David Brancaccio

They say sock some money away in case of emergency, like the California fires one year ago.

I'm David Brancaccio in Pasadena, California.

This week I've been checking in with my neighbors on my burned street a year after the Hurricane Force firestorm destroyed so much of Altadena, California.

This along with the concurrent fire on the coast in and around Pacific Palisades were the costliest fires for property damage anywhere ever destroyed.

Today, nurse Pauline, did her house burn or did her house stand in the smoke and the soot?

In Pauline Gray's case, the answer is both at the same time.

It's late fall of our fire year.

People from our block gather in a park on a Sunday for lemonade, iced tea, and burritos donated by Home State, a local eatery.

Pauline Gray owns the property about five addresses from ours, same side of the street.

So what do you have to do there to make it habitable for somebody?

And that was, what, a rental property, or do you have family in it?

So where do you live then?

So 0.8, not even a mile.

Did that house stand?

What are you thinking of doing?

Maybe you'll get them back soon then.

Do you have a contractor yet?

So, I mean, how?

Insurance or what?

Yeah, so maybe you saved.