{"id":25867,"date":"2026-04-14T06:15:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T06:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/25867\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T06:15:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T06:15:18","slug":"humiliating-report-reveals-la-wildfire-victims-trapped-in-a-rebuild-nightmare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/25867\/","title":{"rendered":"Humiliating report reveals LA wildfire victims trapped in a rebuild \u2018nightmare\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

The rebuild of fire-ravaged Los Angeles<\/a> was supposed to be a record-breaker, according to state and city leaders who promised one of the fastest recoveries in California history.<\/p>\n

Instead, it\u2019s looking more like another embarrassment for public officials<\/a> according to a new damning report released Monday.<\/p>\n

The new analysis shows just 34 homes have gone up<\/a> in Pacific Palisades and Altadena in the 15 months since the devastating wildfires tore through \u2014 a shockingly sluggish pace that lags behind recoveries from other previous major California infernos.<\/p>\n

\"Aerial<\/p>\n

Aerial view of a neighborhood in Pacific Palisades. NY Post<\/p>\n

Even more troubling: fewer than half of the nearly 10,000 destroyed properties have even applied for rebuilding permits.<\/p>\n

Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass hyped a comeback<\/a> following the fires, \u201cfaster than ever before.\u201d Not anymore.<\/p>\n

\"Governor<\/p>\n

Governor Gavin Newsom speaking at a press conference about financial literacy. Anadolu via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\"Mayor<\/p>\n

Mayor Karen Bass speaking at a press conference. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s certainly no chance of them being this outlier of fast recovery,\u201d disaster expert Andrew Rumbach told Politico. \u201cIt\u2019s not physically possible at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

The January 2025 fires \u2014 which erupted within 24 hours of each other<\/a> \u2014 killed 31 people and destroyed more than 16,000 structures, flattening the wealthy coastal enclave of Pacific Palisades and hammering middle-class Altadena in the foothills.<\/p>\n

Most residents want to return. A survey found 9 in 10 plan to rebuild<\/a>. But sky-high construction costs \u2014 anywhere from $450 to $1,500 per square foot \u2014 combined with insurance headaches and bureaucratic confusion have turned that dream into a nightmare.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like being stuck in a spider web,\u201d said Altadena resident Angela Giacchetti. \u201cAll these interlocking issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Navy<\/p>\n

Navy veteran and fire victim Sara Trepanier stands on her cleared lot. Toby Canham for The NY Post<\/p>\n

Permit applications are picking up, with more than 300 filed in March alone. Officials have approved about 2,100 rebuilding requests so far.<\/p>\n

Still, that hasn\u2019t translated into homes on the ground.<\/p>\n

LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger insists the pace is steady \u2014 even if it\u2019s not fast.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to see Altadena rebuilt tomorrow,\u201d Barger told Politico. \u201cBut I have to respect that what I want and what can be done are two different things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Home<\/p>\n

Home with a protest sign on the fence. Jared Downing\/NY Post<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, comparisons to past disasters sting. Cities like Santa Rosa and Paradise \u2014 with fewer resources than Los Angeles \u2014 rebuilt faster after their own catastrophic fires.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that we only have 10 certificates of occupancy and that pales in comparison to almost every other fire, that would have come as a surprise if you had told people 15 months ago,\u201d said Maryam Zar, founder and president of Palisades Recovery Coalition.<\/p>\n

Even within LA, the recovery is uneven. More Altadena homeowners are applying to rebuild, but Palisades permits are getting approved faster according to the report.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Newsom said the governor has rolled out a flurry of executive orders aimed at speeding up the painfully slow recovery, still, she made clear that the final call on permits rests with local officials.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach disaster and recovery is unique, but the state will continue to support local communities to recover and rebuild as quickly as possible,\u201d Tara Gallegos said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The rebuild of fire-ravaged Los Angeles was supposed to be a record-breaker, according to state and city leaders…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25868,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[147],"tags":[17723,542,13046,6008,17721,17722],"class_list":{"0":"post-25867","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gavin-newsom","8":"tag-altadena","9":"tag-gavin-newsom","10":"tag-karen-bass","11":"tag-los-angeles","12":"tag-pacific-palisades","13":"tag-public-officials"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116401598140716677","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}