California’s deadly 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires in and around Los Angeles together torched over 37,000 acres, destroyed over 16,000 structures, damaged nearly 2,000 additional structures, and displaced hundreds of thousands of residents.
State and local leaders have since pledged to help property owners rebuild. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), for instance, said, “We’re committed to seeing this through and ensuring this community comes back stronger than before.”
‘Significant barriers remain.’
City and county officials even made noise about cutting red tape and costs to expedite the process. Unfortunately, it appears that the purportedly expedited process isn’t as swift as advertised.
For instance, of the 242 rebuild applications received from property owners affected by the Palisades fire northeast of Malibu, only 80 building permits had been issued as of April 9, according to the permitting progress dashboard for Los Angeles County. Construction is under way on 39 homes, and only one rebuild has reportedly been completed.
Of the 3,125 rebuild applications submitted by individuals affected by the Eaton fire in and around the Altadena area, 2,142 permits have been issued. Construction on rebuilds is under way on 1,138 homes, and 31 have been completed.
The dashboard suggested that the average time spent in county review was 32 business days.
Thousands of people in Los Angeles County haven’t even bothered to apply to rebuild what they lost.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said last week that while the county has received over 3,000 rebuild applications, that represents roughly only half of the total number of impacted households, reported the Pasadena Star-News.
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Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
“The fact that only half of wildfire survivors have submitted applications makes clear that significant barriers remain, especially financial ones,” said Barger.
The Star-News noted that uncertainty over the future of litigation, high rebuild costs, and “underinsurance” are among the factors that have slowed recovery.
Barger credited the Trump administration, however, with helping out.
“I’ve appreciated the opportunity to meet with U.S. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler over the course of these past few months to have solutions-oriented conversations focused on recovery,” said Barger. “Both administrators remain engaged and attentive to our local Eaton Fire recovery work. I remain thankful that President Trump has an interest in supporting wildfire recovery efforts, and I welcome opportunities to work collaboratively with his administration to deliver meaningful relief for our residents.”
While some Californians haven’t bothered applying to rebuild, many of those who have in nearby municipalities — like those in L.A. County — remain stuck waiting.
Mayor Karen Bass — the Democrat who slashed her city’s fire department budget months ahead of the fires in January 2025, then, breaking a pledge not to “travel internationally,” absconded to Africa, where she attended a cocktail party as her city burned — has issued multiple executive orders aimed at expediting the rebuilding process.
L.A. has received 4,276 rebuilding permit applications and issued 2,504 permits to date. Presently, 1,261 applications are in review.
The City of Pasadena has received 94 rebuild permit applications but issued 44 to date. Thirty are presently under review.
The City of Malibu’s rebuild dashboard says that 192 planning applications for single-family residence rebuilds have been approved and 57 are under review; 42 building permits have been issued and approved for construction; and zero certificates of occupancy have been issued.
Blaze News reached out for comment to the offices of Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo, Malibu Mayor Bruce Silverstein, and L.A. Mayor Bass but did not receive responses.
H/T Washington Examiner’s Sarah Bedford.
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