US Sen. Adam Schiff meets with local leaders in Eaton fire burn zone

U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., toured a rain-soaked Altadena on Friday, gathering with local leaders for an update on local conditions, as the one-year anniversary of the Eaton fire looms on the horizon.

Schiff’s tour converged at the Eaton Fire Collaborative Center, where he meet with local officials to learn about the support being provided to the area in the wake of the Eaton fire.

He would also find updates on challenges the community continues to face in the recovery and rebuilding process.

Exhibit A: rebuilding.

Schiff acknowledged the widespread, challenging effort to rebuild a community trying to rebuild after more than 60% of it was destroyed.

“It’s really an extraordinary coming together of the community to facilitate the healing and the rebuilding process,” he said, noting too the weather, which had residents and workers in the area on guard for being evacuated due to potential flooding. “A lot of hard work remains to be done.

“We’re all very much mindful of the continued risk to people,” he said. “We want everyone to stay focused on whatever alerts go out.”

An array of local leaders were there to meet with Schiff, including Town Council President Victoria Knapp and Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena.

Knapp told Schiff that by the end of the year, 400 burned (and cleared) lots will have been sold, based on current trajectories. She noted that early on after the fire, several had been purchased, but that has flattened out since then. She said another 400 homes were actively under construction.

More than, 9,000 structures were destroyed in the Eaton fire.

Schiff wanted to know what the biggest challenge was.

Local leaders told him of crosscurrent forced that are impacting the pace the recovery and the pace of decisions for survivors – from underinsurance issues to the need for more dollars to help people who have been displaced to the permitting process.

Schiff also met with immigrant-rights advocates, who chronicled the impact of the fire on local immigrant laborers and recent immigration raids.

Schiff’s visit to the Eaton fire came on the heels of a field hearing in the Palisades on Thursday, conducted by GOP Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. No Democratic lawmaker participated in the hearing.

Scott, who chairs the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, and Johnson, chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Investigations, had announced in September that they would launch an investigation into the Palisades fire.

They did not come to the Eaton fire area.

Staff Photographer Sarah Reingewirtz contributed to this report.