The fires in Los Angeles are almost out. Residents are starting to trickle back into their burned-out neighborhoods. When they get to their houses, they face a series of almost impossible questions: Do we want to live here amongst all this destruction? And if we do, how do we even start?Today, we meet a father and son from Altadena who are confronting those choices. We pass through the National Guard checkpoints and enter the burn zone, where we see for ourselves all the challenges waiting for residents who want to rebuild. And we talk with an insurance adjuster about how the industry tries to value people's homes — and all of their possessions — after they have been reduced to rubble.For more on the California wildfires, check out our newsletter. We spoke with an economist who survived Oakland's wildfires in 1991 and has big ideas for how to rescue California from its insurance doom spiral.This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Sarah Gonzalez and Nick Fountain. It was produced by James Sneed and edited by Keith Romer. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by Neil Tevault with help from Gilly Moon. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Chapter 1: What did residents face returning to their homes after the fires?
This is Planet Money from NPR. Have you been able to go back to your house?
I was able to go back to my house that Wednesday, Wednesday after.
The Wednesday after the big fires started in Los Angeles.
Yes, I was able to go back to my home, which was demolished.
It's like fully burned down to... Burned down to the ground.
Yeah, there's no evidence of a stove, refrigerator, bathtub, a sink. Those things don't exist. It was flat.
This is Aaron Abdushakor. He saw it. He saw it. I have not seen it myself. And that is his son, Jahad Abdushakor.
It was his childhood home.
It's my home home, yeah. Grew up there. Yep. It's ashes.
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Chapter 2: How did Aaron Abdushakor feel about losing his childhood home?
The air is considered very dangerous right now.
I want to be like, why aren't you guys wearing masks? Here, pull over right here.
No, Sarah.
Sarah. Sarah. Hi. I'm just curious. Why are none of you guys wearing masks?
Sarah with the parental energy.
With the concern for people's health.
We get to a checkpoint. We're told to stop, roll down the window.
Hey, how are you? Press? Press. Can I see your name? Yes. Great, thank you. Thank you.
Thank you, guys.
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Chapter 3: What are the statistics on home destruction in Altadena?
Let me tell you a little bit about Altadena before the fires. It was this little green pocket of L.A. I live near Altadena. This is one of my neighborhoods. My husband and I and my kids, we'd drive around here just to look at the trees. Giant, mature trees. Some of the oldest, fullest, weirdest-looking trees in L.A.
And the backdrop of Altadena is the San Gabriel Mountains, these beautiful mountains that always look blue. But today, there is no blue. There is no green.
Yeah, the color that really is just like gray to me. Like it's just monochrome. There's like no color left other than sometimes some brick.
Sometimes brick. Yeah, there's no color. That's what it is.
Even the cars don't have color in them. We're right at the base of the mountains now where homes used to stand. Except you can hardly tell that there were homes here.
You want to walk around a little bit? We're sort of in the hills overlooking Altadena, and the only thing that makes you know you're on a residential street is the way the cars were parked on the street. That and the fact that when you look out in every direction, the only thing you see standing besides trees that survive sometimes is a brick fireplace, a brick fireplace, a brick fireplace.
Chimneys everywhere. The chimneys survive.
It makes you want to build a house made exclusively out of brick. Right? It's like all you see. Like, where's the refrigerator? Where's the refrigerator in this house? Where's the stove? You can't see, like, oh, the kitchen surely was here. For blocks and blocks and blocks and blocks, it's just leveled homes. And it's, like, eerily quiet. There's basically no activity here beyond the checkpoints.
I think before coming here today, I thought, like, oh.
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