Community. It’s a hard thing to define, and even harder to quantify. When the Palisades Fire swept through Los Angeles and Malibu, people didn’t just lose their homes, their schools, churches, and synagogues, their coffee shops, restaurants, and grocery stores. Perhaps most importantly, they lost each other - they lost community. Host Cameron Barrett speaks with Juliet Curry, the Director of the Palisades Community Renewal Center, about community this week. Curry and her dedicated team at PCRC offer a place where those affected by the fire can get mental health services, take part in family art classes, experience sound baths and yoga classes, all while sipping some really good coffee. In other words, they’re offering a chance to find community again.

Resources:

• Palisades Community Renewal Center
• Maple Counseling
• Services with Maple Counseling at the PCRC
• Picerne Family Foundation
• Zentangles

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15 months after the Palisades Fire, the Los Angeles City Fire Department is still under a microscope regarding their response times, emergency notifications to residents, and pre-deployment decisions. But that's not stopping them from taking an active role in helping residents get permits and permissions to rebuild. The fire department is integral in the process, and with more than 6,000 structures lost to the fire, it was clear to the LAFD and city government as a whole that building red tape could be a nightmare if not streamlined. That's where LAFD Captain Dwayne Laurent comes in. Our guest this week is the new LAFD Ambassador to the Palisades, recently named by the new Fire Chief, Jaime Moore. Host Cameron Barrett asks him all about his new assignment and how the rebuilding process is shaping up in the Palisades.

• LA City's Rebuild and Return
• Palisades Inspections and Permitting Support Center
• LA Recovery Resources
• MySafe:LA Can Help With Wildfire Risk Assessments

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In this day of increasing climate disasters, it might be time to start thinking outside the wood frame box when it comes to building homes in the Wildland Urban Interface. At least that’s what Gary Hendren from S.A.M. House is hoping people will do when they’re ready to rebuild their homes in Pacific Palisades, Altadena, and Malibu. On this week’s episode, host Cameron Barrett talks to Hendren about the new building material he’s invented that has passed rigorous wind and fire tests. And it’s fabricated right here in California. S.A.M. stands for Sustainable, Alternative, and Modular, three things Hendren wants Los Angeles residents to keep in mind when building for the future.

Resources:

• S.A.M. House
• Only 38% of Fire Survivors Rebuild

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It was more than a year ago (Episodes 019 and 020) when we first met Jon Brown and heard his story of escape and survival. Jon and his wife built their dream home in the Pacific Palisades Bowl Mobile Estates, better known as the Palisades Bowl, and were living their dream. They were just steps from the Pacific Ocean, their young children attended the perfect elementary school, and they were surrounded by their friends and the community they loved. But the Palisades Fire ended all that in a matter of hours. That was, obviously, devastating. But what happened in the weeks and months that followed made the fire look like only the first battle in a long, drawn-out war.

Owners of the Palisades Bowl were forced to finally clean the property more than 14 months after the fires. And they have remained uncommunicative as their 400+ residents have tried to determine a plan for rebuilding. The property has now been put up for sale. But Jon Brown and his neighbors are not giving up. In this episode, he tells host Cameron Barrett about his year of struggles and what's next in his fight to return home.

Resources:

• Palisades Bowl Community Group
• Palisades Community Resource Center
• California Senate Bill 749
• California Senate Bill 1092
• California Senate Bill 1093
• Palisades Bowl Aerial Footage of Cleanup
• Extreme Weather Survivors

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On this week’s episode, host Cameron Barrett talks to the award-winning actress and tireless neighborhood leader, Kelly Lynch. She’s been working since not long after the January 2025 firestorms to make her neighborhood an NFPA Firewise USA site. She’s the president of The Oaks Neighborhood Association in the Hollywood Hills, which is spread out along narrow, twisty roads, filled with many older homes, and lots, and LOTS of vegetation. Through her tireless work alongside her neighborhood Board of Directors and MySafe:LA’s trained risk assessors and wildfire experts, the Oaks recently received their Firewise certification and can now take advantage of the benefits, such as better insurance deals. Kelly says the process is “not for sissies” but worth the effort. And she has some advice for those who are interested in doing the same.

Resources:

• The Oaks Neighborhood Association
• Kelly’s Recent Docuseries - California Roadtrip
• NFPA Firewise USA

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In the second episode exploring MySafe:LA's collaboration with the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus, we continue our conversation with MySafe:LA Executive Director David Barrett about the power of music to strengthen a community and help its people heal. We also finish up our interview with Lennon Bus co-creator Brian Rothschild. Turns out the Lennon Bus isn't new at helping kids experiencing the trauma and challenges left in the wake of natural disasters. Plus, we hear the terrific song, "Same City: Resilience After the Fire", written and performed by students from Pacific Palisades Charter High School. 

Resources:

• John Lennon Educational Tour Bus
• MySafe:LA's Lennon Bus Collab
• "Same City: Resilience After the Fire" by students from Pacific Palisades Charter High School
• Music Impact Coalition

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This week is the first in a two-part episode on our new collaboration with the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus. In our work to help the communities impacted by the Palisades and Eaton Fires recover and rebuild, we reached out to the Lennon Bus nonprofit because of their past work with kids affected by disasters. We wanted to create an initiative to help children affected by the fires tell their stories and connect with one another over their shared hardships as their schools, communities, and families have struggled to recover. The Lennon Bus offers just such a program by bringing students together through music-making and storytelling. In this first episode, we hear from the bus's co-creator, Brian Rothschild, MySafe:LA Executive Director, David Barrett, and the kids of Altadena and Pasadena through their original songs.

Resources:

• John Lennon Educational Tour Bus
• MySafe:LA's Lennon Bus Collab
• "Hiraeth" by students from Altadena
• "Mr. Change" by students from Blair High School in Pasadena
• Music Impact Coalition

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On this week's Rebuild:LA, host Cameron Barrett discusses the state of mental health among fire survivors with Shari Sinwelski, the Vice President of Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services.  14 months after the January Firestorms, as many as 8 out of 10 fire survivors are reporting struggling with their mental health. How can you do a mental health check in? Is it time for you to take advantage of the six free counseling session Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services offers to all fire survivors? Find out in the latest episode of Rebuild:LA.

Resources:

• Didi Hirsch Wildfire Recovery Resources
• Mental Health Issues for Fire Survivors
• California Wildfire Survivors’ Mental Health Challenges

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To mark the first anniversary of the Palisades Fire, the Palisades Recovery Coalition (PRC) gathered with neighbors and community leaders at the famous Eames House, a mid-century architectural landmark in the Palisades that was spared by the January 2025 Firestorms. At the event, PRC presented nearly a year of qualitative research done in all seven distinct neighborhoods in Pacific Palisades - Marquez Knolls, Alphabet Streets, Castellammare/Paseo Miramar, The Bluffs, Huntington, Highlands, and the Mobile Home Parks/Multifamily. Each neighborhood participated in professionally led focus group discussions to learn what Palisadians wanted when it came time to rebuild the Palisades. PRC was looking for data to support their desire to have any recovery effort after the fire be a new way of thinking about development - sustainable, wildfire resilient, inclusive, and most importantly, development that maintains the unique neighborhood character the Palisades had always enjoyed. In this week’s episode of Rebuild:LA, we take you to the event and hear from PRC directors, Rand Researchers, and Palisadians eager to return home.

Resources:

• Palisades Recovery Coalition
• Eames House
• Rand

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In Part II of our coverage of the Eaton Fire Survivors' Network (EFSN) press conference marking the first anniversary of the January 2025 Firestorms, EFSN's Executive Director, Joy Chen, brings state politicians to the podium to discuss the work they're doing to provide relief to fire survivors. A slew of legislation has been passed or is currently under consideration in Sacramento. She also welcomes the California Community Foundation's President and CEO, Miguel Santana, who lays out the staggering numbers of donations raised, and how it's still nothing compared to the relief funds Californians should be expecting from the federal government.

• California State Senator Sasha Renee Perez
• California Assemblyman John Haradedian
• California Community Foundation
• State Audit of the Eaton Fire
• SB878
• SB877
• AB238
• AB493

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We're back! Welcome to Season 4 and Episode 61!

We couldn't think of a better way to mark the first anniversary of the Eaton Fire and look forward to the next year of rebuilding Los Angeles than to reintroduce you to the Eaton Fire Survivors' Network (EFSN) and its amazing Executive Director, Joy Chen.

On the first anniversary, Chen arranged a press conference where she brought together elected officials, philanthropists, activists, and dozens of survivors to tell their stories of recovery and struggle. The event showed a community that was bruised and battered, and still fighting to return home. But it also showed a community that has found its strength by coming together and has no intention of giving up. Here are some highlights from that remarkable event.

Don't miss next week when we bring you part 2 of the event, and hear from state elected officials on the work they're doing to bring further relief to those struggling to return home, as well as the plans EFSN has to take on Southern California Edison and the federal government.

Resources:

• Eaton Fire Survivors’ Network
• Southern California Edison’s Role in the Eaton Fire
• LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger
• Day One

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Rebuild:LA is marking the 60th episode and announcing a brief hiatus, before we begin our third season and bring you more stories of the efforts to recover and rebuild in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena. We'll return on February 3, when we bring you an update on the extraordinary work being done by the Eaton Fire Survivors Network, including the status of their efforts to investigate the insurance industry, as well as legislative initiatives to help fire survivors.

Until we return, check out a few of our past episodes:

• Episode 29 - Delay, Deny, Discourage and Underpay with Joy Chen of Eaton Fire Survivors Network
• Episode 12 - Build Back Better with Alexis Revas, the co-founder of Cover
• Episode 051 - 70% Of Survivors Can’t Return Home with Department of Angels’ Andrew King and Angela Giacchetti

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With Us, an immersive art exhibit in the Arts District of downtown Los Angeles, has opened, and it is a compelling experience for anyone who visits. Extreme Weather Survivors and the Department of Angels collaborated to produce the installation, which brings together video, still photography, original art pieces, and the compelling survivors’ soundscape you’ll hear in this episode. Our anniversary show was recorded directly from the exhibit. We collected short interviews with those who’ve spent the last year helping fire survivors, and we’ve added them to the soundscape graciously shared by the With Us collaborators. This episode of Rebuild:LA pays tribute to the thousands of Angelenos who survived the fires, and the tens of thousands of people who have stepped up over the past year to help.

The With Us exhibit is open to all for free, from January 4th through the 7th, from 12 noon to 7:30 pm at the City Market Social House in the Arts District in downtown Los Angeles. If you stop by, bring some food donations for the organization, Support and Feed.

Resources:

• With Us
• Department of Angels
• Extreme Weather Survivors
• Project:Camp
• Eaton Fire Survivors Network
• Team Palisades
• Palisades Recovery Coalition
• Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services
• KCRW Love Letters
• Support and Feed

Items Needed:

• canned corn/peas
• cereal like oats
• dry pasta
• plant-based pasta sauce
• rice
• canned and dry beans
• nuts
• canned/preserved fruits and vegetables
• nut butters and tahini

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Sierra Kos tells us about the exhibit, With Us, an immersive LA fire experience, in this special bonus episode of Rebuild:LA. The event is on Sunday, January 4, from 12-4 PM and is free to attend. You can get your tickets here:

With Us Tickets

Kos and her collaborators wanted to bring the first-hand accounts of surviving the Palisades and Eaton Fires to the people of Los Angeles. The exhibit uses sight and sound and offers visitors a chance to hear from survivors in their own voices and through their own images.

Organizers have partnered with the Department of Angels to present social data in context with fire stories.

Department of Angels

Project Camp will be on-site to provide child care with special, trauma-informed care providers.

Project Camp

And the event is also taking food donations through Support and Feed.

Support and Feed

They’re asking for:

• canned corn/peas
• cereal like oats
• dry pasta
• plant-based pasta sauce
• rice
• canned and dry beans
• nuts
• canned/preserved fruits and vegetables
• nut butters and tahini

Support the show

In this, the second part of our special two-part holiday edition of Rebuild:LA, host Cameron Barrett sits down with an Eaton Fire survivor and the president of an organization that lent him a hand. Both guests happen to be Los Angeles Fire Department Captains. In part I released last week, Captain Jerry Puga told the story of turning his back on his burning home, knowing he couldn't save it. And his friend, Captain Chris Stine, the President of the Los Angeles Firemen's Relief Association (LAFRA), talked about the work his organization did in the immediate aftermath to help Jerry and many other LAFD members impacted by the fires. In part two, we hear about the Puga family's struggle to return home, and the Relief Association's work not only providing financial support but also emotional and spiritual help.

Resources:

• LAFRA's Fundraising Golf Event
• Jerry Puga's Fire Story in Pictures
• LAFRA's Official Charity
• LAFRA
• JM Eagle
• Gary Sinise Foundation

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The first of our special two-part holiday edition of Rebuild:LA has host Cameron Barrett sitting down with an Eaton Fire survivor and the president of an organization that lent him a hand. What makes the conversation unique is that both guests are Los Angeles Fire Department Captains. Captain Jerry Puga lost his home in the Eaton Fire, evacuating with his family just minutes before the fire took out his whole neighborhood. And his friend, Captain Chris Stine, is the President of the Los Angeles Firemen's Relief Association (LAFRA), an organization that's been helping those who help others for nearly 120 years. In this season of giving, we hear from Jerry and Chris about the power of helping others.

Next week, part two will delve into the Puga family's struggle to return home, and the work the Relief Association has shouldered, helping more than 30 families of LAFD members affected by the fires.

Resources:

• LAFRA's Fundraising Golf Event
• Jerry Puga's Fire Story in Pictures
• Widows, Orphans, and Disabled Firefighters' Fund
• LAFRA
• JM Eagle
• Gary Sinise Foundation

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This week on Rebuild:LA, host Cameron Barrett talks with Erica Peng, a lecturer at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, who teaches leaders about how our fight-flight-freeze neurobiology shapes and undermines behavior and performance. Peng has partnered with the National Fire Protection Association to teach a unique approach to crisis leadership, explaining how our neurobiology can actually get in the way of us doing the right thing when we’re faced with a disaster like a wildfire, or even when we resist doing the right thing in making ourselves and our homes safer from the risk of wildfire. Peng knows what she’s talking about. She experienced this phenomenon first-hand in 2019, when she decided to evacuate from her home north of Berkeley, California, as a wildfire approached. In our conversation with her in this week’s episode, Peng will explain why we often react in direct opposition to our best interests, and even more helpfully, how we can control those reactions to be more resilient and better prepared.

Resources:

• Erica Peng
• The Blog Post that Started it All
• What's Missing in Wildfire Mitigation 
• David Rock's NeuroLeadership
• "How Emotions Are Made" by Lisa Feldman Barrett
• Brene Brown on Empathy
• Brene Brown on Blame

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Imagine a rocket launcher…that shoots water balloons. Inspired by the defense technology known as Iron Dome, a group of Israeli entrepreneurs has developed a defense mechanism against wildfires they're calling FireDome. In host Cameron Barrett’s conversation this week with FireDome’s co-founder and CEO, Gadi Benjamini, we learn about a cutting-edge technology created to save lives and property.

Resources:

• FireDome
• FireDome in Action VIDEO
• Contact Gadi Benjamini
  
  

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We know that the Palisades and Eaton Fires left devastation in their wake, devastation that wasn’t just burned structures and displaced lives, but dangerous contaminants that remained in our soil and groundwater. How far-reaching was the contamination, and how concerned do residents need to be? Thanks to the University of Southern California’s CLEAN Project, there is now a way for anyone living in Los Angeles County to get answers to those questions. And the help is free! This week, host Cameron Barrett found out about the testing and resources the CLEAN Project is providing residents when she sat down with Dr. Seth John of the Department of Earth Sciences at USC, and Sujeet Rao, the Director of Health and Well-being at USC’s Dornsife Public Exchange.

Resources:

• University of Southern California’s CLEAN Project
• Submit a Sample of Your Soil
• CLEAN Project Contamination Maps
• USC’s Dornsife Public Exchange
• USC’s Department of Earth Sciences
• Lead Poisoning Fact Sheet

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Dr. Nicole Maccalla spent the first two days of the Eaton Fire on the ground, fighting to save her home. She thought that if she could just keep her house from burning, she would be okay, and when the fire was finally out, she could return to the place she and her children had called home for the last 11 years. But what she found was a house that might have been still standing, but could not be lived in. Everything inside was covered with ash, and she soon found out, other things more dangerous things that you couldn’t see, like lead, asbestos, and other heavy metals. Since then, Nicole has been trying to navigate insurance, federal aid, and state loopholes to make her house a home again. She and several fire survivors formed Eaton Fire Residents United and have created a website filled with invaluable resources and hard lessons they’ve had to learn firsthand, in their efforts to recover and rebuild. Cameron Barrett talks to Nicole Maccalla this week about her work.

Resources:

• Eaton Fire Residents United
• Share Your Testing
• What the Eaton Fire Left Behind
• Contamination Map

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In the second of our two-part episode with Eaton Fire survivors Andrew King and Angela Giacchetti, host Cameron Barrett asks the two about their work on the Department of Angels' quarterly survey of fire survivors, Community Voices: LA Fire Recovery Report. The research is uncovering some difficult truths about the recovery and rebuilding efforts in Pacific Palisades and Altadena. 70% of those surveyed say they can’t return home. Nearly that many report struggling with their mental health, and the majority of survivors say they have run out of savings and are taking on debt. King and Giacchetti are not only administering the report, but have been instrumental in the development of questions, knowing that their first-hand knowledge as fire survivors makes them uniquely qualified to ask the questions that matter.

Resources:

• Department of Angels
• Community Voices: LA Fire Recovery Report
• Palisades Long Term Recovery Group
• Palisades Recovery Coalition
• Eaton Fire Survivor’s Network
• Eaton Fire Collaborative
• Disaster Case Management

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Andrew King and Angela Giacchetti didn’t know each other on January 7, 2025. They lived only a few blocks apart - in Altadena. When the Santa Ana winds got so strong that power started failing, King loaded his two kids and his wife into their minivan and took off to a nearby hotel in Pasadena. Better safe than sorry, he figured. Giacchetti and her husband were new parents. Their son was only nine months old, and their main concern was him. But they figured they could wait until the evacuation order came. Even if authorities told them to “get ready,” they still planned to go, because of the baby. Better safe than sorry, they figured. Yet the order never came. When they lost power, they packed the car and headed to a friend’s house in Silver Lake. Neither family ever thought that one of the deadliest wildfires in Southern California was just getting started. It would be several months later when King and Giacchetti would meet, as they started their work with the newly formed non-profit, born of the fires, the Department of Angels. This week, King and Giacchetti sit down with host Cameron Barrett for the first of a two-part episode to tell their harrowing stories of evacuation and their long roads to recovery.

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Malibu is no stranger to wildfires. The city had just recovered from the 2018 Woolsey Fire, which destroyed hundreds of homes on both sides of Pacific Coast Highway, when the firestorms of January 2025 struck. The Palisades Fire destroyed 700 homes in Malibu and drove clouds of soot and ash from the smoldering Pacific Palisades over the city and onto its world-renowned beaches. 700 homes were lost, and the city’s main artery, Pacific Coast Highway, was blocked by fleeing residents, emergency vehicles, and walls of flame. But ten months after the Palisades Fire, more than 200 building permits are pending approval in Malibu, and the first home is being rebuilt along PCH. Malibu Mayor Marianne Riggins sees the fire’s destruction every day, but she also sees opportunity. Host Cameron Barrett sits down with Mayor Riggins this week to dive into Malibu’s rise from the ashes.

• Malibu Rebuilds
• The Host of New Bills Helping Fire Victims
• Making Rebuild Efforts Easier in Malibu
• Malibu Issues First Building Permit Post Fire

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The American Fire Service is in the midst of a rapid transition period that many have described as a crisis. From a massive brain drain happening in departments that are losing many seasoned firefighters to retirement, as well as a fundamentally different generation of firefighters coming up through a traditional system not known for easily changing, the fire service is facing challenges it’s never had to navigate before. At the same time, wildfires are increasing in complexity and frequency. The Palisades and Eaton Fires made it clear that the age of mega fires is upon us. Is the Fire Service in 2025 capable of taking on these new, deadly challenges? We asked an expert in firefighting training, who has taught firefighters all over the world, this exact question. Cameron chats with her friend, and MySafe:LA collaborator, Battalion Chief Andoni Kastros, or Firefighters' Inspiration, Readiness and Education (FIRE), to learn about the state of the American Fire Service.

Resources:

• Firefighters’ Inspiration, Readiness and Education
• Firefighter Engineering Magazine and Books
• FDIC
• Mastering Textbook Series

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Oscar Hood is trying to stop a Palisades Fire from happening in Orange County. As the County Coordinator for Wildfire Prevention and the Government and External Affairs Analyst for the Irvine Ranch Conservancy, he’s managing over 40,000 acres of open space in one of California’s smallest, yet most populous counties. How is he and his team working to keep wildfire at bay in the OC? He joins Cameron Barrett this week to talk about everything from roadside native plantings to prescribed burns in the Cleveland National Forest.

Resources:

• Irvine Ranch Conservancy
• California Fire Safe Council
• Cleveland National Forest
• Succulents as Fire Breaks

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It’s like a Zamboni for firefighting. We’re talking about BurnBot’s RX2, and if you haven’t seen video of it in action, make sure to click on the resource link below. The company brought together two widely different California realities - Silicon Valley technological innovation, and the ever-increasing risk from wildfires. This week on Rebuild:LA, host Cameron Barrett talks to their Director of Partnerships and Growth, Ford Ainslie, about how BurnBot’s RX2 and other robotic technologies are working to help not only California, but also other states, find new ways to lower wildfire risks.

• BurnBot
• How To Get Your Wildland Firefighting Red Card
• Prescribed Burns
• Rethinking Prescribed Burns in Southern California

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In 2017 Jennifer Gray Thompson found herself living in her car with her dogs after evacuating from the Tubbs Fire in Sonoma County. The experience made her feel alone, lost, and unable to navigate back to the life she had enjoyed before she came face to face with a deadly mega fire. Her solution? The creation of After the Fire, a non-profit that has become a leading resource for communities all over the country who are facing the same trials she did back in 2017. After Fire was one of the resources that responded to both the Palisades and Eaton Fires, and is still helping survivors navigate bureaucracy, insurance nightmares, and bad information. When she’s not helping people in burn scars around the country, she's advocating for them on Capitol Hill, helping pass legislation that protects disaster survivors. This week, she sits down with host Cameron Barrett to talk about her work and what she sees ahead for Los Angeles.

Resources:

• After the Fire
• Wildfire Leadership Summit
• HR5683 Federal Disaster Tax Relief
• Fire Safe Marin
• The Foothill Catalog
• Wildfire:LA

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The Palisades and Eaton Fires destroyed a lot of history. Will Rogers’s ranch home, Pasadena Waldorf School, Robert Bridges House, The Bunny Museum, Andrew McNally House, Theater Palisades, and The Zane Gray Estate are just a few of the thousands of structures lost in the fires. They all were touchstones in the communities where they were located. What does their loss mean to the Pacific Palisades and Altadena? What could we have done to protect them? And what do we need to do to protect other historic landmarks that might be in the way of the next megafire? We talk to researcher and urban planner, Ryan Handy, of Headwater Economics, about her new research on saving history from wildfire in this episode of Rebuild:LA.

Resources:

• Loss of the Grand Canyon Lodge
• Protecting Our Past: Wildfire Strategies for Historic Buildings
• Urban Conflagrations
• The Cost of Rebuilding
• The Cost to Retrofit
• Nevada City, CA Retrofit Program
• Headwaters Economics Podcast
• Relocating Historic Homes in Altadena

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When you’ve been in the California fire service for 48 years, like Chief Kim Zagaris, you’re likely to take a long view of how we’re doing when it comes to wildfire response. Chief Z as many know him, was State Fire and Rescue Chief for the State of California, Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) until just a few years ago,, when he retired and become the Wildfire Policy and Technology Advisor for the Western Fire Chiefs Association. Zagaris has fought hundreds of wildfires in his decades’ long career, yet he’s still out there, fighting to get more apparatus in the hands of fire departments, more technology in the hands off firefighters, and more trained boots on the ground at the next mega fire. Our conversation this week with Chief Z covers all that and more.

Resources

• CalOES
• Western Fire Chiefs’ Association
• 2004 Governor’s Blue Ribbon Fire Commission Report

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There have always been people who have stayed behind to try to protect their homes during a wildfire. It happened in the Palisades and in Altadena this January. As always, there were varying results. Some claimed to have saved their homes and even those of their neighbors. Others may have lost their lives trying. It’s never been a thing any emergency services department, or any professional firefighter would recommend. But just recently, LA County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said in some instances, his department supports staying behind. And one of the reasons, if not THE reasons for the Chief’s 180-degree turn? The LA County Fire Department’s Community Brigade - a group of civilians and home owners, who now have the training and the equipment to stay behind. It's the brainchild of Brent Woodworth, a man with 40+ years of crisis management in the private sector, who founded the Los Angeles Emergency Preparedness Foundation. What is the Brigade and what does it do? You'll find out in this episode.

Resources:

• LA County Fire Department Community Brigade
• Los Angeles Emergency Preparedness Foundation
• Home Ignition Zone Assessments Sign Up
• Join the Brigade
• Woolsey Fire Assessment Report

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This week social scientist Aimery Thomas of the Future Organization joins Cameron Barrett to talk about ARISE - Altadena Resident Impact Survey and Evaluation. It’s a report he and his partner compiled after they surveyed 1,200+ Altadena residents in the wake of the Eaton Fire. The results are as fascination as they are disturbing, uncovering a web of neglect in fire prevention, emergency response, and resource allocation before, during, and after the disaster.

Resources:

• The Future Organization
• The ARISE Study
• LA County Government
• Altadena Town Council

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Our conversation this week is with Palisades Fire survivor Kari Weaver, who lost her home in the alphabet streets. It’s been 8 months since that windy, dry Tuesday morning, January 7, when the Palisades Fire started in the highlands. And it was only a few hours later that the Eaton Fire came roaring out of Eaton Canyon and wiped out much of Altadena. A lot has happened in those eight months. And many of us who aren’t in the middle of insurance claims, construction bids, and temporary housing issues have moved on. But there are still tens of thousands of Los Angeles residents who can’t - because they’re facing the fallout of those fires every day. But Kari Weaver, an interior designer and mother of three, is just surviving; she’s planning. She has a vision about how to make the Pacific Palisades, post-fire, a better place to live. Learn about her harrowing evacuation and her vision of what the future could be.

Resources:

• Kari Weaver Design
• Resilient Palisades
• 2025 Palisades Fire
• Nonprofit Rebuilding Palisades Rec Center
• LA Fire Health Study

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California Senator Ben Allen is our guest this week, squeezing our interview into his jammed legislative schedule. Allen grew up in Santa Monica and represents California Senate District #24, which includes his hometown, as well as Malibu and the Pacific Palisades, two communities devastated by January’s Palisades Fire. This week he’s in Sacramento presenting legislation to help rebuilding efforts move forward. The bills have names like Winter Fires of 2025: real property tax: exemptions and reassessment. Allen was not only professionally impacted by the firestorms, but personally as well. And he’s working to make sure that impact remains fresh in the minds of his colleagues in Sacramento. Find out all about his efforts and his thoughts on rebuilding Los Angeles.

Resources:

• Senator Ben Allen
• Senate Bill #663
• Senate Bill #549
• Jewish Free Loan Association
• Resilient  Palisades

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The death toll from the January Firestorms has climbed to 31 with the discovery in late June of the remains of Juan Francisco Espinoza, a 74-year-old man who didn’t escape the Eaton Fire when it raged through Altadena. The discovery of yet another victim six months after the fires makes it clear that we need to start working together to get wildfire evacuations right. Last week, in the first half of our conversation about evacuations with MySafe:LA's David Barrett, we discussed notification systems and the technology being fine-tuned in LA County to make evacuation notifications more effective. This week, we’re talking about what people can do to guarantee their survival when the next disaster strikes. David Barrett will give us step-by-step guidelines on evacuation best practices and talk about the elephant in the room when it comes to evacuation problems - infrastructure.

Resources:

• MySafe:LA
• Genysus
• Genysus News
• 31st Victim Discovered in Altadena

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This week is the first half of another conversation we’re stretching over two episodes, and that’s because of the complexity of what we’re discussing - evacuation. Why didn’t it work in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena when wildfires raged through both communities this January? Why does the death toll for the fires keep rising? Los Angeles County Sheriff’s just recently identified yet another victim of the Eaton Fire, a 74-year-old man who didn’t get out in time. Why can’t we get this right? What can we do to increase survivability when the next fire strikes? We ask all those questions and more of David Barrett, the Chief Officer of our non-profit, MySafe:LA, this week, and find out about new software that could make notifications and evacuations easier for both municipalities AND residents.

Resources:

• MySafe:LA
• Genysus
• Genysus News
• 31st Victim Discovered in Altadena

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This week Cameron Barrett sits down with two Fire Chiefs who have just completed projects in their respective homes to give them the best chance of making it through a wildfire. Chief Frank Bigelow is CAL FIRE’s Deputy Director of Community Wildfire Preparedness and Mitigation. Chief Jose de Jesus Lopez is a retired Assistant Chief for Los Angeles County Fire Department, and currently serves on the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection. Bigelow and his family have just moved in to a newly built home outside of Fresno, where he and his wife have made exacting decisions to build a home that is both state of the art and fire resistant. Lopez has come at it from an entirely different angle, taking a house built in 1960, and retrofitting it to be fire resistant. We recorded this week’s episode right in Lopez’s backyard, which overlooks El Prieto Canyon and the Angeles National Forest. Lopez is one of the lucky ones. His neighborhood is in Altadena, but is a California Fire Safe Council, and survived both the Station Fire in 2009 and the Eaton Fire in January. Find out what decisions they made to protect their homes.

Resources:

• Wildfire:LA
• State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection
• Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety “Wildfire Prepared Home” Standards
• National Institute for Standards Technology’s Hazard Mitigation Methodology
• CAL FIRE Home Hardening
• CAL FIRE Defensible Space

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Part II of our conversation with State Fire Marshal Daniel Berlant finds us tackling one of the most contentious topics in wildfire prevention - Zone Zero. The state is still trying to define exactly what Zone Zero will entail, but homeowners are already filling social media and text strings with nightmares of having to create moonscapes of bare dirt around their homes to qualify for fire insurance. So, what exactly is ZoneZero, and what does CAL FIRE want you to do to be in compliance? That's what we cover in the second half of our conversation with Chief Daniel Berlant.

Resources:

• CAL FIRE
• Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety’s Living with Wildfire
• Ready for Wildfire
• CAL FIRE Fuels Reduction
• Board of Forestry and Fire Protection July Committee Meeting and Agenda
• Becoming an NFPA Firewise USA Site

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This week is the first of a two-part conversation with State Fire Marshal Daniel Berlant. He leads the wildfire prevention and preparedness efforts for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE). California is home to nearly 40 million people, who live all over the 164-thousand square acres of land that make up the state. The third-largest state in the country by area, and the most populous state in the country by far. It’s safe to say that when it comes to wildfire, Berlant has his work cut out for him. In our first episode, Berlant discusses his department’s response to the Eaton Fire and how CAL FIRE is trying to “treat” hundreds of thousands of acres of wildland to restore natural habitat while protecting the increasing number of people moving into the WUI.

Resources:

• CAL FIRE
• Eaton Fire Maps and Data
• CAL FIRE Fuels Reduction
• Board of Forestry and Fire Protection July Committee Meeting and Agenda

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It’s been six months since the firestorms of January tore through the communities of Pacific Palisades and Altadena. The worst wildfire disaster in Los Angeles history, the Palisades Fire killed 12 people, destroyed 6,837 structures and burned 23,448 acres. The Eaton Fire was even more destructive, killing 18 people, destroying 9,000 structures and burning 14,021 acres. Six months isn’t a long time, but if you weren’t directly effected by the fires, chances are they faded from memory. They are no longer headline news, despite the fact that clean up is still underway and rebuilding is still in the early stages. So at this six month milestone, we wanted to return to a central theme in our podcast, and in all of our work, and that’s preparation. We know that it saves lives, and just because the fires are out, doesn't mean there isn’t another one of the horizon. The time to begin preparing for a wildfire disaster is now. What would you pack, if a wildfire was nearing your home? What would you grab, if you only had a few minutes to save the lives of you, your loved ones, your pets, and your neighbors? That’s what this episode is all about, with our guest, MySafe:LA’s Chris Nevil.

Resources:

• KCAL News Story on Rob Hoover
• Wildfire:LA’s Make a Kit Guide
• MySafe:LA’s Pet Safety Guide
• More Prepared Kits
• SOS Survival Products

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What if saving California’s chaparral ecosystem means we’d be protecting California communities from wildfires? Richard Halsey, the founder of the California Chaparral Institute, says our state’s most abundant biome, chaparral, actually protects our communities from widespread wildfire disasters. And he says the more the state mandates the clearance of native habitats like the chaparral, the more it guarantees that wildfires will destroy communities. Halsey’s decades of fighting for the preservation of natural habitats has found him in court - twice - once in 2004 against the state’s plan to clear hundreds of acres in San Diego County after the Cedar fire, and just recently against CalFire and their plan to clear thousands of acres of wildland throughout the state. He won both lawsuits, but his battle continues. Find out about his fight to save homes from wildfire by saving California’s chaparral.

Resources:

• California Chaparral Institute
• Become a Chaparral Naturalist
• California Chaparral Institute’s Victories in Court
• California Chaparral Institute Home Protection Booklet

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MySafe:LA's Wildfire Fair took place this past Sunday at the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles. Our non-profit organized the event to help residents have a one-stop solution to finding wildfire information and products. The fair featured 25 booths where attendees could learn about a wide array of products from spray-on fire retardants, to emergency vests pre-loaded with essentials you’ll need if you have to evacuate. Government agencies were also on hand including Los Angeles’ Emergency Management Department and the State’s Department of Insurance. Workshops were held throughout the day. Experts presented on landscape planning, wildfire safety for older adults, home fire retardants, how to become a Firewise site, and updates on California’s current insurance challenges. There was even a Kids' Zone where children learned hands-only CPR and home fire safety, assembled their own emergency Go Bags, and practiced how to Get Low and GO. The fair welcomed at least 300 attendees. It was so successful that we plan to hold three more this year, in LA Council Districts 1, 11, and 12. 

Our Executive Officer, David Barrett, carried a microphone into the booths of some of the exhibitors to find out what they have to offer in helping keep Los Angelenos safe in the event of ll. wildfire.

Resources:

• MySafe:LA’s Kids Safety
• PERK (Phoenix Emergency Recovery Kits)
• M-Fire Technologies
• M-Fire Suppression
• WetLine Wildfire Defense
• Fire Coat
• PERCI

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Our guest this week is Silvio Lanzas, the former Fire Chief for the City of Glendale, and the current Chief Operating Officer for the fire retardant manufacturer M-Fire. The company produces and applies a product called AF31 that is water-based and food-grade, and can be sprayed on houses, car batteries, and whole forests. It was invented more than 30 years ago in the UK, it’s made in Torrance, California, and it’s widely used throughout Asia. So why does no one know about it here in wildfire-ravaged California? It might have to do with the dominance in the marketplace of Phos-Check, the red stuff we’ve all seen flowing out of aircraft over wildfires. But Lanzas is trying to change that…one construction site, one EV battery and one house at a time.

Resources:

• M-Fire Technologies
• M-Fire Suppression
• Questions about AF31? Email asklanzas@mfiretechnologies.com

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Five months after the Eaton Fire came charging out of the wildland and destroyed much of the historic city of Altadena, there are still hundreds of families who haven’t been able to return home or start the long process of recovering. This week’s guest says there is a correlation between a family’s insurance carrier, and their ability to recover their lives and rebuild their futures. Joy Chen is a former Deputy Mayor of Los Angeles, and the current CEO of the Multicultural Leadership Institute. But these days, she dedicates much of her time to the organization she co-founded, the Eaton Fire Survivors’ Network, and trying to get the insurance industry to pay out on the hundreds of claims coming from survivors. She believes there is a systematic approach of “delay, deny, discourage and underpay.”   She and others in the Eaton Fire Survivors’ Network are pressuring California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara to investigate the claims process and freeze any proposed rate hikes. The details of her group’s mission are detailed in this week’s episode.

Resources:

• Eaton Fire Survivors’ Network
• Join Eaton Fire Survivors’ Network Discord
• Letter to California Insurance Commission Ricardo Lara
• New York Times Insurance Survey
• Sign up for Eaton Fire Survivors’ Network June 19th Podcast on Insurance Fraud
• Lawsuit Against Insurers

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In this week’s Episode host Cameron Barrett interviews software developer Jason Brooks who took his experience surviving the Tubbs Fire that destroyed Santa Rose in 2017, as inspiration to design an app that has helped more than a million people make their homes safer from wildfire. Brooks’ app, Fire Aside, is now being used by dozens of municipalities in more than half a dozen states to streamline brush inspections, home hardening and defensible space education and fire prevention efforts. Hear how the app works, and how even Fire Safe Councils and Homeowners’ Associations are leveraging Fire Aside in the fight against wildfires.

Resources:

• Fire Aside
• Chipper Days
• Marin County's Close Call

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In 2020 California passed AB 3074, which established Zone Zero - an ember-resistant zone within five feet of homes in High and Very High Fire Severity Zones (HFHSZ and VHFHSZ). The law was never implemented because the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection needed to identify exactly what would be allowed and not allowed in Zone Zero. Two things have happened recently. 1. The Board of Forestry and Fire Protection released new maps that have expanded the HFHSZ and VHFHSZ. 2. In the wake of the January Firestorms, Governor Newsom issued an executive order requiring the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to finalize rule-making and implement Zone Zero.

What does this mean for homeowners in Los Angeles? We have the answers, and they might not be what you want to hear. Our expert guest this week is Travis Longcore, a UCLA Adjunct Professor and Co-Chair of the Environmental Science and Engineering Program at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, as well as a 28-year member of the Los Angeles County Environmental Review Board. And what he tells host Cameron Barrett about the proposed rules around Zone Zero are surprising...to say the least!

Resources:

• Is Your Home in a HFHSZ and VHFHSZ?
• Board of Forestry and Fire Protection’s Proposed Zone Zero Rules
• Register for Updates on Future Zone Zero Meetings with the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection

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This week’s guest is a thought leader and non-profit founder Spencer Glendon, who we met last week in part one of our discussion on how climate change is making our lives riskier, and forcing us to rethink where and how we live. The Palisades and Eaton Fires are just two examples of that increased risk. Glendon brings his expertise in Engineering, and Economics, as well as his experience as an Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School and a Senior Fellow at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, to the conversation. He and host Cameron Barrett began their discussion last week with the history of our climate. This week they drill down to what climate change means for Southern California and how rebuilding LA requires some forethought, some big conversations, and some community building.

Resources:

• Probable Futures
• The 2025 Equinoxes Essay
• The History of Risk Markets and Urban Fires
• Fortune article on Fire Insurance
• Harvard Business School article on the LA Fires

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This week’s guest is a thought leader taking on the daunting task of teaching people about climate change and how best to adapt to it. Spencer Glendon is the founder of Probable Futures, a non-profit that is helping businesses and communities understand that our weather is no longer something we can rely on, but instead is causing increased risk to our safety. The Palisades and Eaton Fires are just two examples of that increased risk. Glendon brings his expertise in Engineering, and Economics, as well as his experience as an Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School and a Senior Fellow at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, to the conversation. He and host Cameron Barrett start this two part discussion with the last 100,000 years of weather and human development, and end in next week’s part two of the conversation, discussing = what we need to do today in the wake of our twin climate disasters - the Palisades and Eaton Fires - to rebuild LA.

Resources:

• Probable Futures
• The 2025 Equinoxes Essay
• The History of Risk Markets and Urban Fires
• Fortune article on Fire Insurance
• Harvard Business School article on the LA Fires

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Dante Cornejo is MySafe:LA’s wildfire coordinator for Los Angeles County and is host Cameron Barrett’s guest this week. Dante has done assessments on hundreds of homes as part of his work, evaluating the wildfire risk of residences all over the County.  In this episode, he talks about those assessments, and list things you can do today, even if you don’t have a lot of time or money, to make yourself, your family and your home, safer.

Resources:

• MySafe:LA
• Wildfire:LA
• California Fire Safe Council
• NFPA's Firewise USA
• Home Hardening How Tos
• Defensible Space

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When the Palisades Fire ripped through Los Angeles, the Department of Recreation and Parks got to work on myriad fronts. Park Rangers, who are actually trained in wildland firefighting, battled dozens of smaller spot fires in parks all over the city that day. Rec and Parks facilities re-invented themselves as evacuation sites and shelters for displaces residents. And two equestrian centers took in more than 550 horses (along with a few donkeys and some larger pigs). Rec and Parks might seem like the city department that fixes playgrounds and cleans pools, but they’re much more than that. They suffered losses during the Palisades Fire, they cared for hundreds of people and animals, and they’ve come out on the other end of the fire, helping rebuild not only park facilities, but whole communities. Cameron Barrett’s guest is Department of Recreation Assistant General Manager Brenda Aguirre.

Resources:

• LA City Department of Recreation and Parks
• LA Stables Turn Into Noah’s Ark
• Palisades Fire Emergency Shelter
• Griffith Observatory’s 90th Anniversary Celebration
• Palisades Recreation Center

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Months after the Palisades and Eaton Fires swept through Los Angeles County, many people are still struggling emotionally. So much so, that California Assemblymember John Harabedian has introduced legislation that would require insurance companies, as part of disaster claims, to cover up to 12 sessions with a mental health professional. This week, we talk to Dr. Veronica Viesca about that struggle. She is a Marriage and Family Therapist, an Assistant Professor at Pepperine University, and the founder of the Center for Mental Health Excellence. She joins host Cameron Barrett to discuss how the mental health of individuals says a lot about the community as a whole, and how a phenomenon called post-traumatic growth, is building resilience across the community.

Resources:

• Center for Mental Health Excellence
• Pro Bono Mental Health Providers
• Spectrum News Piece of  Mental Health After the Fires
• Assemblymember John Harabedian - District 41

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For 30 years, the aerial firefighters of Quebec have had an agreement with California. When we call for help, they come. Pascal Duclos is the Chief Pilot of an elite firefighting force called the Quebec Scoopers. They fly a unique aircraft, the CL415, which was designed and built in Canada to do one thing - drop water on wildfires. And that's exactly what Duclos and his team did during the Palisades Fire. He says he learned one thing fighting that urban conflagration in 100 mph wind gusts - that nature is stronger than we are. He joins host Cameron Barrett to talk about the Palisades Fire, his highly-skilled brand of firefighting, climate change, and more.

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The second half of our conversation with Jon Brown brings him out of the ashes of the Palisades Fire, and right into a property fight with the owners of the mobile home park where he lived with his wife and two young kids. The Palisades Bowl was one of the last rent controlled neighborhoods in Los Angeles, and when the Palisades Fire swept through, nearly 400 people were left homeless. Those neighbors have come together to create the Palisades Bowl Community Partnership, to try and get recovery underway, with the final mission to rebuild the Park. Unfortunately, owners of the Park haven’t exactly been proactive, or even responsive. Jon discusses with host Cameron Barrett the road ahead, and how he and his neighbors might even try to buy the Bowl and rebuild their lives.

Resources:

• Pacific Palisades Bowl Mobile Home Park
• Jon Brown Real Estate

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Jon Brown is one of the 400 residents of the Pacific Palisades Bowl Mobile Home Park that no longer has a neighborhood to go home to. All 170+ homes are gone, flattened by the Palisades Fire. Jon joins host Cameron Barrett for a two-part conversation about how he and his young family escaped the fire. But Jon’s story is bigger than just running from the fire. In fact, the fire was just the beginning of his fight. Jon’s story is one of resilience, leadership, and a relentless commitment to his neighbors. Across two episodes, he shares the emotional and logistical challenges of rebuilding after disaster, the fight against negligent property owners, and the power of a united community working together to return home. Part I is Jon’s survival story. Part II (available April 4th) is about the power of a united community working together to return home.

Resources:

• Pacific Palisades Bowl Mobile Home Estates
• Jon Brown Real Estate

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Cameron Barrett’s guest this episode of Sean Scott, a contractor by trade, and the author of a book you want to get on your shelf as soon as possible. The Red Guide to Recovery is a spiral bound Bible for homeowner who is navigating a disaster, whether that’s something as personal a a burst pipe, or as catastrophic as the Eaton or Palisades Fires. It’s even a terrific resource for those who want to prepare for a potential disaster. MySafe:LA, and fire departments all over North America, have been handing out the book to survivors for more than a decade. Here’s the guide you’ve been waiting for to navigate insurance, avoid scams, clean up safely and much more.

Resources:

• The Red Guide to Recovery Website
• The Red Guide to Recovery on Amazon
• Secrets of the Insurance Game
• NFPA’s Most Home Fires Result from 5 General Causes
• Matterport Scan

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So much has been written and said about the Palisades Fire, that it sometimes is confounding how the “other” fire that burned through a community in LA County in early January, goes unmentioned. The Eaton Fire started within hours of the Palisades Fire. It came roaring out of Eaton Canyon, in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, just 20 miles northeast of downtown LA, and destroyed thousands of homes and killed 17 people. That’s more death and destruction than the Palisades Fire. It leveled much of Altadena, a storied city filled with a century of African American history. The area had been a welcome home for Black professionals and creatives. The McFarland Family was among them. They lost everything in the fire. Pastor Anthony McFarland and his daughter Jessica Fernandez talk to host Cameron Barrett about their harrowing evacuation and survival. They have a lot of questions now that the fire is out, and are looking for answers. Hear their remarkable story on Rebuild:LA.

Resources:

• Eaton Fire Disaster Recovery
• History of Altadena
• Eaton Fire Damage Maps
• Abundant Harvest Christian Center
• Parlee Inc

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Jim Kniss makes his living flying over wildfires, making GIS and infrared maps for firefighters. It's all pretty cutting edge technology. But what he's most passionate about is a little more old school. He's working to get Beacon Boxes into rural neighborhoods in fire-prone areas of California. He and the team at FireMapper, LLC have already installed dozens in Beverly Hills, Agoura Hills and Malibu, with more going in to Chatsworth, Bell Canyon and Malibu Lake. Beacon Boxes are like old-timey fireboxes from the last century, but with some very high tech tools inside. Kniss sits down with host Cameron Barrett to talk about what's in Beacon Boxes, why every rural community in California needs them, and who accessed them in Malibu during the Palisades Fire. Spoiler Alert - no one knows! But maybe you can help us find out.

Resources:

• FireMapper, LLC
• Beacon Boxes

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Dr. Chris Potter calls it VERM, or vegetation ember index. He’s an earth scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, and he’s developed a new mapping product that shows VERM areas. And VERM areas are those places most vulnerable to fire. In other words, he and his research team are predicting the next place a destructive wildfire will strike. The product is free because it’s produced by NASA and paid for with federal tax dollars. But like so many scientific initiatives funded by the federal government, there’s a chance it will soon hit the chopping block. Dr. Potter sits down with host Cameron Barrett to talk about the VERM maps, what we can learn from them, and how we can use them to mitigate a wildfire before it even starts. 

Resources:

• NASA's Ames Research Center
• NASA
• Ember Risk Modeling

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Monday, March 31, 2025 (an extended date) is an important deadline if you’ve been effected by the Eaton or Palisades fires. That’s when you have to register for FEMA benefits if you’ve had losses. It’s also the deadline to register for SBA loans from the Federal Government. These are the kinds of details Joel Wish and his disaster recovery experts make sure their clients don’t miss. He’s the founder and CEO of Bright Harbor, a disaster recovery company based in Austin, Texas. He started the company two years ago, and it’s busier than ever. That’s because disasters are coming more frequently and more destructively than ever before. Host Cameron Barrett sat down with Wish to find out more about what survivors of the Eaton and Palisades Fires need to be managing right now as we enter the recovery phase of the most destructive fires in California history.

Resources:

• Bright Harbor
• FEMA Disaster Assistance
• SBA Loans

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Sue Pascoe, her husband, and their two dogs evacuated the Palisades Fire on January 7, 2025 with a couple of overnight bags and the dogs' food bowls. They'd evacuated plenty of times before. This would be like the last few times. They'd be back home the next day. But by the next day, her home was gone. Like thousands of other families, the Pascoes lost everything. Sue is a journalist for the online newspaper Circling the News. Her press credentials got her inside the barricades before the public was given access. What she saw, and what she learned in her reporting has made her very angry. Her story is eye opening and wrenching.

Resources:

• Circling the News
• KTLA's News Story "Firefighters kept from front lines due to unserviced LAFD vehicles"
• How Much Will It Cost to Rebuild Los Angeles?
• FEMA Assistance for those Effected by the Wildfires 

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Nearly two months after wildfires swept through the communities of Pacific Palisades and Altadena, the dust and ash have settled. People are now taking stock of what they have and whether they’ll be able to rebuild. Can they afford what they once had? Should they build back bigger? Smaller? Should they build back at all?

In this episode we talk to homebuilding innovator Alexis Rivas. He’s the CEO and co-founder of Cover, a company that has revolutionized pre-manufactured homes here in LA County. He talks with Cameron Barrett about everything from more fire resistant building materials to the latest attempt by the LA County Board of Supervisors to rethink state laws about ADUs. It’s a wide-ranging, fact-loaded discussion on how best to rebuild LA.

Resources:

• Cover
• LA County ADU Permitting
• LA County says state housing laws stand in way of rebuilding. Advocates disagree.

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The National Fire Protection Association has been creating fire code in American since the late 1800's. We have the NFPA to thank for fire sprinklers in apartment buildings and fire doors in high rise buildings. In the 1980's, the NFPA realized that wildfires were igniting in unusual places in North America, and they decided to do something about it. They wanted to "out-think wildfires." Firewise USA was born. And it's why their Wildfire Division Director, Michele Steinberg, toured surviving homes in the Palisades and Eaton burn scars. Cameron Barrett had a wide-ranging discussion with Steinberg, and found out some reasons why there are still houses standing in Pacific Palisades and Altadena.

Resources:

• National Fire Protection Association
• Firewise USA Toolkit
• MySafe:LA Wildfire Home Inspection Request Form

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5,000 Los Angeles school children were affected by the Palisades and Eaton Fires. That's a lot of kids who either lost their homes, or their schools, or both. Cameron Barrett asks licensed children and family therapist Chloe Canton to help explain the trauma kids are going through right now, how to spot the warning signs of children in crisis, and what we can do to help kids through this unprecedented time. 

Resources:

• Pro Bono List of Therapists
• Chloe Canton
• Aveson School
• Westside Waldorf
• Schools Lost in the Eaton Fire

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Rich Thompson is an incident meteorologist (IMET) with the National Weather Service, which means he predicts weather during disasters to help first responders during the active phase of an incident. He was on the ground during the Palisades Fire and describes the conditions in early January as a "once in a career" weather event. He chatted with Cameron Barrett about what his experience was like at the Command Post of the Palisades Fire and how his forecasts directed firefighters and air assets during the fire fight.

Resources:

• National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - https://www.noaa.gov/
• National Weather Service LA/Oxnard - https://www.weather.gov/lox/
• A Day in the Life of an IMET - https://www.weather.gov/news/imet-article

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Councilmember John Lee of Los Angeles' CD #12 sits down with Cameron Barrett to talk about his district's recovery efforts in the wake of the January fires, how he plans on managing the independent investigation into the Palisades Fire as the head of the Public Safety Committee, and so much more in this episode of Rebuild:LA.

Resources:

• Councilmember John Lee - https://cd12.lacity.gov/about/about-john-lee
• Investigations in the Palisades Fire - https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-02-06/full-coverage-california-wildfires-2025-investigations
• Committee Assignments in LA City Council - https://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/clk/CommitteeAssignments.pdf
• Council District 12 map - https://cd12.lacity.gov/about/council-district-12

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Eunisses Hernandez is the Councilmember representing District #1 in the City of Los Angeles. Her constituents live miles from both the Palisades and the Eaton Fires. No one in Council District #1 lost a home to fire. But many have lost jobs, employers, and even clean air to breathe.

Host Cameron Barrett sits down with Hernandez to discuss the ripple effects of the fires that have reached all the way to Council District #1 and how Hernandez is responding.

Resources:

• Map of Council District #1: https://advocacy.assets.support2.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/CD1_Eunisses-Hernandez.jpg
• Guaranteed Wage Motion: https://cd1.lacity.gov/press-releases/councilmember-hernandez-introduces-legislation-support-workers-and-small-businesses
• Rent Gauging in the Wake of the Fires: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/real-estate/2025/01/14/la-fires-price-gouging-illegal/77672038007/
• Red Flag Restricted Parking in Los Angeles: https://ers.lafd.org/redflag/

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We mark the month anniversary of the January firestorms with our first survivor story. Cameron Barrett sat down with retired Superior Court Judge, Justice Tricia Bigelow. She barely had time to evacuate her Pacific Palisades home, but was chased from two more places she had gone to seeking shelter, as the Palisades Fire kept advancing.

This is her incredible story.

Resources:

• Make A Kit - https://vimeo.com/160316898
• Ready, Set, Go - https://www.wildfirela.org

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Greg Doyle has been shooting photographs of wildfires for the last 12 years. His works has been featured in fire magazines and websites, including www.wildfirela.org. It's safe to say that in those 12 years, Greg has never been as busy as he has been this past January. In fact, the last four months have seen him driving all over Southern California, documenting some of the most destructive wildfires this region has ever seen.

Cameron Barrett talks with Greg about his days covering the fires, how he stays safe, when he puts the camera down to help people, and what he hopes the future holds for Los Angeles.

Resources:

• Wildfire:LA - https://www.wildfirela.org/
• Hughes Lake Boat Launch Burns - https://vimeo.com/1054022421

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When homeowners who lost everything in the Eaton and Palisades Fires called their insurance companies, some of them had a rude awakening, adding more misery to families who had already lost nearly everything they owned. What happens when you lose your home to wildfire? Do you have enough insurance? Can you even get enough insurance in California in 2025? What about your mortgage? Do you still need to pay for a house that no longer exists? And if you still have a home, what can you do to lower your risks and your insurance payments. Cameron Barrett interviews Real Estate Broker and community resilience expert Pat Hanley in this episode of Rebuild:LA.

Resources:

• California Association of Realtors
  https://www.car.org/
• Ventura Regional Fire Safe Council
  https://venturafiresafe.org/
• Team Rubicon
  https://teamrubiconusa.org/
• Home Hardening
  https://www.wildfirela.org/home-hardening/
• Defensible Space
  https://www.wildfirela.org/defensible-space/
• California Fire Safe Council
  https://www.wildfirela.org/fire-safe-councils/

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Linnea Edmeier sits down with host Cameron Barrett, to bring us her story from thousands of feet above the Palisades Fire. Edmeier is the Public Information Officer for CAL FIRE's Aviation Unit, and was deployed to the Palisades Fire. There she recorded the conflagration, keeping tabs on the dozens of flights in the air night and day as thousands of firefighters battled one of the most deadly and destructive wildfires in California history.

Hear how she worked through fatigue, 100 mph wind gusts and illegal drone flights to support the firefight.

Resources:

• CAL FIRE Aviation - https://www.fire.ca.gov/what-we-do/fire-protection/aviation-program
• LAFD Air Ops - https://lafd.org/about/special-operations/air-operations
• Drone Laws in Los Angeles - https://drone-laws.com/drone-laws-in-la/

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For the last 30 years, Madeline Bernstein has been fighting the good fight to help rescue, shelter, and find forever homes for the pets of Los Angeles. She is the president of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
During the Palisades Fire in January 2025, Madeline evacuated twice. Each time she quickly gathered her belongings, and her most beloved companions - two hibernating desert tortoises! They are the last two survivors of a once large menagerie of pets, and there was no way she was leaving them behind.
In this episode of Rebuild:LA, Madeline tells host Cameron Barrett how she prepared to evacuate, what she did to prepare looooong in advance of the emergency, and how you can do the same thing to help assure the safety of the pets in your life.

Resources:

• SPCA LA - https://spcala.com/
• MySafe:LA Pet Safety - https://www.mysafela.org/pet-safety/
• Downloadable Pet Safety Kit List - https://www.mysafela.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/PetEmergencySafety_LA.pdf

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In the first episode of the Safe Community Project's Rebuild:LA, we talk with MySafe:LA Executive Officer David Barrett about how his non-profit is helping HOAs, neighborhoods and individual homeowners find ways to make their houses safer from wildfires. As Los Angeles begins to rebuild in the wake of the Palisades and Eaton Fires, MySafe:LA is offering a path forward to make communities more resilient. Best of all, it's free!

For free home wildfire inspections:
213-634-0100
https://www.wildfirela.org/

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