Nine months and one investigation later, it is still not clear why neighborhoods in Altadena, California did not get an alert to evacuate until 3:25 a.m on January 8th — if residents got one at all — despite repeated calls to 911, hours earlier, that flames from the Eaton Fire were spotted in the area.The McChrystal Group’s 130-plus page report looks into what happened, but the scope is limited as it only includes information provided by Los Angeles County, and it finds that while there was a whole system of failures that night that led to catastrophe, no one person, or agency, was directly responsible. This missing data and lack of accountability in the report has outraged residents of Altadena. Even the L.A. County Board of Supervisors that commissioned the report has criticized some of its findings.To find out more about what’s in the McChrystal report — and what is not — we turn to Terry Castleman and Grace Toohey, breaking news reporters for the L.A. Times. Both began covering the failures of the alert system soon after the Eaton Fire burned through Altadena.Plus, we will hear from Altadena Resident Linda Bazilian whose husband was left to fight the flames from the Eaton Fire by himself the night of January 7th, only to have his home burn down the next day.

Guests:
Terry Castleman and Grace Toohey, reporters for the the Los Angeles Times
Linda Bazilian, Altadena resident

Check out Grace and Terry's Stories:https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-09-25/l-a-county-release-investigation-into-botched-altadena-evacuations
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-09-25/the-eaton-fire-how-the-system-failed-altadena
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-09-27/no-smoking-gun-report-on-altadena-cites-failures-but-did-not-name-names

The insurance industry in California was fragile even before the January fires in Los Angeles. Since the Camp Fire in Paradise and other devastating blazes in Napa, Sonoma, and Ventura Counties, home insurance rates skyrocketed for many Californians. Companies dropped customers and left the state because of the perceived risks of wildfires and other disasters in so many communities. Now, after the Eaton and Palisades Fires, a lot of residents are wondering if anyone in these areas can get a home insured again.So how did we get here? And where do we go from here? Host Kate Cagle tries to get some answers.

Guests:

Judson Boomhower, an associate professor in the economics department at UC San Diego, specializing in climate risk and adaption.

Tamara Rawitt, Pacific Palisades resident

One of the biggest stories to emerge from these fires is the insurance nightmare fire survivors have endured. Not all stories of insurers are bad but the number of residents who have reported trouble with their insurance company is in the thousands. The bottom line: people report not getting the money they believe they deserve under their policies to help them rebuild and replace what was lost. Even those residents whose homes still stand are struggling and are battling with their insurance providers over smoke damage and the cost of clean up, repairs and testing for lingering toxic substances.In the first part of a two part look at the insurance situation in Southern California, we speak to Laurence Darmiento who covers the industry for the Los Angeles Times. He shares with us the stories he’s heard from survivors of both the Eaton and Palisades Fires.

Guests:Laurence Darmiento, Los Angeles Times reporter covering the insurance industry in California as well as finance and aerospace.
Joe Ressa, Altadena residentCheck out some of Laurence’s recent stories:https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2025-09-22/insurance-rights-initiative-proposed-by-leading-consumer-grouphttps://www.latimes.com/business/story/2025-09-08/despite-court-loss-california-fair-plan-sticking-to-disputed-smoke-damage-policyhttps://www.latimes.com/business/story/2025-08-25/local-politicians-and-january-fire-survivors-hold-press-conference-over-insurance-claims-payments
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2025-01-09/la-fires-property-home-insurance-crisis-fair-plan-lara-state-farm-allstate-palisades-eaton-altadena-wildfires