L.A. fire updates: Fire victims seek answers about rebuilding, cleanup timeline

Shovel in hand, Hendrena Martin dug through the ruins of the home her father had built more than 60 years ago, searching for any surviving link to the past.

She took stock of what was left: the bricks that her dad laid at the base of the house, the chimney, screen doors that had been blown off their hinges. The home was her family’s legacy — where her father’s memory resided, where she cared for her mother, who now sat silently before the wreckage.

Chubb Ltd. is estimating that it will need to pay out $1.5 billion to cover its Los Angeles County fire claims, making the Swiss insurer the first company to report its expected losses from the conflagrations.

Chairman and Chief Executive Evan Greenberg said the figure includes the cost of “supporting our customers and helping them recover and rebuild from this catastrophe,” according to a statement in the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report released Tuesday.

Southern California Edison is asking state regulators to make its customers cover more than $7 billion in damages it paid to the victims of two devastating wildfires in 2017 and 2018.

At its meeting Thursday, the California Public Utilities Commission will consider Edison’s request to pass on to its ratepayers $1.6 billion in damages from the 2017 Thomas wildfire in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, one of the largest fires in state history.

Good morning. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.

• What to know about debris removal after the fires.
• Were the rains enough to ease Southern California’s fire threat? Here’s what we know.
• Celebrate Lunar New Year at Disneyland California Adventure Park.
• And here’s today’s e-newspaper.

Residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed in the Palisades and Eaton fires can now sign up for debris removal on Los Angeles County’s recovery website.

The government is coordinating the cleanup in two phases. Phase 1 was launched by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Jan. 27. It’s free for residents and does not require homeowners to sign up.

罢丑耻谤蝉诲补测’蝉 FireAid benefit concert is the biggest of the many local events raising money for victims of L.A.’s devastating wildfires. The show, which will take place at the Intuit Dome and Kia Forum in Inglewood, counts Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Olivia Rodrigo and Green Day among the many headliners. Here’s everything you need to know if you want to watch and donate.

Music

Everything that happened at the FireAid benefit: From Stevie Nicks’ thank you to Lady Gaga’s hopeful closer

Mikael Wood and August Brown were at Inglewood’s Intuit Dome and Kia Forum for the FireAid benefit concerts starring Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Green Day and Stevie Wonder, among many others.

Jan. 31, 2025

A request by L.A. County officials to temporarily waive state housing laws as residents rebuild in fire-ravaged swaths of unincorporated areas drew the ire of housing advocates, who accused the officials of skirting efforts at boosting affordable housing.

County Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Lindsey Horvath, who represent districts blackened by this month’s wildfires, put forward a motion Tuesday with 41 steps they want department heads to take to speed up the recovery process.

After the deadly fires that ravaged Southern California this month, Airbnb received praise for its voucher program that offered free stays for displaced victims. Local and national media outlets lauded the effort, directing thousands of refugees to apply.

But for many who needed the housing, reviews weren’t as glowing.

The recent rainfall and increased debris from fire zones have prompted Los Angeles County public health officials to issue an ocean water closure and ocean water quality advisory for several miles of coastline from Malibu to Playa del Rey.

At least 15 miles of coastline stretching from Surfrider Beach in Malibu to Dockweiler State Beach at World Way in Playa del Rey are under an ocean water advisory urging people to avoid swimming, surfing and playing in the water because of debris from fire zones. Although the beaches themselves remain open, public health officials are warning people to stay away from fire debris and heavy ash that may have washed ashore.

The ecosystems on the American Southwest’s federal lands are hemorrhaging carbon dioxide into the atmosphere faster than any other region in the U.S., according to a recent study from the U.S. Geological Survey.

While federal land ecosystems in most states are sequestering carbon dioxide on average, California’s lost six times more than any other state during the 17-year period from 2005 to 2021 that the study analyzed.

This week’s rainstorm brought some much needed moisture to Southern California without the mudslides some feared.

But did it help reduce the fire danger that fueled this month’s unprecedented firestorm?

When the Creek fire exploded in the Angeles National Forest in 2017, suspicions quickly fell on electric power lines as the cause.

Witnesses reported seeing a snapped line on a high-voltage transmission tower in Little Tujunga Canyon around the time the fire started, and investigators focused their attention there.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is tapping Magic Johnson, Dodgers Chairman Mark Walter and 2028 Olympics organizer Casey Wasserman to lead a new private-sector initiative to support wildfire recovery in Los Angeles.

The California governor’s office said the philanthropic effort, called LA Rises, will bring together business leaders to work with city, county and state officials to support rebuilding after the devastating fires. Walter, his foundation and the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation will provide up to $100 million to jump-start fundraising.

Before evacuating from her Malibu home the day the Palisades fire erupted, Cassandra Riera soaked the plants in her yard, moved flammable patio furniture inside and hooked up her private fire hydrant to two long hoses that she left coiled tightly on the ground.

Three years ago, she had spent $1,350 on the personal hydrant system and an additional $1,136 for a plumber to install it on the recommendation of her local fire brigade, which had noted that her side of the street didn’t have a public hydrant.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to open a site to process Eaton fire debris near L.A. County’s foothill communities has prompted swift backlash from local leaders alarmed by the prospect of toxic waste in their backyard.

On Monday, the cities of Duarte, Azusa, Irwindale and Baldwin Park announced their joint opposition to the EPA’s plans to use Lario Park as the destination for hazardous household debris from the fire, including lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. The site is at 15701 E. Foothill Blvd. in an unincorporated area of the county adjacent to the four cities and is slated to begin receiving debris early next week.

The city of Los Angeles is planning to hire an outside consultant to handle a significant rebuilding contract for areas devastated by this month’s Palisades fire, Mayor Karen Bass said Monday.

The firm will represent the city’s interests in the wildfire recovery process, including performing damage assessments, monitoring air and water quality, interacting with various federal agencies and ensuring that the city gets as much federal reimbursement as possible, said Steve Soboroff, who was named by Bass as the city’s chief recovery officer.

The announcement came during a freewheeling half-hour walking tour in Pacific Palisades that Bass and Soboroff held for reporters and some residents Monday afternoon. The walk-and-talk was the first time Soboroff and Bass took questions together since she announced his role Jan. 17 in leading the first phase of the city’s recovery on Jan. 17.