The Brief

Homeowners in Los Angeles have started the long process of rebuilding after the destructive wildfires in January. Some are constructing homes that are much less likely to burn when the next wildfire hits. That's because California is one of the few states with building codes that require using fire-resistant materials in places prone to wildfires.

Still, thousands of other homeowners in the urban center of Altadena are about to rebuild without wildfire-resistant materials, because they live outside a state-designated wildfire zone.

For some of those people, the rebuilding requirements are about to change in the coming months.

California fire officials just released long-awaited maps that expand the areas where wildfire building codes apply and that show fire risk is only increasing. Under the new maps, an additional 1.4 million acres statewide is now considered at high or very high risk on land for which local governments are responsible.

In the footprint of the Eaton Fire that hit Altadena, the expanded zone for wildfire building codes now includes more than 500 additional homes and buildings, according to an analysis by NPR. Los Angeles County must adopt the new zones by late July, which means those property owners have roughly four months before the more stringent rules take effect.

The move is a rare example of a community strengthening rebuilding rules after a disaster, in the hope of preventing similar destruction in the future. Governments often loosen construction and permitting rules after disasters, facing immense pressure to speed up the rebuilding process.

Patrick and Ruth Fong's home burned home still shows signs of the toys their kids used to play with. After late July, rebuilding it will require meeting wildfire building codes, based on new state regulations.

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Research shows fire-resistant construction can dramatically improve the chances that a house survives. Many of the building materials are commonly available, like fiber cement siding, and overall, construction costs can be roughly the same as a standard house.

Still, even with the newly expanded zones, more than 7,800 buildings in the area burned by the Eaton Fire fall outside those zones and won't have to follow the more protective wildfire building codes. Wildfire experts say with so many houses to rebuild, Los Angeles is facing a critical moment to ensure communities are better prepared for future disasters. Wildfires are getting more intense and are spreading faster as the climate gets hotter, and across the Western U.S., many homes rebuilt after fires aren't constructed to withstand future ones.

"If homes are being rebuilt, they should be built with wildfire in mind because unfortunately we do know that risks are increasing," says Kimiko Barrett, senior wildfire researcher at Headwaters Economics, a non-profit think tank. "History repeats itself. This will not be the only time that L.A. experiences a catastrophic wildfire."

Weighing how to rebuild

When Patrick and Ruth Fong look over the charred debris that used to be their Altadena home, they still see where their three kids used to play. The burned frames of the kids' bikes are visible under the crumbled garage door. A blackened, metal ring in the backyard shows where the trampoline once was.

"This is the only house our kids remember," Ruth says. "We were only able to recover some mugs and the kids' clay objects they made in art class at school."

Now, two months after the disaster, they're also starting to envision what could be. They've met with a contractor to plan what they'll rebuild and are now finalizing the floorplan.

"There's been so much grief and sadness, but then you have some glimmers of hope," Ruth says.

Ruth and Patrick Fong debated whether to stay in Altadena after they lost their house in the Eaton Fire. It's the second time a wildfire has burned the property.

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Just after the fire, the Fongs weren't sure they wanted to stay. Altadena sits next to the dry shrubland of the San Gabriel Mountains and this was the second wildfire to hit their property. Before the Fongs owned it, the Kinneloa Fire also destroyed the home in 1993.

"We had in our heads, we have to build it and sell it, because what if it happens again?" Patrick says. "You know, all these terrible things we're thinking about."

But like many Altadena residents, the Fongs feel connected to their community and especially close to neighbors on their cul de sac. So, they've started talking to their contractor about ways to make the house better able to withstand a wildfire by using fire-resistant building materials. That cost has to be balanced with the other financial constraints of rebuilding, as the Fongs figure out how far their insurance settlement will go.

"With fireproof construction, how much more is that going to be and how much can we really afford?" Patrick says. "Because we're already maxing out our policy."

Newly expanded fire zones show homes at risk

Like thousands of other Altadena residents, the Fongs so far are not required to rebuild with fire resistant materials. That's because California's wildfire building codes, known as "chapter 7A," only apply in areas that are deemed to be at risk. Those "wildfire hazard zones," as they're known, are mapped by California's Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

California's wildfire hazard maps are the bedrock of the state's wildfire policies. In addition to determining where wildfire building codes apply for new construction, property owners in very high risk zones must clear flammable vegetation around buildings. Wildfire hazard zones must also be taken into consideration in land use planning by local governments, including ensuring there are enough evacuation routes.

The maps were first released in 2008, putting California on the forefront of wildfire planning. Many Western states still lack statewide fire risk maps. But as wildfires have become more extreme, fire experts pushed California to update the maps, since the original maps only forecast fires under fairly weak wind speeds and don't take into account high wind conditions that can drive bigger infernos. (Insurance companies typically have their own wildfire risk maps that they use to determine rates for customers.)

The newly released wildfire zones include properties that burned in the Eaton Fire. Pacific Palisades, where the other major fire burned in January, was already in a high risk wildfire zone, so wildfire building codes apply to the more than 6,800 buildings destroyed there.

Under state law, Los Angeles County must adopt the new wildfire hazard maps by July 22nd. According to the Los Angeles County Fire Department, that means if residents in the newly expanded zones get their building permits approved after the maps are adopted, the wildfire building codes will apply.

Beginning in 2026, the requirements will expand again to include any properties in the "high" hazard category of the wildfire maps. That will mean about 1,000 additional properties in the Eaton Fire area will be required to use wildfire building codes, if their permits are approved next year.

Still, even with the new wildfire maps, the majority of homes destroyed in the Eaton Fire won't be required to be built to resist future wildfires. California's maps calculate the hazard from fires spreading in wildland areas, but don't take into account what happens when fires spread from house to house.

"I thought the very high fire severity zones were really going to reach deep, deep down into Altadena, and they haven't," says Los Angeles County Fire Department deputy fire chief Albert Yanagisawa.

The costs and benefits of wildfire building codes

The change in the maps is causing some nervousness in Altadena.

"Some people I see rushing to decide what their rebuild is before that map comes out, which puts into question whether they're thinking about the community or their bottom line," says Nic Arnzen, a member of the Altadena Town Council.

Researchers have shown that using fire-resistant materials makes homes less likely to burn, especially since most homes are ignited by tiny embers carried by the wind. Even in an extreme wildfire, fire inspectors find some houses remain seemingly untouched, like in the Los Angeles fires as well as the wildfire in Lahaina, Maui.

One study found houses built with California's wildfire building codes are 40% more likely to survive. An analysis by FEMA found using California's building codes could save $24 billion in damages to single-family residences over a 75-year timeframe.

California's wildfire building code calls for fire-resistant roofs and siding, as well as using attic vents that don't allow embers to be blown inside a house. It also calls for enclosing roof eaves so the undersides are less prone to igniting. They only apply for new construction or when houses have a major renovation.

Altadena is likely to face more wildfires, experts say, so rebuilding after the Eaton Fire is a crucial time to make the community more resilient to fires.

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"These are often materials commonly used on the market, widely available," Barrett says. "Things like asphalt roofs. Things like Hardie plank fiber cement siding. Very, very common, very affordable."

The additional cost of meeting the codes can be a few thousands dollars, according to a study from Headwater Economics and the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, a research group funded by the insurance industry. Adding even more fire-resistant features, or more costly options like metal roofing, can add up to 13% to the overall construction cost.

Some Los Angeles homeowners could find the additional costs will be paid by their insurance company, if the policy specifies it covers bringing a house up to code. Still, not all policies cover those costs.

Los Angeles County officials say they're looking for funding options for homeowners who might struggle with the costs.

"One of the commitments I've made is looking at grant opportunities to see where we can allow people to apply that may not be able to afford it, to harden or do things that would benefit in case of future fires, and see how we can offset the cost," says Los Angeles County supervisor Kathryn Barger.

Rebuilding Los Angeles with wildfires in mind

With a history of frequent wildfires, Los Angeles has long understood how vulnerable many neighborhoods are. Some homeowners rebuilding after the Eaton Fire aren't likely to follow wildfire building codes if they're not required to, especially given that some are underinsured.

"Even if they're not going to have to comply, we're going to be strongly encouraging it for future resiliency," says Amy Bodek, director of regional planning for the County of Los Angeles. "We've been on this trajectory to look at long range plans that will prevent future disasters from affecting so many people. We're certainly not going to prevent the disasters, but how can we minimize strategically the harm to individuals and properties?"

Los Angeles County recently limited the amount of housing that can be built in the foothills of Altadena, where wildfire risk is highest. The region is facing a massive housing shortage, but considering the fire risk, is directing development to denser urban corridors closer to public transit.

Altadena officials say they're hoping to rebuild a much safer community, including putting electric power lines underground so they pose less of a risk. Utility lines have started wildfires in high winds and are still being investigated as a cause of the Eaton Fire.

"We have an opportunity to show people how to create a community that can live in peace and harmony with the natural disasters around them," Arnzen says. "I don't want to waste the opportunity."

Brent Jones contributed to this story.
Copyright 2025 NPR

The newest Air Force One jet, gifted to President Donald Trump from the Qatari government, arrived ahead of schedule Friday to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

On Friday afternoon, Trump toured the luxury Boeing 747 plane that initially stirred controversy. The plane was one of the biggest foreign gifts ever received by the U.S. government and raised legal and ethical questions after Qatar offered to replace the presidential jet last year. Trump said last May he'd be "stupid" not to accept the offer. Industry groups originally said the plane could be worth approximately $400 million.

Trump also spoke standing in front of the plane, thanking the Emir of Qatar.

The president praised the workmanship of the plane, describing it as the "world's most luxurious plane." He also called it the "largest Air Force One ever built," adding, "It flies further and faster than any Air Force One."

"This plane was transformed into a flying White House at a level of luxury that nobody's ever seen before, probably even almost outside of an airplane," Trump said. "Nobody's ever seen anything like this, and in only 10 months, a timeframe no one thought possible."

The exterior of the jet is no longer light blue, silver and white — a fixture since the Kennedy administration. Trump unveiled the new red, white and blue color scheme.

"It was time for a change. … Everything was designed good. It was my taste," Trump said, saying that he approved the new color scheme, which reflects the American flag.

The VC-25B Bridge aircraft will now undertake its commissioning flights, what the Air Force calls a "final exam" for the plane. The plane was modified after serving the Qatari Head of State.

"Once these flights are successfully completed, the aircraft is officially 'commissioned' into the active executive airlift fleet and becomes available for presidential missions," an Air Force press release said.

The aircraft from Qatar will "serve as a bridge until the [long-term] VC-25B is delivered," according to earlier communications from the Air Force. The plane was delivered well before expectations. The Air Force originally estimated the plane would be delivered in 2028 but said by modifying requirements it could deliver the first aircraft in 2027. The modifications "were carefully crafted to prioritize mission over aesthetics, leaving much of the previous head of state interior layout minimally changed," the Air Force said.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ken Wilsbach praised the delivery.

"Many thought it could not be done, but the United States Air Force was able to execute and provide a secure, reliable airborne command post on an accelerated timeline," he said.

Vice President JD Vance has delayed his trip to Switzerland to negotiate the terms of a peace agreement with Iran on Friday.

It's unclear exactly why the talks were called off at the last minute, with hundreds of journalists already waiting in the alpine city of Lucerne.

But the delay raises questions over the sturdiness of the memorandum of understanding to end the war, signed by President Donald Trump on Wednesday.

It came as Israel continued to heavily bombard Lebanon, despite the agreement promising to end all military operations, including in Lebanon.

Lebanese media said at least 18 were killed in overnight strikes, and Israel said four of its soldiers had been killed in fighting in southern Lebanon.

Here are more details about the agreement and challenges they face in this latest effort to end the conflict:

US lifts naval blockade

There was immediate progress after the preliminary agreement to end the three-and-half month conflict that has killed thousands of people across the Middle East, rocked the global economy and pushed millions more into poverty around the world, according to the United Nations.

The United States lifted its naval blockade on Iran.

The short memorandum of understanding also promises to end military operations on all fronts and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial waterway through which much of the world's oil, gas and fertilizer must pass to reach global markets.

The agreement prompted President Trump to celebrate on Truth Social writing: "Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!"

But there are still many potential pitfalls. Even before the agreement was signed, Trump made its fragility clear: "It's a memorandum of understanding," he said at the G7 summit in France. "If I don't like it, if they don't behave, we'll go right back to dropping bombs right smack in the middle of their head."

The document doesn't solve the underlying reason for why the United States and Israel went to war with Iran. It creates a 60-day window — extendable by mutual agreement — for the two sides to resolve the enmity that goes back many decades.

Israel remains defiant against the deal

The preliminary agreement promises to end all military operations, including in Lebanon. Israel has invaded and taken large swaths of southern Lebanon in an offensive it says is targeting the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah, which has killed more than 3,800 people, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has made clear that Iran considers Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon essential. "Without the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territories they occupied during this war, the war has not fully come to an end," Araghchi said.

Israel wasn't involved in the negotiations with Iran — though Trump said at a press conference this week that he had sent Israel a copy of the document before he signed it. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has remained defiant, saying his troops will remain in southern Lebanon for as long as Israel's security requires it.

The conflict in Lebanon is causing an extraordinarily open rift between Trump and Netanyahu. "He's a very difficult guy," Trump said of the Israeli prime minister recently said to The New York Times.

On Thursday, Israel's military released a new map ⁠showing an expanded area of southern Lebanon occupied by its troops, which it describes as a buffer zone.

"Trump's agreement does not bind us," Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, wrote on social media on Monday. "We are not partners to this agreement that does not ensure our security."

Vice President Vance hit back at critics in the Israeli government, warning at a press conference that "Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time."

Trump signed the deal to avoid 'economic catastrophe'

The agreement promises "the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts" — including in Lebanon, where Israel has continued its offensive. Iran and the United States also promise "not to initiate" any further war or operation against each other. Not long after Trump signed the memorandum, U.S. Central Command said Thursday it had ended its naval blockade of ships to and from Iranian ports, as promised in the agreement.

Iranian state media reported the country's national security council will suspend tolls paid by ships for 60 days, per the deal, but that ships must still request Iran's permission — through a newly established Persian Gulf Strait Authority, before passing through the Strait of Hormuz, which was once considered an international waterway.

Increased ship traffic through the strait will come as a relief to Trump, whose approval ratings have been sliding as Americans see soaring gasoline prices and spiking inflation. Last month Trump insisted he doesn't think about Americans' financial situation in his approach to Iran.

But this week he acknowledged at a news conference that he had signed this agreement because he "didn't want to see an economic catastrophe."

The memorandum gives major concessions to Iran

Trump has repeatedly called the Iran nuclear deal — formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — presided over by President Barack Obama in 2015 the "worst deal ever," and Trump abandoned the agreement in his first term in office. But the framework agreement signed this week hands major financial concessions to Iran that could ultimately go much further than the Obama-era arrangement.

The document says the U.S. will work with regional partners to create a fund of "at least $300 billion" for Iran's reconstruction and economic development. Vice President Vance has said Gulf Arab nations would invest that amount.

It also promises that the U.S. will unfreeze Iranian funds and assets that amount potentially to tens of billions of dollars. Mohsen Rezaei, military adviser to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, told CNN Iran wants to see the release of $24 billion.

These commitments do depend on further negotiations. But the Trump administration also plans to issue sanction waivers to allow Iran to immediately sell its oil. The waiver concedes a major point of potential leverage at the start of these 60-day talks.

And the interim deal also opens the door to ending all U.S. and international sanctions on Iran. Iran has been under a plethora of U.S. sanctions since the 1979 Revolution. The penalties have kept Iran cut off from the global economy, preventing it, for example, from accessing the international banking sector. This new pledge goes far beyond the JCPOA deal, which removed some sanctions in exchange for Iran reducing its stockpile of uranium.

The negotiation over Iran's nuclear program

President Trump has boasted he will achieve a much "better" agreement than the JCPOA. The substantive talks on this are yet to begin, but so far, the commitment Iran has made in the memorandum that it "shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons" is the same promise it has made for years, including in the 2015 nuclear accord.

The details of Iran's nuclear program are complex and technical. The JCPOA was negotiated over years by the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Russia and China, with nuclear physicists and non-proliferation experts, and ran to 159 pages. Trump's framework was negotiated bilaterally by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — a property developer and the president's son-in-law. An Iranian diplomat who spoke to NPR on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly told NPR they believed the last round of talks with the Trump administration did not progress because "the Americans at the table did not understand the subject."

The U.S. had been negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program before abruptly launching the bombing campaign with Israel on Tehran that began this war on Feb. 28. For this latest round of talks, Witkoff and Kushner visited the national lab in Oak Ridge, Tenn., earlier this month for consultations with a team of technical experts that could play a role in nuclear negotiations with Iran.

Has Iran come out of the war stronger?

Trump began the conflict promising to set conditions for regime change in Iran. "I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand," he told Iranians in a televised address on Feb. 28. "When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take."

It was a nightmare scenario for the Iranian regime, to face down the bombardment from two of the world's most powerful militaries. The war killed more than 3,300 Iranians, according to state media, including top leaders, and pounded the country's infrastructure and armed forces. But the regime's survival, and its ability to target U.S. assets in the region and control the Strait of Hormuz, empowered Iran.

The country has learned "that threatening the Strait of Hormuz works," Bill Cassidy, Republican senator from Louisiana, said in a blistering attack on the Trump administration. He called the offensive against Iran "the worst foreign policy blunder in decades."

Iran's response forced the Trump administration to set aside the goal of regime change to focus on seeking a way to reopen the vital strait.

"The only 'achievement' of the ceasefire is the likely reopening of the Strait of Hormuz — which was open before the war started. And we will apparently pay Iran to do so," Antony Blinken, who was secretary of state under former President Joe Biden, posted on X.

Trump has countered critics by saying on social media that anyone who thinks he hasn't "been tough enough on Iran," when the stock market is high and oil prices are falling, is either jealous, bad or stupid. And Vance called on critics to "have a little bit of faith in the president of the United States."

But in a hard accounting of the war, the facts are undeniable: Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz gave it the leverage to secure from Trump concessions that unlock vast sums of money — even more, potentially, than under Obama.

And regarding Iran's nuclear program, the Iranians so far appear not to have offered Trump any more concessions than they did at the Geneva talks two days before the U.S. and Israel launched their offensive in February.

Now new negotiations are set to begin, and the Iranians will be coming to the table having shown Trump, and the world, the power they can wield over the global economy.

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has witnessed more than a century of American history, in all its heartbreak and majesty. Crowds have gathered around it in protest and in praise, to denounce American wars and hear great voices sing and speak.

Today, it's the center of a slimy controversy.

President Donald Trump said in April he found the water in the reflecting pool "filthy" and "disgusting." He authorized a no-bid contract to resurface the basin of the 2,000-foot long pool and paint it "American flag blue" in time for July 4th celebrations.

"I have a guy who's unbelievable at doing swimming pools," the president crowed, before the National Park Service gave out no-bid contracts for sealing and upgrades.

After weeks of renovation, the project has cost taxpayers more than $14 million and … the reflecting pool looks green. And I mean green. Like the Chicago River on St. Patrick's Day. But that river is dyed green for a day. The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is green because of algae.

Look, algae happens. It's clouded the reflecting pool since it was first filled in 1923. Algae blooms flourish when sunlight falls on warm, sluggish water — like you'd find in a shallow, still pool absorbing the glare and swelter of a Washington, D.C., summer.

But a University of Virginia satellite analysis commissioned by the Washington Post saw more algae in the Reflecting Pool this month than at any other time in the past five years.

The Interior Department says workers have deployed "a state-of-the-art ozone nanobubbler filtration system" to banish the algae.

"President Donald J. Trump is an expert builder who has fixed the reflecting pool for good," spokesperson Kate Martin said in a statement this week, "unlike the failed and extremely costly attempt by Obama and Biden."

That's a reference to a major project during President Barack Obama's first term to stop the pool from sinking and add a filtration system.

In these deeply divisive and partisan times, it's good to remind ourselves that many issues aren't just Republican red or Democratic blue. The Reflecting Pool algae doesn't care about our party lines. It's green, and it's not going anywhere.

Two smoke relief centers are now open for residents impacted by the Boyle Heights warehouse fire.

The centers in Boyle Heights and East L.A. offer resources such as masks, food, water, temporary shelter, pet assistance and information from public health and air quality officials. They’re open 24 hours a day until further notice.

The city’s Department of Recreation and Parks and Councilmember Ysabel Jurado’s office opened the Pecan Recreation Center as a smoke relief center Friday. A second center opened Saturday at City Terrace Park through the office of L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis. 

Here’s where they’re located: 

The fire broke out Wednesday, prompting an hours-long shelter-in-place order due to hazardous materials, including ammonia.

On Friday, a wind-driven flare-up at the site of the fire sent plumes of smoke over the city, hours after a second shelter-in-place order was lifted. Residents in the immediate area reported seeing ash on their homes and cars. On Saturday, many across Los Angeles County — from Pasadena to the West Adams neighborhood — also reported smelling smoke and experiencing poor air quality.

Two smoke relief centers are now open for residents impacted by the Boyle Heights warehouse fire.

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Jurado and her team were in the residential neighborhood near the fire site Friday, distributing air purifiers and masks. She said community groups, including Proyecto Pastoral, Running Mamis and Centro CSO, also went door to door distributing masks. 

Residents can contact Jurado’s office at Boyle Heights City Hall to request air purifiers and masks or to make donations at (323) 526-9332.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass spoke outside the building Friday evening, praising firefighters’ efforts. She added that people in the area could expect to continue to see smoke, and she urged people and their pets to stay inside as much as possible. She asked people to wear masks when they needed to go outside.

“We know that this is concerning. This is inconvenient, but we are doing everything we can to end this as soon as possible,” she said. “And we want everyone to be safe in the meantime.”

Read more:

• What materials burned in the fire and what to know about air quality
• How to keep yourself safe from the dismal air quality driven by fires

The post Smoke relief shelters open for residents impacted by Boyle Heights warehouse fire appeared first on LA Local.