One Year Into Fire Recovery With a Long Way to Go: ‘It Really Hit Us Hard’

Fires swept through the hills above Los Angeles a year ago today, killing 31 people, destroying 16,000 structures, and leaving behind a long recovery that has only just begun.

Last month, Michael Brake and his wife watched as a new foundation was poured for their home in Altadena.

“We both cried a bit,” said Brake, a music editor who has worked on dozens of TV shows, films and documentaries. “We are very early in the process.”

The fires hit the entertainment industry especially hard at a time when work was already slow. More than 300 members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees lost their homes, and dozens more were left with homes that were uninhabitable.

“It really hit us hard,” said DeJon Ellis, business manager of IATSE Local 80. “It affected a lot of our members.”

The union joined with the Teamsters to raise money for affected families, giving out a few thousand dollars to those who lost their homes. The unions also organized donations of food and clothing.

“Camaraderie is the foundation of IATSE film work,” Ellis said. “The way our members came together for other members — even as the town was not working — it was beautiful. We had members who were struggling themselves coming in and donating $10, $20, clothing, food. That made me super proud.”

The Motion Picture Television Fund, a charitable organization focused on the industry, also gave out some $2 million in assistance, which helped cover basic needs like rent, food and utilities. Many of the recipients were older or retired.

“One of the things we’ve always encountered is the difficulty people have coming in to say, ‘I need help,'” said Jennifer Jorge, the director of community services at the fund. “It takes a lot of courage to be able to do that. They don’t want to take away from someone else who might need it more.”

A year later, those immediate needs have given way to longer term challenges in navigating various bureaucracies.

“The journey to recovery is still really far from over,” Jorge said.

The CAA Foundation partnered with other charitable groups, including the Entertainment Industry Foundation and Community Organized Relief Effort, to raise money for fire relief. The agency helped set up charitable auctions for items like tickets to the “White Lotus” premiere and a golf outing with Larry David and Doc Rivers.

Since January, the SoCal Fire Fund has distributed more than $4 million in direct cash assistance to affected families. It has also helped out with home cleaning and debris removal, and is continuing to work with the Los Angeles and Pasadena school districts on ongoing needs.

“We really are committed to doing this long term,” said Natalie Tran, executive director of the CAA Foundation.

Brake had just started work on a show when the the fire destroyed his house. He returned to work a couple weeks later, but quickly became overwhelmed.

“I knew that rebuilding was going to be a race for materials and labor,” he said. “I felt like really pressured to start this rebuild. By March, I was drowning under the amount of work versus the amount I had to do for the rebuild.”

He took three months off, and lived off savings, in order to focus on dealing with architects, permits and various agencies. At one point, the job was delayed for a month by the need to get a grading permit and to track down 20 truckloads of “quality dirt.”

“I never thought of ‘quality dirt’ before this,” he said.

He hopes to have the framing done by early February, and if all goes well the house should be complete sometime in the fall. Though the neighborhood is still devastated, about seven homes nearby have already been fully framed.

“It’s just heartening to see people wanting to be back,” he said, “and knowing that when we move in we’re not going to be alone.”