How will L.A. rise from the ashes?

Added: 2026-05-10

[00:00:01]Our colleague, Jonathan Vigliotti, spent countless days and nights covering the terrible California fires last year.

[00:00:09]His new book, Torched, recounts that harrowing experience. And this morning, he shares some thoughts.

[00:00:18]You probably remember the story of the three little pigs. Three houses built three ways, of straw, sticks, and bricks. And a big bad wolf huffing and puffing, testing each one. That story played out in real life last year in Los Angeles.

[00:00:35]The wolf, in this case extreme wind and fire fueled by climate change, leveled most of Pacific Palisades and Altadena.

[00:00:43]Just like in the fairy tale, not all the homes were created equal.

[00:00:47]LA's straw homes, older wood homes built before modern fire codes, made up many of the losses.

[00:00:54]The city's stick homes were built to code and fared better, but code still allows wood construction, and many still burned.

[00:01:03]Far fewer homes were built like the third pig's house, the brick one. Those were homes that exceeded code. Many survived. Now, Los Angeles is rushing to rebuild ahead of the 2028 Olympics, what Governor Newsom once called the recovery games. A cleanup and permit process that typically takes a year has been compressed into months.

[00:01:26]To be fair, fast isn't always the enemy of good, but shortcuts almost always are.

[00:01:33]In the rush, there's been little time to ask, "How do we build differently?"

[00:01:38]Instead, we're returning to the same blueprint, new wood homes, even though steel and concrete composite homes, which resist flames far longer than wood, are available at similar cost and often lower insurance premiums.

[00:01:53]What I report in my new book is that many homeowners aren't even told about that option because changing course takes time.

[00:02:02]After a tornado leveled Joplin, Missouri in 2011, the city adopted significantly stronger building standards. After 2005's Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans elevated rebuilt homes on stilts.

[00:02:15]On Katrina's 10th anniversary, President Obama said, "Real change takes time and the courage to do things differently."

[00:02:23]In Los Angeles, the status quo and speed are driving the recovery. But there's still time to pump the brakes. Permits are moving fast, but most homes haven't broken ground. There is time to adapt, and we must because the wolf is still out there and still getting stronger.

[00:02:43]And it doesn't have to win.

[00:02:45]We already know how this story ends. The wolf huffed, he puffed, but one house one house still stood.