Six Months Later: What the LA Fires Left Behind
by Joel Wish, Founder & CEO of Bright Harbor
Six months ago, fires ripped through LA, destroying more than 18,000 homes and displacing over 200,000 people. But here’s the thing no one tells you: the real disaster doesn’t happen during the fire. It plays out over months and years through insurance denials, permitting delays, and the slow, suffocating grind of bureaucracy. Just ask anyone still dealing with the fallout from Hurricane Sandy. It’s been over a decade, and settlements are still being negotiated in court.
At Bright Harbor, we support thousands of wildfire survivors navigating insurance, permitting, and rebuilding hurdles. We’re working across Southern California, so we have a front-row seat to what recovery actually looks like. It’s not pretty. We’re seeing the same three problems again and again:
Almost everyone is underinsured, forcing complicated financing for a rebuild, or rebuilding less than what the homeowner wants.
Toxic debris is everywhere, making rebuilding and even returning dangerous.
Fragmented and overzealous regulation is ballooning rebuild timelines, with red tape turning recovery into a second disaster.
Insurance That’s Stuck in 1997
Every single client we’ve worked with is underinsured. Most were covered at $150–$200 per square foot. But today’s rebuild costs are closer to $400–$500. In some neighborhoods, it’s over $800. Even the folks who maxed out their policies are staring down six- or seven-figure shortfalls.
Cal FAIR coverage, the last-resort insurance used by many homes in wildfire-prone communities, tops out around $3 million. That’s nowhere near what’s needed when you factor in inflation, tariffs, and a shortage of skilled labor.
This isn’t an LA thing. It’s a national crisis. Across the U.S., more than 60% of homeowners are underinsured by an average of 27%. While several factors contribute to the gap, the biggest driver is the growing risk and unpredictability brought on by climate change.
Urban Wildfire = Toxic Fallout
This wasn’t just a forest fire. It was an urban fire. Houses went up with everything inside. Plastics, electronics, metals, you name it. That smoke? That ash? It’s toxic.
Even when cleanup is technically covered, testing for toxins is patchy at best. Until a recent landmark court ruling, CAL FAIR was instructing most homeowners with smoke damage to clean up themselves, with no industrial hygienist offered. That leaves survivors with no safe or affordable path forward. We’ve heard from clients whose homes were damaged but not destroyed and quietly admit they wish the whole house had burned down. Not because of the money. Because they don’t feel safe going back.
A few months ago, we hosted an AMA with Dr. Mark Hyman to dig into the health impacts. In particular, the smoke was filled with toxins like heavy metals and microplastics. This not only contaminated the air, but also embedded in soft furnishings and clung to walls. Exposure can trigger asthma, worsen cardiovascular conditions, and increase the risk of cancer and long-term lung damage. The fear is justified.
Government Says It’s Helping. Survivors Know Better.
Officials like to say they’re “cutting red tape.” On the ground, we’re seeing the opposite. Six months after the fires, less than 3% of the 12,000+ parcels damaged or destroyed in the Palisades have managed to apply for preliminary permits. One of our clients was the first homeowner in the community to break ground on their rebuild, and they still face at least 10-12 months of construction ahead. Adam Carolla toured Malibu recently to check on rebuilding status and found not a single construction crew or any building materials.
Another client waited months for debris removal, only to have it stopped cold when a bird’s nest was found on-site. When she tried to move it across the street, they threatened her with arrest. Others are being pressured to move back into homes that still smell like chemicals and melted plastic.
The Bright Spot: Survivors Are Rebuilding Smarter
Here’s the hopeful part: communities are choosing to rebuild better, even when the code doesn’t make them. LA doesn’t require fire-safe construction (seriously), but we’ve seen capable survivors turn to metal-and-glass structures, defensible landscaping, and smart design. They understand that individual preparedness is important, but true resilience happens at the community level. And they’re working to make that happen. They’re banding together to push for safer, greener construction and fire-resistant infrastructure.
An example of this is the Case Study 2.0 initiative, which is creating open-source, fire-resistant, sustainable home designs that anyone can take off the shelf and use. The team is working to get these plans pre-approved to help streamline permitting and lower rebuild costs. Forward-thinking modular builders like Cover and Cosmic are also stepping in with solutions that are faster, safer, and greener.
And every client we’ve worked with who took an SBA loan also used the 20% bonus to invest in fire-resilient upgrades.
The Takeaway
This won’t stop with LA. We’ve seen it in New Mexico, Florida, and Texas. As climate risk accelerates, our recovery systems are falling further behind. We need more insurance coverage. More investment in resilient building. More coordination across agencies. More community preparedness and natural resource management. And we need it before the next fire.
Because the era of slow, reactive recovery is over. It’s time to rebuild like we mean it.
🎙️ Inevitable Podcast
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