A year and a half after the destructive Los Angeles County fire, those who lost their homes still seem far away from normalcy
18 months after one of Los Angeles County’s most destructive wildfires ever, only about 1% of the destroyed homes have been fully rebuilt, according to the County Permitting Dashboard.
The first home destroyed by the Eaton Fire rebuilt had its certificate of occupancy signed nearly a year after the fires, in December 2025. In the half-year since, only 100 more homes have been rebuilt, out of 6,746 units destroyed. Only one home has been rebuilt in the unincorporated area affected by the Palisades Fire.
The status of survivors after the twin fires, which destroyed 16,000 structures and burned 37,000 acres, has been tracked by community organizers through the Eaton Fire Collaborative and the Department of Angels. The latter’s most recent survey revealed conditions for survivors have not improved significantly since the disaster hit their community.
From September 2025 to April 2026, the displacement rate of Eaton survivors only reduced by 3% to 64%, according to the survey. Rates are similar for Palisades victims but have gone down more from an original 75%.
Ongoing struggles with temporary housing aren’t getting better quickly. For those affected by the Eaton Fire, only 13 units of temporary housing have been set up by the county out of over 150 applications. Environmental and health concerns are also prevalent among those who stay close to the affected area and its lasting effects.
Meanwhile, amid intense financial challenges and sluggish insurance company responses, questions are also being asked of how much some are earning in the wake of the catastrophe.
Amid Boyle Heights fire fallout joining reeling Eaton and Palisades victims, LAFD Battalion Chief Nicholas Ferrari made, for the second year in a row, nearly a million dollars through mostly overtime pay, according to the City Controller’s office.
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Per Transparent California, almost completely throughout a list of top City earners, LAFD captains and chiefs consistently doubled their yearly pay through overtime hours in 2025, the year of the fires. Fire Inspector Antonio Jones made two and a half times more in overtime pay than through regular salary.
According to LAFD, the high earnings in Ferrari’s case and others come not out of discretionary pay but rather firefighters covering for an “operational necessity.” They say it’s “the direct cost of operating a Department this understaffed.”
Los Angeles firefighters have not been quiet about their advocacy for more staffing to prevent further tragedies. In November, city voters will decide on a half-percent raise on sales tax to fund new stations and staffing for LAFD.