Stopped, Dropped & Rolled

The January 2025 wildfires that tore through Los Angeles, including the Palisades and Altadena fires, destroyed or damaged nearly 20,000 structures and killed at least 31 people, with an estimated $50 billion in damage. In the aftermath, many families turned to GoFundMe to cover losses, since some homeowners had lost fire insurance coverage in the months before the fires or found themselves underinsured when disaster struck. GoFundMe reported raising over $200 million for fire victims within two weeks, but research shows this kind of crowdfunding tends to help wealthier, better-connected communities more than lower-income ones, even though disadvantaged communities face a higher risk of losing homes to wildfire.

The fires exposed deep gaps in insurance coverage. Some homeowners had policies canceled shortly before the fires after insurers required repairs, others lost coverage and ended up on California's FAIR Plan, a state-backed insurer of last resort used when private coverage isn't available. State Farm, the state's largest home insurer, has requested emergency rate increases of 15 to 38 percent depending on coverage type, a request still under review.

Beyond insurance, rebuilding faces steep costs from rising material and labor prices, and residents worry about losing their communities to developers or long-term land sales, particularly among elderly and underinsured homeowners. Community land trusts and local mutual-aid efforts have emerged as ways some residents hope to preserve neighborhood character and keep displaced families able to return home.