Nineteen people died during the Eaton Fire in January. All but one of them lived in neighborhoods west of Lake Avenue in Altadena. The 19th person lived just east of that border. It’s been reported that evacuation warnings were not issued in that neighborhood until early morning when the fire was already approaching people’s doorsteps. Now, a new investigation from the Los Angeles Times finds there was only one LA County Fire truck present at 3:08 AM as the flames swept into west Altadena. Reporter Rebecca Ellis looked into what happened and why. She joins host Kate Cagle to talk about it.Guests: Rebecca Ellis, LA Times Reporter
Victoria Knapp, Altadena resident and Chair of the Altadena Town CouncilRebecca’s story: A Times investigation: As west Altadena burned, L.A. County fire trucks stayed elsewhere: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-07-23/as-west-altadena-burned-county-fire-trucks-stayed-elsewhere

As the neighborhoods hit hardest by the Palisades and Eaton Fires rebuild, modern building codes will largely ensure that houses and other structures will be more resilient. But what else needs to be done across these communities to make sure the next disaster isn’t as devastating? How do we rebuild in a way that makes the neighborhoods whole again and also safer, stronger, and less vulnerable? Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath has some thoughts. Her district runs from Santa Monica to Sylmar and includes the Pacific Palisades, Malibu and nearby unincorporated areas like Sunset Mesa, which all together lost nearly 7,000 structures in the Palisades Fire.In conjunction with the University of California, Los Angeles, and a panel of area experts, Supervisor Horvath has put together the Blue Ribbon Commission on Climate Action and Fire Safe Recovery, which is full of proposals for updating the water infrastructure and alert systems in these fire prone areas, among other things, as well as creating a Rebuilding Authority to serve as a county-wide one-stop shop for guidance and resources on rebuilding.Supervisor Horvath joins host Kate Cagle to talk about the Commission and about the county response on January 7th and what’s being learned to ensure this level of devastation doesn’t occur again.We also hear from Allison Horldorff Polhill, a resident in the Pacific Palisades who lost her home on January 7.

Guests:
LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath
Allison Horldorff Polhill, Pacific Palisades Resident and Senior Advisor and District Director at Los Angeles Unified School DistrictBlue Ribbon Commission: https://lindseyhorvath.lacounty.gov/blue-ribbon-commission/
https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-05-07/expert-commission-los-angeles-fires
Mayor Karen Bass Executive Order to Restrict SB 9 in the Pacific Palisades: https://mayor.lacity.gov/news/mayor-bass-issues-emergency-executive-order-prohibit-sb-9-applications-within-palisades-burn
LA Times: After outcry, L.A. restricts duplexes in Pacific Palisades: https://www.latimes.com/homeless-housing/story/2025-07-30/after-outcry-l-a-restricts-duplexes-in-pacific-palisades
LA Times: Conspiracy theories thwart rebuilding plan after L.A. County wildfires
https://www.latimes.com/homeless-housing/story/2025-07-17/affordable-housing-palisades-authority-failure
Santa Monica Daily Press: Ben Allen puts wildfire rebuilding bill on hold after mixed reaction in Assembly hearing
https://smdp.com/government-politics-2/ben-allen-puts-wildfire-rebuilding-bill-on-hold-after-mixed-reaction-in-assembly-hearing/

Of the areas in Southern California most prone to catching fire, Malibu is probably number one. It was hit by two fires last winter – the Franklin Fire, which forced evacuations from Pepperdine University, and January’s Palisades Fire, which burned all the way to the water, affecting about one-third of the town’s 20 square miles. On top of that, many residents are still rebuilding after the Woolsey fire in 2018 so emotions still remain pretty raw nearly seven months after the Palisades fire.

So where does Malibu go from here? Building in Malibu has its challenges with its hilly terrain and proximity to the Pacific. Can it rebuild in a sustainable way that preserves what’s left of Malibu’s bohemian past, keep out developers, and also better prepare the city for the next fire that will undoubtedly come? We hear from two LA locals, including long time LA Times reporter Jim Rainey, who lost their family homes. Plus we’ll talk to Yolanda Bundy, who is helping oversee fire recovery.

Guests:
LA Times reporter Jim Rainey
Yolanda Bundy, Director, Malibu’s Community Development Department
Wade Major, film critic for LAist’s Air Talk and resident of Malibu

On January 6th, the National Weather Service issued a dire warning of a life threatening storm — Santa Anas so extreme it would be sure to topple trees, knock down power lines, and spread any fire that started.
But LA planned for this, right?Most climate scientists agree that a fire driven by hurricane force winds is impossible to fight, but some of LA’s emergency systems did break down in those first chaotic nights after the Palisades and Eaton fires started — and the finger pointing began almost immediately.A big source of residents' ire: an empty reservoir sitting above the Highlands in the Pacific Palisades. It’s hard to say whether it would have made a difference against the firefight had it been full of water. But the fact that it was empty raises the question of how prepared the city was for a disaster of this scale, and what’s being done to make sure we are ready for the next one.

Guests:
LA Times reporter Matt Hamilton
Pacific Palisades resident Peggy Holter

Altadena has a “special sauce,” explains resident and architect Steve Lewis. This unincorporated area of Los Angeles County, nestled at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains, is recognized for its small town feel, diversity and bohemian vibe.

It’s long been a haven for Black Angelenos who were unable to buy property elsewhere in LA due to redlining practices in. Artists like Charles White moved there. So did novelist Octavia Butler.

Not far from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Altadena’s has been home to scientists and artists alike — nurses and teachers, too.

It felt so perfect that some residents nicknamed it “Shangri-La.”

That mix was also reflected in the architecture, and it’s for all these reasons that so many are moved to preserve it and bring back what is lost in the Eaton Fire.

Guests:

Steven Lewis, architect, consultant, Thinking Leadership, AIA, NOMA
Jessica Orlando, architect, Perkins & Will, AIA
Alex Athenson, president and cofounder, The Foothill Catalog Foundation

Altadena resident Keni Arts

It’s clear that some residents in Altadena and the Pacific Palisades will not be able to afford the rebuilding process — the costs or the time it will take. And beyond those practical concerns, there’s a bigger question for those who decide to stay: what will all the displacement mean for the greater community?

It’s a question reverberating pretty loudly throughout both the Palisades and Altadena, but this next episode looks specifically at the latter. Before the fires, home ownership in the area was pretty high at around 71 percent, but a lot of these homes were passed down through generations, and may not have been covered by insurance.

That makes Altadena particularly vulnerable.

California State Senator Sasha Renée Pérez oversees District 25, which includes Altadena, and joins us to talk about this, and how she fears the immigration raids in LA will impact the rebuilding process.

Guests:

California State Senator Sasha Renée Perez
Altadena resident Yasmin Sotomayor

When the Eaton and Palisades fires started in January, the winter in Southern California had been extremely dry. Following two very wet years and the hot summer in 2024, that meant the hillsides were covered with dry, desiccated grasses and chaparral. It was a lot of fuel for any fire. Layer in hurricane-force winds and disaster was pretty much inevitable.But that’s only part of the story. As we discussed in a previous episode, California already has a climate prone to catching fire. It has always burned and it always will. The hotter, drier days that are forecast to keep coming just exacerbate it.In this episode, we explore how a warming planet could increase conditions for urban conflagrations like the Palisades and Eaton fires to erupt — and what we can do to to live better, and safer, with a climate in which we know the winds will blow and another fire will start.First up, Altadena resident Kristin Sweredoski shares her story of why she decided pretty quickly to rebuild her home. Then, Rebuilding L.A. host Kate Cagle talks to L.A. Times Environment reporters Hayley Smith and Ian James about how climate change affected January’s fire, followed by UCLA climate scientist Alex Hall about the steps that could be taken by officials and individuals to reduce risks in these areas.Guests:Kristin Sweredoski, Altadena Resident
Hayley Smith, Environment Reporter, L.A. Times
Ian James, Staff Writer, focusing on water and climate change, L.A. Times
Alex Hall, Director, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability; Professor, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences

Sustainable LA Grand Challenge

Climate & Wildfire Research Initiative

The Climate & Wildfire Research Initiative homepage. The CWRI is an initiative of the Sustainable LA Grand Challenge.

The first big city fire in modern history here was the Bel-Air Fire in 1961. It destroyed 484 homes and triggered regulations and new safety standards. The one thing that didn’t change though: real-estate development deeper and higher into the hills, creating an even greater risk. This isn’t just an issue in LA either. It happens all over California and other communities that have faced climate related devastation in states like Texas, Florida, and North Carolina.

In this episode, we discuss the history here, what lessons were learned — and not — and how that can inform what we we do this time around as we attempt to rebuild Altadena and the Pacific Palisades.In this episode we will first hear from long-time Pacific Palisades resident Sue Kohl who raised her family here and currently serves as the president of the Palisades Town Council. Then we will turn to Jenny Jarvie, National Correspondent for the LA Times, and Char Miller, the W.M. Keck Professor of Environmental Analysis and History at Pomona College.