One year after the Eaton Fire, many survivors seek housing assistance

It’s been a year since the Eaton Fire tore through parts of Los Angeles, and for many families, recovery still feels out of reach. More than half of those who lost homes have not been able to rebuild, stalled by insurance delays and an ongoing fight over who is responsible for the damage.

Out of that frustration, survivors have organized. Thousands of fire survivors have come together to form the Eaton Fire Survivors Network, a survivor-led nonprofit focused on distributing resources, building community leadership, and securing the funding needed to rebuild homes and lives.

“Marketplace Morning Report” host David Brancaccio spoke with Joy Chen, executive director of the Eaton Fire Survivors Network, about the challenges survivors continue to face one year later. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

David Brancaccio: I want to zoom in on a subset of fire insurance, which is coverage to pay for you to live somewhere else. Because you may have owned a house in a place like Altadena or the Palisades, but you can't live there anymore because there's nothing left, or it's so damaged from smoke and soot that you don't dare to live in there yet. How is that system supposed to work, and how is it working?

Joy Chen: It's called A.L.E., or different insurance companies call it different things. It's interesting, because most people assume that we have three years of coverage. However, the way it works in practice is it's three years of coverage up to your policy limits, up to the dollar amount that's specified in your insurance policy prior to the fire. The average rent that tenants paid was $1,700 a month. That means that a lot of tenants were shacking up with relatives, maybe just paying utilities or living in other nontraditional situations. Now, so much of that nontraditional housing stock is gone, and suddenly they're looking at rents of $4,000, $5,000, $6,000. Sixty-one percent of us, our housing coverage is going to be gone in the next few months.

Brancaccio: The fire that affects actually me and the fire that affects you most directly is the one centered around Altadena, where there is strong emerging evidence that it's linked to a spark from the electric power company's equipment. And that has some people — I think you and your group — thinking about some kind of remedy for this situation of the money is running out for so many people to pay for this alternative place to live.

Chen: Well, that's right, we have built a coalition who are calling on Edison to provide emergency housing support this winter to keep families safely housed until they can get home from the fire that Edison caused. It wouldn't even cost Edison out-of-pocket expenses, because they will be reimbursed by the Wildfire Fund, which the public set up.

Brancaccio: Now Edison has an elaborate system of offering to pay compensation to people who have lost homes or had damaged homes in the fire. It's an accelerated system that might be faster than other people who are suing, but what your group is proposing is something that would be faster still, more immediate?

Chen: Under Edison's proposed wildfire relief compensation program, you have to surrender your lifelong rights to pursue any legal claims against the company in order to access that program. Tenants will receive three months of pre-fire rent. And for smoke damage households, they get a total of $10,000 if they're within this very small map boundary that Edison provides right now. The problem we're facing is that families have to cover that cash gap, but we don't have the money. You know, we don't have the funds to keep ourselves safely housed until we get home from Edison's fire.

In response, Southern California Edison spokesperson Kathleen Dunleavy said that “Southern California Edison launched the Wildfire Recovery Compensation Program for eligible individuals and businesses to receive fast payments and fair resolutions for direct impacts from the Eaton fire. The program launched on Oct. 29, 2025, and offers are now being extended and accepted, and payments are being made.

“There are many forms of compensation available through the voluntary program, including support for renters and owners to compensate for displacement and temporary housing,” Dunleavy said. “For example, the program provides 42 months – three-and-a-half years – of support for destroyed single family homes to compensate for displacement and temporary housing assistance.

 “We encourage people to apply and see their offers at sce.com/directclaims. It takes about 90 minutes to submit a claim. Southern California Edison is committed to helping the community recover.”