The Eaton Fire remains at just over 14,000 acres and is 55% contained as of this morning. The Palisades Fire has burned nearly 24,000 acres and is 22% contained. Neither fire’s footprint has expanded since the weekend. Crews are still extinguishing hot spots within the fires’ perimeters to prevent flare-ups. Santa Ana winds are expected to return early next week.
For now, with favorable weather conditions, attention is turning to cleanup and recovery. KCRW hears from LA City Councilmember Traci Park, who represents Pacific Palisades and other Westside neighborhoods.
“I am exhausted and overwhelmed, devastated for my community. It's a lot and altogether, countless, too many stories, families who have just lost everything. And there is a particular trauma … that is indescribable. It's not just the home, it's family heirlooms, it's memories,” she says.
Residents waiting to come back
Park acknowledges that people are angry that this disaster happened at all and are angry about water issues, resources, and the cause (currently unknown) of fire. There’s frustration and a strong desire to return to the area.
“I know everybody is very eager to go in and get a look. But unfortunately, in the Palisades, everything is gone. So all of the infrastructure, every pipe, gas line, water line underground is broken. The wires above have all burned. The area is not safe. And so over the last few days, there have been hundreds of DWP workers on the ground, going door to door, shutting off utilities and making sure the area is safe, so we can get folks back in an orderly way. But I also want to manage expectations for people about what they're coming back to.”
She adds, “For a lot of folks, this is going to be a moment of closure. But every single one of them is entitled to that. I want them to see with their own eyes what happened to their community.”
It’ll take several more days until people can return for first looks, Park estimates. “I don't want to get people's hopes up and say it's three or four days, and it turns out to be seven. We don't know. … Least a year just to get the rubble and the debris out. But I don't know. I am reassured, however, by the fact that every city department is coming together proactively, without ever having been asked, working together on what a streamlined rebuilding and recovery process is going to look like.”
LAFD needs
Park acknowledges that LA’s fire department has been historically understaffed and under-resourced. In fact, the number of fire stations is the same today as it was in 1960.
She says calls for service have quadrupled, and the fire department responded to over 500,000 calls last year. However, the city hasn’t added any new 911 dispatchers. And the City of LA needs at least 62 new fire stations just to serve average daily calls. Currently, there are just over 100 stations.
“I had gone to [the] fire commission, warning that we were not prepared for major events like this. Never mind other world events that are on the calendar … coming to Los Angeles.” That includes the World Cup in 2026, the Super Bowl in 2027, and the Olympics in 2028. Park assures the city will be ready for those major sports events, but right now, her main concern is rebuilding the Palisades.
New legislation
On the City Council’s first day back since the Palisades Fire started last Tuesday, Park introduced a package of 24 motions on local wildfire recovery.
“That legislation covers everything from the debris removal and environmental remediation, to housing relief, addressing the criminal issues, securing long-term financing for infrastructure and other things that are going to be necessary. A top-to-bottom assessment of what happened with this fire, what caused it, what were the contributing factors? What are the lessons learned?”
LA is also working with state partners to expand penalties for price gouging. “I hope people who are considering engaging in that criminal, illegal behavior have heard the warning from our law enforcement partners and the district attorney loud and clear. You will be caught and you will be prosecuted.”
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The Council has introduced protections for displaced residents and workers. It wants to find a balance between protecting fire-impacted tenants and housing providers, especially those who are just starting to recover from the COVID pandemic.
What might the future look like?
Park highlights the diversity of the Palisades community: “There are people that have been there for decades. There are new families. There … was a very diverse supply of housing stock there. It wasn't just big homes on a hillside. I mean, we had multi-family housing. We had trailer parks.”
She says she’s worried about the future, knowing some people have already decided to not return. LA is also having an insurance crisis.
Still, she’s determined to rebuild the Palisades. “We want folks to know they're going to be able to build, like for like, on their lot. We are also streamlining our permitting processes. When the area is safe to return to, we're going to station planning and other critical departments and resources all together on site, so that as folks are returning, they've got one-stop shopping. We are working very closely with the Coastal Commission to make sure that we have a feasible plan that is going to be expedient.”
Input from residents must also be part of the design process, Park emphasizes. “We're already reaching out to the Pacific Palisades Community Council and the Design Review Board, and we want them to know that they're going to lead to.”
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Mayor Bass
Park says she has seen Mayor Karen Bass work around the clock in addressing the fires since she returned home from Ghana.
“She has very deep relationships that are going to benefit the City of Los Angeles. And she is leveraging every resource that she has to make sure that our city gets all of the benefits and resources that it possibly can and that it's going to need. And I want to thank her for everything that she's doing.”