One year after a firestorm ripped through Sue Decker’s neighborhood in the foothills of Altadena, California, her street is still a barren vista of empty lots and piles of dirt where tidy bungalows once stood.
The block is hardly an outlier in Altadena, the Los Angeles-area neighborhood that went up in flames in January 2025 during the devastating Eaton Fire, which killed 19 people and destroyed or damaged more than 6,000 homes.
Fewer than a fifth of burned-out homes in Altadena have been issued rebuilding permits, county records show, let alone started construction. After an early rush of property sales, some homeowners have found themselves stuck, with dozens of lots languishing on the market for months.
Even as survivors of the fire here struggle to stay above water, they could face new hurdles to rebuilding.
