Their houses burned. Few have rebuilt. When can LA residents go home?

ALTADENA, CA – The smoky stench still lingers here on this stretch of Loma Alta Drive.

A year after deadly wildfires rampaged through this once-vibrant road of colorful houses, the scars on the landscape and the struggles for residents remain.

The Jan. 7, 2025, fires killed more than 30 people, scorched 37,000 acres, or almost 58 square miles, across three weeks of fury. The economic impact is estimated to be between $95 billion and $164 billion.

Few have rebuilt houses. The battles with insurance companies persist, as do the bureaucratic hurdles to rebuilding. More than 70% of Eaton and Palisades residents remain displaced by the fires, and many worry about how they'll financially make it this next year.

But a certain optimism endures. On a recent December day, faint sounds of construction buzzed in the distance. And then laughter, as a group of neighbors who lost their homes in the Eaton Fire slowly arrived to survey their property.