Pasadena residents still rebuilding after the Eaton Fire got a stark progress check this week: 18 months in, roughly 100 homes have been completed out of approximately 6,746 residential units damaged or destroyed across the burn zone.
The Altadena Town Council's Rebuilding and Infrastructure Committee published its "State of the Rebuild" report on Sunday, Aug. 2, covering the full recovery period from the fire's Jan. 7, 2025, ignition through July 2026. The committee is an advisory body serving the unincorporated community of Altadena, and the report represents its first comprehensive accounting of where the rebuild stands.
The numbers confirm what many fire survivors already feel. L.A. County has received 3,583 applications to rebuild in the Eaton Fire footprint, with 3,155 building permits issued, according to the Pasadena Star-News. But only 100 to 125 homes have been fully completed. Another 1,796 are under active construction as of July 7.
Two-thirds of Eaton and Palisades fire survivors remain displaced, according to a July 2026 survey of 2,000 survivors by the nonprofit Department of Angels.
The fire killed at least 19 people, destroyed 9,414 structures total, and displaced more than 20,000 residents across 14,021 acres. It is the second most destructive wildfire in California history, impacting an estimated 6,800 businesses and 47,000 workers.
Financial strain deepening
The Department of Angels survey found the typical homeowner faces a $500,000 rebuilding gap, while renters face a $100,000 shortfall. Nearly half of survivors had depleted their savings (49%) and taken on debt (48%) by July. About one in five had delayed repairs or rebuilding entirely. Three-quarters reported worsened mental health.
"Just because we're resilient, doesn't mean that we should be required to have to go through this, and that's what sucks," Altadena survivor Zaire Calvin told the Pasadena Star-News on July 23. "It's like going to war, fighting during the war, then coming back… and you start a whole other war."
Permits and pace
The median time to obtain a building permit in Altadena reached 155 days as of March 2026, up from 127 days in December 2025. Of those 155 days, only about 32 were spent in actual county review. The remaining 122 days were attributed to incomplete submissions and slow applicant-side responses.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed Phase 2 structural debris removal in August 2025, clearing more than 5,600 private properties and removing over 1.4 million tons of debris in roughly six months. That timeline beat the initial 18-month estimate by a full year.
Resources for Pasadena residents
The City of Pasadena continues to offer free 30-minute virtual consultations with a planner for residents navigating the rebuild process, available Monday through Thursday. Financial assistance includes CalAssist Mortgage Fund grants of up to $20,000, FEMA assistance, and SBA Disaster Loans. The City Service Center can be reached at 626-744-7311.
In Altadena, the One-Stop Permit Center at 464 W. Woodbury Road, Suite 210, is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with six agencies co-located including L.A. County Public Works, Regional Planning, SoCalGas, and Southern California Edison.
The Pasadena Community Foundation raised over $83 million for recovery efforts and distributed more than $24 million to over 100 nonprofit organizations within the first year of recovery.
The ATC report disclosed it was prepared with assistance from an artificial intelligence tool using public sources. No follow-up meeting date for the committee has been announced.
