Three months after the devastating Palisades Fire, the Pacific Palisades community is still in the thick of recovery, with clean-up and demolition efforts echoing through the hills. Bulldozers roll through neighborhoods, and once-familiar streets are now marked by roadblocks, heavy machinery, and vacant lots where homes once stood.
“It’s kind of like living in a construction zone,” said Juliet Price, while her mother, Megan, noted the emotional toll, calling it a loss not just of property, but of their “community, our friends, our churches.”
Some homes in Pacific Palisades have been fully cleared, but many others remain untouched since the fire struck on January 7. James Borow, whose home was destroyed, says dealing with insurance has been a nightmare. The California FAIR Plan requires an exhaustive list of lost items—including brand, model, and condition—even though his belongings are now “just rubble.”
Frustration is also mounting over rebuilding costs and red tape. “I’ve already paid thousands of dollars in permits,” said Borow. “I didn’t burn down my house—they did.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass visited the area Friday, acknowledging residents’ frustrations and confirming the city is reviewing permit fees to determine which can legally be waived. Despite the challenges, she emphasized the recovery effort is ahead of schedule compared to similar disasters in other communities.
Still, for families like the Prices and Borows, the path forward remains long—and deeply personal.
Last month, the Los Angeles mayor’s office released a set of deleted text messages from Mayor Karen Bass and city and county officials during the Palisades Fire. FOX 11 had been requesting the messages for nearly two months, but the mayor’s office initially claimed they had been auto-deleted from her phone. The messages were finally obtained and released on March 27 through a public records request.
The Palisades and Eaton fires broke out on January 7 while Bass was in Ghana. She spent much of the next day traveling over 7,500 miles back to Los Angeles. Her absence sparked criticism, with many questioning why the mayor was halfway around the world during a major emergency.
In an interview with FOX 11, Bass admitted she had made a mistake in traveling and said she regretted not being present. However, she claimed that former L.A. Fire Chief Kristin Crowley had not warned her in advance about the high fire risk, despite weather forecasts predicting dangerous conditions.
