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yesterday

One Year On, Palisades Fire Recovery Stalls as LAFD Report Is Disputed

Insurance delays alongside a disputed fire report stall recovery.

Firefighters work while smoke rises because of the growing Palisades fire in Los Angeles, California, on January 11, 2025. The Palisades Fire, the largest among the Los Angeles wildfires, pushed into new neighborhoods on January 11, prompting additional evacuations and diminishing optimism for containment. Since January 7, several fires have ravaged residential areas across the city, leaving at least 16 people dead and reducing thousands of homes to rubble. US President Joe Biden compared the destruction to a “war zone.” (Photo by Ali Matin / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by ALI MATIN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
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Rows of destroyed homes during the Palisades Fire in the Alphabet Streets neighborhood of Pacific Palisades, CA, on Thursday, January 9, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Overview

  • About 500 of more than 16,000 destroyed structures are under reconstruction and roughly 80% of survivors remain displaced, according to CBS News cited in new reporting.
  • Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger says an estimated 70% of survivors face insurance delays or denials, and she notes that a federal review has paused consideration of roughly $40 billion in aid.
  • The Los Angeles Fire Department’s after-action report was altered before release and its author, Battalion Chief Kenneth Cook, declined to endorse the public version, prompting renewed calls for independent review.
  • Opinion pieces and local accounts cite broken hydrants, limited early staffing, and an empty Santa Ynez Reservoir as factors that worsened the disaster, alongside assertions that the blaze began as a holdover fire.
  • Survivors plan a one-year gathering this week to press Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass for answers, as schools and community groups continue providing support for displaced students and families.