The first big city fire in modern history here was the Bel-Air Fire in 1961. It destroyed 484 homes and triggered regulations and new safety standards. The one thing that didn’t change though: real-estate development deeper and higher into the hills, creating an even greater risk. This isn’t just an issue in LA either. It happens all over California and other communities that have faced climate related devastation in states like Texas, Florida, and North Carolina.

In this episode, we discuss the history here, what lessons were learned — and not — and how that can inform what we do this time around as we attempt to rebuild Altadena and the Pacific Palisades. 

We will first hear from long-time Pacific Palisades resident Sue Kohl who raised her family here and currently serves as the president of the Palisades Town Council. Then we will turn to Jenny Jarvie, National Correspondent for the LA Times, and Char Miller, the W.M. Keck Professor of Environmental Analysis and History at Pomona College.