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Rebuilding from the Palisades and Eaton fires, insurance market collapse, and political battles over LA's long-term recovery
The trial of Jonathan Rinderknecht, a 29-year-old occasional Uber driver charged with sparking the blaze that became the Palisades fire — the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in Los Angeles history — began Monday in federal court.
3 MIN READA Los Angeles jury awarded $176 million to the parents of two young brothers who were killed in a hit-and-run collision nearly six years ago, finding both socialite Rebecca Grossman and former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson…
3 MIN READTwo companies that sold illegal pyrotechnic devices used in a gender-reveal photo shoot that sparked California's 2020 El Dorado fire have agreed to pay more than $4 million to settle civil claims brought by the U.S. Forest Service. The…
3 MIN READJonathan Rinderknecht will face trial starting June 8 after a federal judge barred some evidence defense attorneys wanted to introduce in his arson case tied to the Palisades Fire, according to court rulings. At a pretrial hearing…
3 MIN READMore than a dozen houses of worship were burned or damaged in the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, and many faith leaders say the recovery effort has strengthened relationships across religious lines. Rabbi Amy Bernstein of Kehillat…
3 MIN READProsecutors say the man accused of starting the deadly Palisades Fire in Los Angeles was angry at the world, upset about spending New Year’s Eve without plans, and ranted to rideshare passengers about capitalism and the accused…
4 MIN READCalifornia insurance regulators announced Monday they are seeking millions of dollars in penalties against State Farm, accusing the state’s largest home insurer of systematically delaying, underpaying and mishandling claims from the 2025…
3 MIN READProsecutors said Jonathan Rinderknecht, accused of sparking Los Angeles’ Palisades Fire, was angry and ranting about being “pissed off at the world” in the hours before the first blaze. In court documents filed by prosecutors, they…
3 MIN READCalifornia is seeking millions of dollars in penalties against State Farm after regulators found the insurer delayed investigations and underpaid some claims tied to 2025 wildfires in the Los Angeles area, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo…
3 MIN READThousands of survivors from the 2025 Eaton Fire in Altadena, California, who accepted settlement payments from the utility accused of sparking the disaster now face federal tax bills that could consume significant portions of their funds.…
4 MIN READLos Angeles needs more than 100,000 construction workers to help rebuild after the Palisades Fire and the Eaton fire, according to a state analysis discussed by CalMatters and reported by the Associated Press. Community colleges are…
3 MIN READA proposed settlement among California's Insurance Department, consumer advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, and State Farm would hold homeowner insurance rate increases to 17 percent — less than the 30 percent the company had sought — while…
5 MIN READALTADENA, Calif. (AP) — Ted Koerner feared he might never see his old golden retriever, Daisy Mae, again after his house burned down in the Eaton Fire. A year later, Koerner says the pair is home at last, with Daisy Mae playing in his…
3 MIN READDefense attorneys for Jonathan Rinderknecht, the man charged with sparking the deadly Palisades Fire, called Thursday for his release from federal custody and asked U.S. prosecutors to dismiss the case against him, citing deposition…
6 MIN READ
A Los Angeles firefighter testified in a newly released deposition that he warned colleagues a brush fire was still smoldering before a later blaze erupted in the hills above the Pacific Palisades neighborhood. The testimony, included in a…
3 MIN READThe former Los Angeles fire chief Kristin Crowley has filed a lawsuit against the city, alleging Mayor Karen Bass’s firing of her in 2025 was aimed at smearing her after the Palisades Fire. Crowley’s suit, filed last week, argues Bass…
3 MIN READCalifornia Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a civil rights investigation into whether delayed evacuation notices during the Eaton Fire disproportionately harmed west Altadena, a historically Black community. Bonta said the…
3 MIN READLos Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is heading into a challenging reelection bid as she seeks to lead the city through continuing backlash over last year’s deadly Palisades wildfire and persistent criticism of City Hall on homelessness and…
3 MIN READU.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin said Trump administration officials are seeking to speed up permitting for reconstruction of tens of thousands of homes destroyed by last year’s Los Angeles wildfires, after the…
4 MIN READPresident Trump signed an executive order Friday directing federal agencies to streamline permits for rebuilding homes destroyed by the January 2025 Los Angeles area wildfires, White House officials said Tuesday. The order seeks to preempt…
3 MIN READCalifornia lawmakers are proposing a package of consumer-protection and insurer-timing rules for wildfire claims after survivors described problems ranging from delayed communication to payouts that fall short of rebuilding costs. The…
3 MIN READCalifornia lawmakers are proposing multiple bills to tighten insurance regulations following year-long complaints from wildfire survivors about delayed claims, inadequate coverage, and poor insurer communication. The legislation,…
3 MIN READSouthern California Edison filed court complaints Friday accusing Los Angeles County and local water agencies of missteps that, in the utility’s view, made the 2025 Eaton Fire more deadly. The company also filed a separate complaint…
3 MIN READYou built the homes on the dry brush and left them to the wind.
You deferred the brush clearance and the wind took the home.
Southern California Edison filed cross-complaints in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday, accusing Los Angeles County, seven water agencies and the Southern California Gas Company of a series of failures the utility says made last year's Eaton Fire more deadly. The filings shift blame to other parties even as investigators continue to examine evidence suggesting that one of Edison's own idled power lines may have ignited the blaze.
California Community Foundation CEO Miguel Santana said the organization’s wildfire recovery fund has raised more than $100 million since the LA-area fires began Jan. 7, 2025, and that survivors still face long-term barriers such as insurance and limited access to capital. In an interview with The Associated Press, Santana described how the fund deployed $30 million in its first month and used survivor surveys to guide its work into the second year of recovery.
Spencer Pratt, a reality television personality who lost his home in the deadly Palisades wildfire, said Wednesday he intends to run for mayor of Los Angeles in 2026, framing the effort as “a mission” to “expose the system.” Pratt, a Republican, made the announcement at a fire-anniversary rally that criticized state and local government’s handling of the Jan. 7 blaze.
A year after the most destructive wildfires in Los Angeles area history scorched Altadena and Pacific Palisades, homeowners whose structures survived are confronting a continuing health crisis: lead, asbestos and other toxic compounds left behind by smoke and ash. Despite professional cleanings, six out of 10 smoke-damaged homes in the Eaton Fire area still show dangerous contamination levels, according to a November report by the volunteer group Eaton Fire Residents United. Many residents say their insurance companies are refusing to cover adequate testing and remediation, leaving families living in homes they fear may be harming them.
A year after twin wildfire infernos ripped across Los Angeles County on Jan. 7, 2025, rebuilding is still underway and the death toll remains a stark measure of what extreme conditions can do, the Associated Press reported. The Palisades and Eaton fires spread rapidly across the county, leaving thousands of structures destroyed and federal disaster aid still pending.
ALTADENA, Calif. — Missi Dowd-Figueroa, a 44-year-old registered nurse and mother of three, lost her 1898 farm-style house when the Eaton Fire swept through this Los Angeles-area suburb in January 2025. A year later, she planted roughly 500 sunflowers on the empty lot where her home once stood — and broke ground on a new one.
Altadena, Calif., wildfire survivor Missi Dowd-Figueroa has been planting sunflowers on the lot where her home once stood, gradually turning fire-scarred ground into a garden while she works toward rebuilding. The registered nurse lost an 1898 farm-style house in the Eaton Fire, one of two deadly wildfires that tore through the Los Angeles area last January. A year later, she is among those still grappling with grief and few who have been able to rebuild so far.
