I hope everyone is safe in the LA area. I'm so very sad to see the utter destruction of this community. Ted, Ralph and many other members on this forum, I'm thinking about you.

 

Thank you for your concern. Although I am some distance from the fire and in no immediate danger, I have friends who have lost their homes and everything they have ever owned in the Palisades fire. I have many other friends and clients for whom I have done work who are still wondering if they will have a home when they are finally allowed back. I spoke with Ralph several days ago as I wanted him and his wife to know they were welcome to stay in our guest room while they were evacuated. Ralph told me that they were going to a hotel, I believe in Marina del Rey. At that time, he had heard from a neighbor that his house was still standing but his beautiful XKR was history, burned to a crisp while parked on the street. I pray he still has his home. I also spoke with some friends who live a couple of blocks away from him and they believe they still have their house. The winds had died down considerably the last couple of days and a lot of progress was made, however tonight, the winds are supposed to be very strong again with gusts to 70mph, so who knows what will happen. Last night, the neighborhood I grew up in, Encino, at the southern end of the San Fernando Valley and just west of the 405 freeway, had mandatory evacuation. In fact, the specific street that I lived on was named on the news reports and the evacuation maps. So a lot of people are on pins and needles tonight about what could happen.

The fascinating part of the destruction of over 15,000 structures in the Palisades is when and what it will take to rebuild this beautiful community. Since not only were homes and businesses burned, but there are no surviving utilities either. So before anyone can think about getting plans made for rebuilding, the entire infrastructure for the community will have to be rebuilt which will take a long period of time. My guess is there will be no building for at least two years! Loss estimates are at $200 billion dollars and climbing.. It will also be interesting to see whether or not the PGA cancels the Genesis Tournament scheduled in mid February in Pacific Palisades, just off of Sunset Blvd. Sunset has been closed west of the 405 since the second day of the fire.

The next few years will be quite an fascinating transition in the Los Angeles Basin. I will let you know when I next speak with Ralph.
Thanks again for your concern.
Ted

 

@ralphwg So sorry to hear about the loss of your XKR. Hope your home is spared. 🙏

 

Such devastation. I have a friend that lives in the Palisades. He’s in a street of about 60 homes, and his is one of only 3 that wasn’t destroyed. But, from the smoke damage, the interior needs gutted, and he won’t be able to occupy for over 6 months.

 

We had sustained fire up to our house in the Woolsey fire of 2018. We lived in Bell Canyon that lost 44 homes in our neighborhood. Here is my experience since of what happened after during clean up. All the major disaster recovery companies were understaffed and hired whoever they could off of the streets then gave them a company T-shirt. I heard countless stories of missing jewelry, clothing, art etc. My neighbors had their possessions removed to be 'reconditioned' professionally. In reality, they were stored in warehouses and left untouched while the 'disaster relief companies' cashed the insurance companies checks. When they did get their clothing, furniture back, it reeked of smoke and multiple pieces were missing. Then you had workers who just decided to become professional squatters.

While we waited for our insurance company to start the ball rolling, the horror stories started pouring in on our little FB group. We made the decision to suck it up, buy/rent equipment and do the clean up our selves. Did it suck? Yes. Did we have control over our home? Hell yes. Being displaced while your home and possessions is being managed by another entity is something we didnt want to endure.

The house was 'ok' smell wise after about 3 weeks. But really took about 5-6 months to walk in and smell nothing. This might not work for everyone, but its what we experienced in our neighborhood after the last major SoCal fire.