficult part of recovery often comes later.
As weeks turned into months, families were still grappling with toxic contamination in soil, water, and homes that were left standing, insurance delays, rising rebuilding costs, and federal programs that were never designed for the scale and complexity of today’s wildfires. For many residents, the long-term impacts were just as disruptive as the fires themselves.
That understanding shaped how I approached recovery from day one. I worked to turn those lessons into concrete action, from introducing the Mortgage Relief for Disaster Survivors Act to stop penalties and provide forbearance for homeowners, to advancing the Federal Disaster Housing Stability Act so families are protected from eviction and foreclosure while they recover. I also authored the bipartisan Filing Relief for Natural Disasters Act, which is now law and allows tax deadlines to be extended immediately after a disaster so families can focus on rebuilding instead of worrying about penalties.
I have also pressed FEMA to expand housing assistance, called for comprehensive soil and indoor contamination testing, and urged stronger cleanup and clearance standards so families are not forced back into unsafe homes. Since January 7, I’ve worked to stay closely connected to residents and agencies alike, so the recovery reflects what people are actually facing on the ground. Recovery at this scale requires sustained leadership and follow-through, and I will continue putting that lesson into practice for as long as it takes for our communities to fully recover.
2. I understand these concerns, and I share them. While I am encouraged that roughly 2,500 households have begun rebuilding, from design to laying foundations, I remain concerned about the 3,500 households that still haven’t been able to start the rebuilding process, often because they’re underinsured or uninsured or because rising costs have made rebuilding financially impossible.
We are also seeing serious cost pressures that are outside the control of survivors. Construction prices are spiking, and those increases are directly slowing recovery. One of my constituents recently told me her window estimate shot up by $20,000 because of President Trump’s tariffs. Costs like that slow rebuilding and widen the financial strain for survivors trying to rebuild their lives.
That is why federal action is essential, and why it is so frustrating that nearly a year after the fires, President Trump still has yet to send a request to Congress to act on Governor Newsom’s disaster supplemental request. But I am hopeful that we can get this aid across the finish line to provide much needed federal relief to my constituents and Californians statewide. But Californians can’t afford to wait any longer.
That’s also why I will soon be introducing the Disaster Survivors Tax Relief and Recovery Act, which would codify the tax provisions of the Governor’s request. This bill contains a number of critical provisions to ensure Californians have what they need to recover, rebuild, and heal. The most important one extends the tax exemptions for settlements by wildfire survivors to 2035.
Currently, Southern California Edison has begun offering settlements, but if this bill does not pass, the tax exemptions for such settlements will expire at the end of 2025, and survivors will lose out on money that they desperately need. In addition, this bill removes penalties on retirement withdrawals for disaster survivors of up to $100,000, and provides an infusion of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits in disaster areas to spur housing construction,
My focus is making sure no survivor is left behind because of insurance gaps, rising costs, or bureaucratic delays. I’ll keep fighting for the support and policy changes our community needs to fully recover.
3. One of the most humbling moments for me this past year was hearing directly from residents in Altadena and Pasadena who were facing cascading crises long after the fires — people who had survived the fires but were at risk of losing everything because systems failed them.
There is one moment that stays with me. At a resource event in Altadena hosted by Heavenly Hughes of My Tribe Rise, an elderly wildfire survivor told me her story. She was so anxious and downright desperate, facing the loss of her home because of a reverse mortgage crisis triggered by the disaster.
I ensured her that my office would take action. We followed up relentlessly with the mortgage company, and finally, we were able to ensure that she could stay in her home. That experience was humbling because it underscored how fragile stability can be after a disaster, and how life-changing it can be when government actually intervenes on behalf of people, rather than leaving them to navigate corporate systems alone.
I heard similar stories again and again: families paying mortgages on homes filled with toxic debris, seniors terrified of foreclosure, survivors trapped in insurance limbo, and residents who were grieving loved ones lost because evacuation systems failed them. Those stories reinforced how recovery is also about protecting people from being pushed out or left behind when they are most vulnerable.
And the biggest triumph I’ve seen has been what happens when those stories lead to action. I’ve seen residents organize, advocate, and refuse to be invisible, and I’ve seen real progress when government meets that determination. Whether it’s keeping a family in their home, pushing federal agencies to address toxic contamination, or advancing legislation to provide mortgage relief and housing stability, those wins matter because they restore dignity and security.
What I’ve learned is that humility means listening closely and acting decisively. Those lessons continue to guide my work as recovery moves forward.
Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, Congress (District includes the Palisades)
1. I think the biggest lesson we all learned from this tragedy is that the risk of wildfire is extreme and no longer confined to the areas we think of as wild, but even our suburban neighborhoods. It’s not an entirely new lesson, as the Woolsey fire and others in Northern California were also devastating, but there’s no doubt the losses experienced this year are on an entirely new magnitude.
And the “Alphabet Streets” in the Palisades for example, which were wiped out, could have been any suburban neighborhood in California. We have to have vegetation policies which harden our communities and the wild-urbaninterface. We have to take brush clearance seriously both in our neighborhoods but alsoin the mountains and forests that surround us. And we have to take climate changeseriously, because it has created a circumstance where the brush is dryer and the fireseason is now year-round.
2. The concerns of residents are well-founded and deserve serious attention. While insurance is largely regulated by the state and local governments must expedite building permits, only the federal government can supplement California’s budget with the tens of billions needed for full recovery.
Through actions initiated by the outgoing Biden administration, several billion dollars in federal assistance has already been delivered to California. About 35,000 households have received FEMA assistance, and more than 12,500 low-cost SBA loans totaling over $3 billion have been approved. Still, more must be done.
That is why I worked closely with Governor Newsom to prepare a federal funding request focused on unmet needs, particularly direct disaster grants for residents facing uninsured losses. I have pressed this case from the earliest days of the fire—to President Trump, his cabinet, and colleagues from across the country—and remain committed to securing a federal response that matches the scale of the need.
3. Walking through the charred remains of vehicles that had been queued up to evacuate was a particularly humbling experience and speaks to the importance of having and improving evacuation plans.
The speed at which the Army Corps of Engineers (and the EPA before them) removed debris was a powerful testament to the resources the federal government can bring to bear.
It’s also a reminder that if the government could move so quickly to overcome such logistical and engineering challenges, there’s no reason – besides the usual partisan politics that I am working to overcome – why we can’t find a way to help homeowners and businesses recover financially.