The Brief

Insurance is meant to be a safety net, but for thousands of survivors of the Eaton and Palisades fires, it’s become a major barrier to their ability to rebuild.

Almost every major insurer — State Farm, AAA, USAA and the California FAIR Plan — has faced lawsuits alleging underinsurance, delays and inconsistent support in the wake of January’s devastation.

Now a group of fire survivors with AAA insurance say they're facing an average gap of $300,000 between the payouts they're due and what it will cost to rebuild. So they're calling on the insurer to allow them to use money set aside to replace their personal property for their rebuilds without completing the full inventory of what they lost.

“The question you have to ask yourself is what is the point of buying insurance if it's not actually going to rebuild your home?” said Andrew King, who lost his home in Altadena.

Andrew King's house in Altadena before the Eaton Fire.

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Courtesy Andrew King

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Andrew King's home after the Eaton Fire.

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Courtesy Andrew King

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He is one of more than 200 survivors with AAA who recently sent a letter to the insurer asking for more flexibility.

“People are really trying to figure out if they're going to have enough money to rebuild, and so if this doesn't get resolved, the reality is you will see a deluge of people selling their homes,” King added.

The insurer has until the end of the month to respond.

The problem

Homeowners who lost their homes in January’s fires still have to pay their mortgages, in addition to rent, while they remain displaced. Temporary housing insurance is meant to help cover rental costs, but as the year anniversary of the fires approaches, those payouts are quickly running out.

Meanwhile, most survivors are still in the traumatic and exhaustive process of compiling lists of the personal items they lost when their homes burned down. While most have been paid 80% of what they’re owed for that insurance, they need to finish the list — and prove they’re going to re-buy much of it — to get the rest.

At the same time, for those who are starting to rebuild, their mortgage companies hold onto their insurance money until they reach certain milestones in rebuilding.

All of this means that a lot of the costs have to come out of pocket, forcing difficult choices for those who can’t wait on insurance payouts.

 ”What family is going to be able to do those things without burning through cash?” King asked. “ Are they going to take out debt more? Are they going to start cutting back on paying their mortgage and therefore just be foreclosed on? Are they going to eat less so their kids can eat?”

Nicole Wirth, who also lost her home in Altadena and faces an underinsurance gap of about $300,000, said getting the full payout for her personal property insurance money without having to complete a full inventory would be a lifesaver.

Her message to AAA: “You underinsured us. Now you’re making us kick and scream and do all this traumatic work” to get the personal property payout. Instead, she and others want the full amounts of personal property money they’re owed so they can use it to help finance their rebuild.

The costs of delays 

At the same time, the longer it takes to rebuild, the higher costs are likely to be, as new federal tariffs hit and demand surges. Wirth and other survivors worry that their insurance gaps will only grow and push back their rebuild timelines.

Even for those who aren’t rebuilding, the gap is a barrier to starting their lives over.

Christie McIntire and her family relocated to Tennessee after the fires. After their home burned, they tried to find a place in the L.A. area they could afford to live with their two children and cats, but most rents exceeded their temporary housing coverage.

“ We essentially felt forced out of California,” McIntire said.

They did receive 80% of their personal property payout, but they’ve decided not to rebuild. Still, they can’t get the rebuild insurance money from their mortgage company, which they need to purchase a new home in Tennessee. In the trauma and stress of figuring out their next steps, they have yet to start their inventory to receive the rest of their personal property payout, which they need for a down payment on a new house.

It’s a Catch-22: AAA says they won’t pay them any additional money until they close escrow on that new home — but the McIntires need that money to close. And they need the personal property money they’re owed from AAA to help with a down payment.

“ They say it's incurred cost and … what if you go into escrow on a house and then you back out and go buy something cheaper? I'm like, why would we do that?” McIntire said.

Why so much underinsurance? 

Two lawsuits filed in June against AAA and USAA allege widespread insurance fraud and the use of flawed software that doesn’t accurately calculate insurance costs.

A recent San Francisco Chronicle investigation into California’s major insurers also identified faulty algorithms as a reason for systemic underinsurance across the state. The Legislature recently passed several bills to address insurance and wildfire losses, as well. They now await Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature or veto.

AAA did not respond to detailed questions from LAist regarding how it calculates insurance coverage and if it might consider releasing personal property payments as policyholders have asked.

“At the Auto Club of Southern California, every claim is handled with care and attention, tailored to the unique circumstances of each member and guided by the terms of their individual insurance policy,” AAA spokesperson Doug Shupe said in an email to LAist. “Just as every home is different, so is every claim — and we treat them as such.”

Nicole Wirth and husband Michael with their dogs, Porkchop and Goose, in front of their home in Altadena before the fire.

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Courtesy Nicole Wirth

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That chronic underinsurance is why survivors like King, Wirth and McIntire say insurance should be more flexible — and that, in the case of total loss, personal property insurance should be paid out without requiring a detailed inventory. King said he already has a list with 2,500 lines and still isn’t finished.

There is precedent: Following 2017 North Bay wildfires, multiple insurers — including parts of AAA, USAA, Farmers, Chubb, Allstate and Liberty Mutua — paid personal property coverage to fire survivors without requiring detailed inventories.

“If people cannot get their personal property coverage to pay for their homes, many of them will ultimately be forced to sell,” King said. “ What I'm hearing from nearly every survivor, including myself to some degree, is we are going to have to use the money to buy our stuff to actually rebuild our home. And most of us will be living in shells just because we need a place to live.”

Some government funding streams for L.A. County’s public health system are drying up, and officials are turning to private philanthropy to fill the gap.

A new privately funded foundation launched Thursday to strengthen public health services after $50 million in federal, state and local funding cuts to the county’s Department of Public Health since early last year.

“It is really a hard day for our community when we have to ask for private donations to fund a public good, but unfortunately, we've lost too much money to not take this important step,” said Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.

In February, the county’s Public Health Department closed seven clinics, with six remaining open. About half of the patients seen in those clinics are uninsured, according to county officials. The department also cut hundreds of staff positions.

Ferrer is on the board of the new foundation, The Fund for Advancing Public Health LA, which held its first meeting Thursday.

She said the fund will help the county maintain its basic public health infrastructure, including disease prevention, health promotion, environmental health, and emergency response efforts.

Other board members include several health insurance executives, as well as actors Sean Penn and Danny Trejo. Board member Saree Kayne of the R&S Kayne Foundation pledged $150,000 to the fund Thursday. Kayne said she hopes the donation encourages others to give.

The foundation aims to raise $2 million this year.

More cuts expected

L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell said it’s crucial to have an alternative funding stream to protect services for the county's most vulnerable residents.

“We are saving public health,” Mitchell said. “This fund represents a new approach, one that brings together government philanthropy in the private sector to invest in community-based solutions, protect vulnerable populations, and strengthen our public health infrastructure.”

Officials say more public health cuts are coming, through the federal budget law known as the "Big Beautiful Bill," which slashes funding for Medi-Cal.

The county Department of Public Health anticipates losing up to $300 million in revenue over the next three years because of the federal budget bill and other potential funding freezes. Federal funding accounts for almost 50% of the public health budget, according to county officials.

Mitchell also led an effort to put a half-percent county sales tax increase to fund public health on the June ballot.

If approved by voters, that proposal, known as Measure ER, is expected to raise about $1 billion a year for county safety net health services, including about $100 million for the public health department.

Board members

The Fund for Advancing Public Health LA announced its founding board of directors, which includes:

• Dr. Barbara Ferrer, LA County Department of Public Health director
• Debbie I. Chang, Blue Shield of California Foundation CEO
• Sean Penn, actor and co-founder of Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE)
• Martha Santana-Chin, LA Care Health Plan CEO
• Saree Kayne, R&S Kayne Foundation CEO
• Danny Trejo, actor and restaurateur
• Jarrett Barrios, an executive at the American Red Cross
• Dr. Deborah Prothrow-Stith, Charles R. Drew University College of Medicine Dean
• Kristin McCowan, an executive at the Los Angeles Dodgers

The Rose Bowl in Pasadena may be a centenarian, but it’s holding up pretty well as it continues to host events on its way to a starring role in the LA28 Olympics.

But before it can host the soccer final, it needs fixes, especially to the infrastructure serving the bathrooms and drinking fountains. Fears of a toilet backup while in the world’s spotlight led Rep. Laura Friedman to seek federal funds for upgrades. On Thursday she announced she secured just over $1 million.

“Two years from now, athletes around the world are going to compete for gold right where we are standing. This is not the time to find out whether or not these pipes are up to the task,” Friedman said.

The planned work, she added, will lead to improved water flow capacity and water drainage, eliminating the risk of backups and emergency maintenance.

The funds came from the House of Representatives Interior and Environment subcommittee. The fixes, an official said, will be completed by the LA28 Olympics.

The funds, however, are a drop in the bucket when it comes to what’s needed to make needed improvements to the Pasadena venue.

Officials, including (left to right) Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation President Dedan Brozino, Deputy Fire Chief of the City of Pasadena Tim Sell, Congresswoman Laura Friedman, and Rose Bowl Stadium CEO Jens Weiden announced infrastructure funding for the 103-year old Rose Bowl.

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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist

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“Over the  next 20 years there's about $200 million that we need to put in and that's everything from updating light fixtures to updating gas, water, wastewater lines, etc.,” said Dedan Brozino,  president of the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation, the nonprofit that supports the Rose Bowl stadium's preservation and enhancement.

Getting venues ready will be expensive

The money is a much-needed win at a time when elected officials in city, county, state and federal offices have been struggling to find the funds to get L.A.-area venues ready for the global Olympic stage in two years.

The entrance to a men's bathroom at the Rose Bowl.

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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/LAist

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A $360 million proposal to spruce up asphalt in parking lots around Exposition Park won’t be done in time for the Olympics, as originally planned. Meanwhile, just up the street, there’s concern that a $2.6 billion expansion of the L.A. Convention Center, which is hosting Olympic wrestling, fencing and judo in 2028 won’t be ready for the Olympics.

Additionally, to save money, LA28 organizers moved Olympic diving to the Rose Bowl complex last year because it has two Olympic-sized pools, while the Exposition Park complex doesn't and would need expensive upgrades.

Topline:

About the chick: The chick hatched March 14. The zoo opened its Cape vulture enclosure in February 2025 after years of planning to encourage the birds to roost and nest, welcoming a new breeding pair that year. When it grows to be an adult, it’ll have a wingspan of 8 1/2 feet.

About the enclosure: The L.A. Zoo said it spent years developing the vulture habitat, which was designed to mimic the vultures’ natural environment in South Africa and nearby countries. Dominick Dorsa II, the zoo’s director of animal care, said in a statement the successful hatching is “a testament to the design and construction” of the habitat.

How to see the chick: You can’t for the time being. Zoo officials are keeping it away from visitors until the chick matures, though you can still see adult Cape vultures at the zoo’s enclosure.

Though visitors will have to wait until the chick matures to see it in the enclosure, you can still take in the impressive eight and a half foot wingspan of the adult Cape vultures.

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Courtesy Jamie Pham/L.A. Zoo

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What zoo officials are saying: “Welcoming a Cape vulture chick is a thrilling moment for our team and a beacon of hope for African vultures,” the L.A. Zoo’s curator of birds Rose Legato said in a statement. “Vultures are one of nature's most misunderstood marvels, and I cannot wait for our guests to eventually watch this chick grow and learn just how vital they are to our ecosystems.”

About the species: Cape vultures are listed as a vulnerable species due to human activities and encroachment. According to the L.A. Zoo, African vultures are more closely related to eagles and hawks than vultures native to the Americas, like the zoo's California condors that hatched last year.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

What should have been a celebration for formerly incarcerated youth completing a reentry program at the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory (BHAC) last week instead ended with seven students and two staff members detained by the Los Angeles Police Department, according to witnesses. 

Now, nearly a week later, BHAC staff and city officials are demanding answers from the LAPD, with some accusing officers of racial profiling. 

According to the LAPD, officers observed a large group gathered on the corner of Cesar E. Chavez Avenue and Mott Street around 4:16 p.m. on March 26. Authorities then requested backup for what they described as “a large group surrounding officers,” LAPD Public Information Officer Tony Im said. 

The group, classified by police as an “aggressive gang group,” consisted of seven 18-year-old students from the BHAC’s Bridge Academy Movement (BAM) program and two BHAC staff members.

The BAM program pays formerly incarcerated youth to complete 200-250 hours in media and visual arts training to prepare them for creative careers. That day, students were set to showcase their work at the BAM program graduation for families and community members. 

Rene Weber, a teaching artist at the BHAC, had been with the students setting up for the ceremony minutes before the incident occurred. 

According to Weber, the students had gone to coffee across the street at Milpa Kitchen as they often did, when staff were alerted that they were being detained. 

Weber said he arrived to find students and a staff member pressed against the wall in handcuffs. 

Video from the scene, taken by a staff member at the BHAC, shows multiple officers surrounding the group. At one point, an officer orders a person to “get on the wall” and displays a stun gun.  

“No, none of that, these are kids right here,” the staff member replies.

Another staff member, Teotl Veliz, recorded a large police response.  

“I counted 12 cop cars, that’s at least 25 cops, and they had a helicopter,” Veliz said. “It was just so comedic, tragically comedic, that it was on their graduation day too.”

Officers established a perimeter with yellow tape along the side of Ashley’s Beauty Salon as local business owners and witnesses gathered around the students. 

“I was just incredibly disappointed in LAPD… because it became so apparent to everybody, all at the same time, that it was racial profiling and nothing else,” Veliz said.

Weber said officers gave shifting explanations for the stop at the scene, including blocking the sidewalk and possible underage vaping. After Weber told the officers that all of the students were 18, they said they would investigate whether the group had any gang affiliation. 

Police have not responded to questions about what led officers to believe that the group was gang-affiliated. 

Weber recalled pleading with the officers to let the group go and explaining to them that they worked across the street. Community members and local business owners also stepped in to vouch for the students. 

“Our job is to help them gain a new perspective on life,” Weber said. “They’re coming out of juvenile detention and they’re turning their lives around. We can do our part in keeping them off the streets and keeping them doing better but what does it mean if they’re going to be profiled and treated exactly the same way?” 

In total, seven 18-year-old students and two staff members were detained. BHAC staff said one student and one staff member were taken to Hollenbeck Community Police Station and released less than two hours later after advocacy from community members and Councilmember Ysabel Jurado.

The incident ultimately resulted in an infraction for smoking a cannabis e-vape on a public sidewalk, according to a photo of the infraction shared with the Beat. LAPD did not provide details about the people taken to Hollenbeck Station or the infraction. 

The graduation ceremony was cancelled that night and is expected to be rescheduled in April. 

“Graduation should be a moment of pride and possibility — not fear,” Jurado said in a statement. “I’m seeking answers about what occurred, and this underscores the need for stronger relationships between law enforcement and community organizations so moments like these are protected, not disrupted.”

Carmelita Ramirez‑Sanchez, the conservatory’s executive director, said she was grateful to the community and Jurado for advocating for the students’ release. Jurado met her at Hollenbeck Station within 20 minutes of being alerted to the incident, she said. 

“They had store owners, señoras, barbers, that ran out and were trying to explain to the police who our kids were,” Ramirez‑Sanchez said. 

Still, she said the incident tarnished what should have been a joyous celebration.

“I imagine that what this does is derail this entire idea that you can be an active participant in your own restorative growth,” she said.