One year after a devastating wildfire, Pacific Palisades is slowly rebuilding amid extensive physical and emotional damage. The blaze burned more than 23,000 acres, destroyed roughly 6,800 buildings, took 24 days to contain and killed 12 people. About 6,000 residents have returned, and some land sales and rebuilding activity have begun, but churches, schools and community anchors remain largely absent. Residents say restoring the town’s social fabric will take as long as rebuilding its homes.
After the Ashes: Pacific Palisades Rebuilding Community One Year After Devastating Wildfire
An aerial image shows homes damaged and destroyed by the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.
One year after a fast-moving wildfire tore through the coastal Los Angeles enclave of Pacific Palisades, the neighborhood’s landscape and daily life remain profoundly altered. Blocks of charred foundations and leveled houses sit among a handful of structures that somehow survived one of California’s most destructive blazes.
Lives and Memories Lost
Jimmy Dunne, 70, is among the residents who have returned. A 40-year Palisades resident who lived temporarily in Marina del Rey after the fire, he describes the slow grief of losing a lifetime of possessions and neighborhood ties. “Almost like a death of someone in your life… it’s the little-by-little things that you keep realizing are gone,” he said.
Forty-year Pacific Palisades resident Jimmy Dunne told Fox News Digital about life inside the decimated Los Angeles neighborhood one year after it was ravaged by fire.
“With all of that burning, that didn't burn the town. The town is the hearts of the people that are in this place.” — Jimmy Dunne
The Scale Of Destruction And Recovery
Cal Fire reports that the blaze consumed more than 23,000 acres and destroyed roughly 6,800 buildings. Firefighters took 24 days to fully contain the fire, which claimed 12 lives. Despite the toll, about 6,000 residents have returned to Pacific Palisades, though many live in a more scattered pattern while rebuilding continues.
Real-estate activity shows early signs of market movement: Anthony Marguleas of Amalfi Estates noted that roughly 35 land parcels are selling each month, with sales currently outpacing new listings and tightening inventory.
A building, left, along Sunset Boulevard in Pacific Palisades before the fires. The same building after the fires at right.
Community Bonds — Not Just Buildings — Must Be Rebuilt
Residents emphasize that recovery goes beyond reconstruction. Churches, schools, grocery stores and restaurants were reduced to rubble, removing the everyday gathering places that form the social fabric of the town. Dunne and others say the loss of those community anchors — clubs, churches and local schools — has exacerbated the emotional toll.
“All those things that create belonging in the town, most of them aren't back yet,” Dunne said. Personal losses are deep: family photos, diaries, heirlooms and other irreplaceable items were destroyed. Dunne recalls that his daughter, Kaitlyn Little, lost her home and virtually all material ties to her past life, an experience he calls profoundly disorienting.
Flames from the Palisades Fire burn a building on Sunset Boulevard amid a powerful windstorm Jan. 8, 2025, in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Anger, Questions And Resolve
Reflecting on the day the fire struck, Jan. 7, 2025, many residents say they expected emergency services to protect the community. Dunne says some residents felt abandoned when fires spread and saw incidents that might have been contained without adequate response. Those concerns have contributed to anger and a desire for answers about the response and preparedness.
Still, residents express determination to preserve the town’s character. “The wonderful thing is the Palisades is coming back. It's going to roar back,” Dunne said, voicing hope that the neighborhood will re-blossom even as rebuilding will take time and change daily life.
A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire as it burns during a windstorm on the west side of Los Angeles Jan. 7, 2025.
What Comes Next
Rebuilding will require time, coordination and both public and private resources to restore not just homes but schools, churches and local businesses. For many residents, the hardest work will be restoring the informal ties and routines that made the Palisades feel like home.
As the community marks the anniversary of the disaster, residents are balancing grief and frustration with quiet determination to rebuild stronger social bonds alongside the physical structures.
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