A sign with pictures of the Mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, is held during a residents' "The Let Us Burn" protest, on the first anniversary of the deadly Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, US, January 7, 2026. © REUTERS/Daniel Cole
(Los Angeles, CA) – It’s now been a full calendar year since the deadly Palisades and Eaton fires in Southern California destroyed thousands of homes near LA. But just 13% of victims who saw their homes burned to the ground have started the rebuild, amid fights with insurance companies, high fees assessed by the government, and other challenges.
As a way to mark the anniversary, a group of frustrated property owners held a “They Let Us Burn” rally in Downtown LA. They held up signs and speakers told of their collective struggles, while a fire bell was rung once for each person who perished in the fires. In all, 19 people perished in the Eaton Fire, while 12 were killed in the Palisades Fire. And now, a year later, the neighborhoods left ravaged are largely empty — except for packs of wild coyotes that roam the rubble.
The Pacific Palisades Community Council survey put the number at 13%, in terms of single-family homeowners who have started construction on new homes. But for some people, grand, beautifully crafted homes are being replaced by modular homes built in San Francisco and elsewhere — because that’s all the insurance payments will cover. Getting financing is a challenge. Families are locked in extended battles with insurance firms to try and get a payout. And there are miles and miles of red tape to cut through in order to get started in the first place.
This is despite pledges from Mayor Karen Bass to spur a recovery “at lightning speed.” Instead, a survey of Pacific Palisades residents find nearly 7,000 fire victims are starting to lose hope, with 7 in 10 saying they are either “extremely” or “very” concerned that insurance won’t cover their costs. The numbers get more depressing from there: 3 in 10 who lost homes are considering abandoning the effort altogether. Just 25% of those impacted have moved back into the neighborhood, which is largely a ghostly group of empty lots filled with rubble or large puddles of standing water — after recent heavy rainfall pounded the LA area.
The New York Post, which is also kicking off the California Post in 2026, has covered the story extensively. They printed a quote from Jennifer Benz, a senior vice president at the National Opinion Research Council at the University of Chicago, who says “People are eager to get back to their community, but they face significant barriers.”
Half of the city’s residents say they believe the burn-scarred area’s water, air, and soil are contaminated as a result of the fire. And only 7% report that they have a “great deal of confident” in the city, county, and state government. That’s not much of an endorsement for Mayor Bass or Governor Gavin Newsom.
To add insult to injury, officials are continuing to charge taxes on empty lots. People are forced to pay mortgages on empty lots. And LA’s already notoriously slow (and expensive) permitting process has not markedly improved. Despite thousands of structures destroyed, only 646 new building permits have been issued, according to city data.
As the “They Let Us Burn” rally made clear, residents are also angry about what happened during — and just before — the fire. Many have noted the city failed to keep a critical reservoir filled. Fire crews allowed the Lachman Fire to re-ignite into the Palisades inferno. City officials did not fully mobilize resources unitl it was too late.
In the end, thousands of people are left in financial ruin, and homeless. A full 12 months later. And local governments will in fact gain revenue from sales taxes on building materials — as well as increased property taxes once homes are rebuilt, and re-assessed. Residents are extremely angry over that aspect of things. One told the New York Post: “The fact that we have to pay the city of LA permit fees to rebuild our homes that burned down by no fault of our own is ludicrous.”
Ludicrous is defined as something so foolish, so unreasonable, or out of place that it’s actually amusing. Yet there’s nothing funny about what’s going on in LA — and the entire state of California’s government is certainly — to use a nicer word than some others might — ridiculous.
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