It has been 6 months since the Eaton and Palisades Fires tore through Los Angeles County, destroying 16,000 structures and displacing 300,000 people via evacuations. But a forgotten segment of those who were displaced are households whose structures survived the fires, but had immense damage due to the 100mph gusts, toxic ash and no clear direction forward. HCRN is helping these families. Some of these families have been staying in rentals while they work to get their homes cleaned, which adds to their debt load and has been straining so many people.
We’re serving those who do not have insurance coverage and can’t afford to hire traditional contractors to clean and repair their homes. Homeowner Allen Lin and his wife live just outside the burn perimeter with their five children who are all under ten years old. On January 7, the wind was so bad that it broke a window in their dining room. Allen realized he needed a temporary fix so he got a piece of plexiglass and was fastening it into the opening. A short time later they realized that the wind was driving smoke and huge embers into their neighborhood. They quickly gathered up their kids and fled out of the neighborhood. When they were able to return, their home and their neighborhood survived but their home was filled with ash due to the damaged window. They are covered under the California Fair Plan which is not covering any smoke remediation for families and they were told to just wash things and move back in.
Where the California Fair Plan wouldn’t help them, our fantastic volunteers stepped up to see them get home. We removed items too damaged by the ash to continue being used, things that were cloth and had absorbed dangerous toxins. Our volunteers cleaned hard surfaces, sold furniture and made the whole house sanitary to be in again.
The Lin family was also worried about the state of their HVAC, having been subsumed with ash from the broken window, so HCRN brought in someone to clean out both the system and their vents and make sure the air they breathe is safe. With so many young children, this was a priority for the family.
Our fantastic partners are procuring furniture to replace what was lost, and providing this to the Lin’s free of cost. Things like new mattresses, blankets and pillows and other home goods are expensive to replace, and a family of 7 has a lot of replacing to do!
If you would like to be a part of this recovery you can donate here or volunteer on one of our weekend projects for both the Eaton and Palisades Fires at our new volunteer page here.
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