The Pacific Palisades are recovering after the devastating fires. (freepik)
The Pacific Palisades neighborhood in Los Angeles is attempting to recover from the devastating Palisades Fire that ignited on January 7, 2025. The fire destroyed approximately 6,837 structures, including homes and historic landmarks, and burned over 23,000 acres before being fully contained by January 31.
The city is often associated with wealth, as on average the household income is 375,000 dollars with most homes at an average price of 3.7 million dollars. In the past, wealthier places that have experienced disasters have fared better than their less fortunate counterparts which has an effect on rebuilding.
The Palisades is projected to be more expensive and exclusive after it is rebuilt than it was before the fires based on statements from a sociologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Max Besbris.
The destruction caused by the fires left an impact that was felt past the borders of the communities, the amount of damage has estimated costs of tens of billions of dollars and will take years to clean up. There is progress that is taking place slowly.
The “Do Not Drink” notice placed by The Department of Water and Power (DWP) was lifted March 7, reflecting a big step for the area. Water will still be tested by crews in the Palisades area, residents have been requested to flush out their pipes by the department.
There are approximately 100 miles of water pipes throughout the Palisades that provide for over 8,400 homes and businesses, the General Manager of the DWP, Janisse Quiñones stated that each property has been provided instruction on-site to aid with the flushing process as well as 50 dollars in credit to flush out pipes without dealing with extra cost.
Quiñones also has stated that there has been significant progress made within restoration of the power system as well as with the replacement of 800 power poles, 50,000 feet of cable, and thousands of homes and businesses have had power restored. There are still around 143 customers that remain without power, due to their locations being in more challenging areas.
DWP is also moving forward with their “undergrounding plan”, which entails placing 4,000 feet of cables underground.
The administrator of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Bob Fenton has stated that FEMA has approved more that 83 million dollars in assistance for fire victims. The Small Business Administration has provided 1.4 billion in financial aid and loans.
Palisades residents are now able to obtain original building plans regarding their lost homes at the LA OneStop Rebuilding Center.
Estimates indicate that insured losses in the Palisades could range from 23 billion to 29 billion dollars. As the fire tore through the area, the damage to properties followed a distinct pattern, often aligned with their value.
Prestigious neighborhoods, such as the Riviera, home to multimillion-dollar estates, were largely spared, while areas like the Alphabet streets, featuring smaller homes on compact lots, suffered severe destruction. Private firefighters have been credited with helping to protect many of the high-end properties during the devastating blaze.
The city’s plans to rebuild are projected to possibly reinforce unfair discrepancies, Mayor Bass’s executive order states that homeowners are able to reinforce 110 percent of their original square footage. This means that larger homes are likely to get larger by a significant amount compared to smaller ones.