Uncertainty and frustration hover over those whose homes survived LA’s fires

On a sunny day in late January, Tamara Carroll returned to her home on Navarro Avenue in west Altadena for the first time. It survived the Eaton Fire, and she was coming back with an insurance inspector to assess the damage.

“ I don't know how I feel,” Carroll said. “I'm grateful I have a house to come back to, but it's a long journey ahead.”

Her group of girlfriends were there to support her — close friends she’s known for some 35 years.

 "We come together in happiness and sadness ... all the events of life,” said friend Barri Brown. “This is one of those times where we come together and put our arms around each other.”

More than a month and half after L.A.’s devastating fires, the recovery is just beginning.

Even for residents whose homes survived, the road ahead is complicated.

Some are staying in their homes, worried about the health effects as they wait for their insurance to cover smoke and ash cleanup, and watch as debris removal continues around them. Others are staying elsewhere, and still not sure they’ll ever return for good.

Friends Paula Searcy and Jimetta Beauregard sit on either side of Tamara Carroll at the entrance to Carroll's home in Altadena.

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Noé Montes

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Navigating difficult questions

Carroll didn’t evacuate the night the Eaton Fire broke out, putting out spot fires in her yard and her neighbors’ yard as she watched homes burning a couple blocks down the street.

Once the flames died down, she stayed in her house for nearly another week without power, water or gas.

“It was just cold. I had no heat, and I was sleeping in my clothes,” Carroll recalled. “I was hyper vigilant: I had my backpack. I slept in my shoes. And it just became too much on my psyche.”

She left for a hotel in Burbank, which her insurance is covering. But she’s been replaying the night of Jan. 7 in her head, and rewatching the videos she took on her phone.

Embers damaged curtains, furniture and other items on Tamara Carroll's patio.

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“I keep replaying those moments where I see the flames and the fire.... That's the trauma,” Carroll said.

The insurance adjuster tallied the physical damage. He marked charred shingles on her roof with white chalk. Her outdoor furniture is burned. The wall between her and her neighbor's house blew over in the wind.

Inside, the house smells like smoke. The adjuster swiped the walls with tissues — a thin coat of ash covered them. The adjuster recommended a smoke and ash cleaning.

Holes where embers melted through dot Carroll's patio covering.

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Noé Montes

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Her homeowners insurance covers only the structure itself — the adjuster told Carroll she’ll need to have another adjuster with her personal property insurance to assess her furniture, rugs and the like.

By mid-February, Carroll just got the check for exterior repairs, but still awaits the insurance payment for smoke and ash remediation inside. She’s negotiating with her adjuster for additional coverage.

For homeowners whose houses are still standing, the road ahead presents different complications from what neighbors who lost everything are facing.

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Noé Montes

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Even once the repairs are done, though, she doesn’t know if she’ll permanently return to the home her parents bought in 1963.

“We're grieving,” Carroll said. “Altadena will never ever be like it was. Ever.”

Concerns about health

A couple of blocks over, on Glenrose Avenue, Ana Martinez and her family are still working to clean up their home, which also survived the fire. Their neighbor’s house didn’t.

“We’re surviving,” Martinez said. “Trying to get back to normal. Our new normal now.”

Martinez pointed out damage to the three homes on the property: Roof shingles and wood siding are charred. The carport is gone. The window blinds are melted, the glass broken from the heat of the flames. Her trash bins are a single melted piece of green, blue and black plastic.

“It's my new art piece now,” Martinez said.

The Martinez family's trash and recycling bins were melted by the Eaton Fire.

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Martinez said insurance will replace only damaged shingles, not the whole roof, though she thinks that is needed. They’ll also replace the windows. Martinez and her husband, sons, nephews and other family members have done their best to clean up inside and outside their homes.

But they’re still waiting on professional smoke and ash remediation. And as debris cleanup continues around her, she worries the house will only take in more toxic ash and dirt.

In the days after the fire, researchers measured high levels of lead, heavy metals, asbestos, microplastics and other toxic pollutants in the air. Those particles can settle into soil and dust, potentially becoming re-suspended as cleanup and rebuilding efforts continue. That toxic pollution can lead to health issues, from respiratory problems to increased risks of heart disease and cancer.

All of that is making Martinez worried about her family’s health.

The window coverings in Ana Martinez's home melted.

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The window glass broke from the heat of the flames.

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The Martinezes have lived in their home this whole time. She said she and her husband developed bad coughs and recently went to the doctor for lung X-rays.

“We have kids here,” Martinez said. “We want to make sure they're safe; we don't want to just do a job halfway.”

Their young granddaughter and grandson, who has heart and lung issues, recently returned to the house because insurance stopped advancing money for their stays in hotels and short-term rentals after the first couple of weeks, instead asking them to submit claims for reimbursement.

The Eaton Fire charred the eaves on the Martinez family home in Altadena.

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California law requires insurance to pay four months of advance payments for living expenses for people who lost their homes in a fire, but there aren’t the same benefits for those whose homes survived. Coverage for temporary housing in this case varies by policy.

In the Martinezes case, they now have to foot the bill upfront and submit claims for reimbursement.

“They said ... 'It's best if you don't stay; we recognize it's bad for your health, so go away ... and then send us the receipts,'” Martinez said. “But what if they come out and say, ‘Oh, that's not covered.’ Then what? We don't have the money to go anywhere. ... We're out of the little bit of money we have in our savings.”

Ana Martinez's husband, Juan Carlos Martinez, and his son Manolo try to put out a fire that burned down their neighbor's home in Altadena on January 8. Their home, in the background, survived, and they've been living in it since.

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Brian Feinzimer

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