Rebuild:LA

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Altadena has always been an alternative community. Historically, a place where people of color could escape racist redlining in LA County, Altadena has brought a small-town feel to one of the most populated counties in the country. When the Eaton Fire killed 19 people and destroyed 9,418 structures, some of them beloved historic landmarks, the residents vowed to rise up and reclaim their magical community. But rebuilding and recovery in Southern California's wildfire-plagued foothills can be overwhelming. 

This week, Cameron Barrett sits down with a local architect who has created the Foothill Catalog Foundation, a non-profit that has streamlined the design and permitting process for families facing the hard realities of rebuilding their homes. And David Barrett meets with Enrico Bressan, a local builder bringing new, wildfire-resilient building techniques to Altadena.

Resources:

• Foothill Catalog Foundation
• Time Magazine Trailblazers
• Rebuild:LA Episode 74 - Why Are The Palisades and Altadena So Slow to Recover with Politico’s Liam Dillon
• Rebuild:LA Episode 075 - The Next Few Months Will Tell Us If The Palisades and Altadena Will Come Back with POLITICO’s Liam Dillon
• Artecnica

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This week, we’re wrapping up our series on native plants by bringing you two experts who can help you plant a native garden. First, we meet Erik Blank, the head gardener at  the Theodore Payne Foundation who teaches Los Angelenos how to create a native plant landscape. And host Cameron Barrett tours a home garden in Tujunga that shows you just how beautiful and wildfire-resilient a landscape filled with native plants can be.

Resources:

• Theodore Payne Foundation
• The Bel-Air Fire
• Las Pilitas Nursery
• The California Native Plant Society
• CalScape

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On this week's episode of Rebuild:LA, host Cameron Barrett continues our series on native plants when she asks biologist and Loyola Marymount professor Dr. Demian Willette if LA is doing brush clearance all wrong. The answer might surprise you. We also spend time with nursery manager Jade Faith from the non-profit North East Trees, and discover where you might be able to get your hands on a coast live oak.

Resources:

• North East Trees
• Ascot Hills Park
• Willette Lab of Applied Ecology

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This week's show is a visual feast for anyone who loves native plants or wants to learn more about them. Host Cameron Barrett tours a micro-forest in Northeast Los Angeles, located in Ascot Hills Park, with micro-forest designer and native plant horticulturalist Katherine Pakradouni. The micro-forest is living proof that Los Angeles's native wildlands no longer contain the native plants that once protected the region from wildfire. Instead, indiscriminate clearing has left what remains of the WUI in the city filled with invasive species that fuel fast-moving brushfires.

Resources:

• Ascot Hills Park
• Northeast Trees
• Seed to Landscape
• Calscape: California Native Plant Society

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This week we wrap up our series on wildfire evacuation with another harrowing story of survival. Caroline Nick, her husband, and her kids fled the Palisades Fire in January 2025. They thought they had time, but ended up dead-stopped in traffic as the fire crept closer. They abandoned both cars and made a run for it up Pacific Coast Highway. You’ll hear her conversation with host Cameron Barrett, as well as a tech story on which apps to download and how to set them up in preparation for the next wildfire.

Resources:

• Aware.CA
• Watch Duty
• Genesis Protect
• Ladris Sentinel
• Los Angeles Fire Department Emergency Alerts

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This week, we continue our series on evacuation when host Cameron Barrett chats with Palisades Fire Survivor Erin Kyle Osborne. When Erin evacuated on January 6, 2025, she had packed the car with her daughter, her daughter’s friend, the cats, and a few precious things she had time to grab. But the minute she hit Palisades Parkway, she joined thousands of others trying to flee. Turns out the only thing fast-moving was the wildfire bearing down on them.

The field team also visits the LAFD’s Metro Fire Communications to learn how emergencies are deemed serious enough to call an evacuation, and what apps LA residents should load onto their phones now to stay on top of emergency notifications. 

Resources:

• Los Angeles Fire Department Emergency Alerts
• Watch Duty
• Genasys Protect
• Everbridge 360

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In this week's Rebuild:LA, we begin a series on wildfire evacuation. After the panic that ensued as thousands of residents tried to evacuate from the Palisades and Eaton Fires in January 2025, Los Angeles County fire departments turned to technology for help. Host Cameron Barrett talks to the Glendale Fire Department's Community Risk Reduction Officer to learn what mobile applications they've put in place for residents to track emergencies and get evacuation notifications, and David Barrett rides out with the Los Angeles Fire Department to learn what the largest department in the County wants you to do to prepare for the next disaster.

Resources:

• Glendale Fire Department Emergency Alerts
• Los Angeles Fire Department Emergency Alerts
• Genasys Protect
• Everbridge 360

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The California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection has withdrawn its Zone Zero emergency regulation package from the California Office of Administrative Law (OAL). The Board later said the withdrawal is procedural and that it's working through technical edits and questions with the OAL. The Board expects to make changes and resubmit the regulations. But no one has shared a public timetable for when.

On this week's Rebuild:LA, in the wake of the unexpected news, host Cameron Barrett talks to the Glendale Fire Chief and the Chair of the LAFD Fire Code Revision Subcommittee about what this means for the future of Zone Zero. Plus, we check in with MySafe:LA field team members who explain what to expect when you sign up for a free home hardening and defensible space assessment.

Resources:

• MySafe:LA Free Home Assessment
• Glendale Fire Department
• LAFD Fire Code Advisory Committee

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The California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection has withdrawn its Zone Zero emergency regulation package from the California Office of Administrative Law (OAL). The Board later said the withdrawal is procedural and that it's working through technical edits and questions with the OAL. The Board expects to make changes and resubmit the regulations. But no one has shared a public timetable for when.

On this week's Rebuild:LA, in the wake of the unexpected news, host Cameron Barrett talks to the Glendale Fire Chief and the Chair of the LAFD Fire Code Revision Subcommittee about what this means for the future of Zone Zero. Plus, we check in with MySafe:LA field team members who explain what to expect when you sign up for a free home hardening and defensible space assessment.

Resources:

• MySafe:LA Free Home Assessment
• Glendale Fire Department
• LAFD Fire Code Advisory Committee

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Last week, state legislators wrapped up their session and sent several bills to Governor Gavin Newsom's desk, all aimed at strengthening wildfire resilience and recovery.

This week, host Cameron Barrett brings you a legislative roundup of the bills that could help LA recover and speaks with Senator Ben Allen. Allen's district includes Pacific Palisades, and one of the bills he authored this session, SB894, is currently awaiting the governor's signature. He tells us about the bill, which is designed to provide low-cost loans to California residents trying to retrofit their homes in preparation for the new Zone Zero policies.

Resources:

• Senator Ben Allen, SD24
• SB894
• AB1642
• AB1795
• AB2700
• SB1301

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