Gumbo: Six Months Later…

Six months ago hell on earth became a reality when the Eaton Fire decimated Altadena.

As Altadenans were forced to deal with the aftermath of the tremendous loss of their homes and in many cases everything they owned, the small town that many people never heard of immediately became a political fulcrum.

Preachers, politicians, activists and out of towners complete with their megaphones and soapbox, began expressing their lifelong admiration of Altadena and commitment to its rise from the ashes.

And of course, once the cameras found another ratings winning trope, they v^[a]anished along with the promises and commitments.

And in their wake questions remain.

Millions upon millions of dollars were raised to help the rebuild along and, now six months later, my conversations with my neighbors and friends in Altadena seem to contain the same.

Where is the money?

The fire destroyed more than 9,000 structures, killed 18 people and scorched 14,000 acres.

But the question remains, were people burned by more than the wind driven blaze?

And its not just the wolves in sheep’s clothing. There’s also the system designed to take money on time, but not come through then the payee needs to get paid.

For example, the state’s FAIR Plan Act which provided insurance far below the state mandate.

The company’s position has long been that homes impacted by wildfire smoke damage are not damaged, they’re dirty, of course the company does not have to pay out for smoke damage.

The company would have left some homeowners on the hook for costly repairs because they may have been forced to replace insulation, flooring, drywall and more.

The FAIR Plan is a state-mandated association of all property insurers that offers basic fire coverage to homeowners who cannot obtain insurance in the voluntary market.

Find me a henhouse and I’ll find you a fox. Where there are chickens and the chicken thieves won’t be far behind.

Currently, the county is mired in its battle with the federal government.

But at some point, somebody is going to have to get to the bottom of all the donations.

There has been progress, the Army Corp. of Engineers has removed debris on nearly 5,424 hundred properties and is on course to finish the debris removal on eligible properties by the end of the summer.

That’s 98% of of eligible properties in Altadena.

The progress is obvious, there are less trucks on the streets, and far less ash and debris.

Six months after the fire and far too many people continue to struggle with the necessary finances to rebuild out of the ashes.

It’s time for all of the fires to be put out.