One year ago today, fires ripped through the hills of Los Angeles, killing 31 people and destroying 16,000 structures, and the long recovery has only just begun.
Last month, Michael Brake and his wife watched as a new foundation was poured on their Altadena home.
“We both cried a little bit,” said Brake, a music editor who has worked on dozens of TV shows, movies and documentaries. “We’re in the very early stages of that process.”
The fires hit the entertainment industry particularly hard at a time when work was already at a standstill. More than 300 members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees were left homeless, and dozens more were left with uninhabitable homes.
“This was a really big blow to us. It affected a lot of our members,” said Dejon Ellis, business manager for IATSE Local 80.
The union worked with the Teamsters to raise money for affected families, donating thousands of dollars to those who lost their homes. The union also organized food and clothing donations.
“Friendship is the foundation of IATSE’s film work,” Ellis said. “It was amazing to see members coming together for other members even though the town wasn’t functioning. Members who were struggling on their own came together and donated $10, $20, clothes, food. That made me so proud.”
The Motion Picture and Television Fund, an industry-focused charity, also provided nearly $2 million in aid, helping cover basic needs such as rent, food and utilities. Many of the recipients were elderly or retired.
“One of the things we always face is it’s hard for people to come and say, ‘I need help,'” said Jennifer Jorge, the foundation’s community services director. “It takes a lot of courage to be able to do that. They don’t want to take that away from others who may need it more.”
A year later, these immediate needs were replaced by long-term challenges in running various bureaucracies.
“The journey to recovery is not over yet,” Jorge said.
The CAA Foundation partnered with other charities, including the Entertainment Industry Foundation and Community Organization Relief Operations, to raise funds for fire relief. The agency helped launch charity auctions, including tickets to the “White Lotus” premiere and a golf trip with Larry David and Doc Rivers.
Since January, the Southern California Fire Fund has distributed more than $4 million in direct cash assistance to affected families. We also assist in cleaning homes and removing debris, and continue to work with the Los Angeles and Pasadena school districts to address their ongoing needs.
“We are serious about this long-term commitment,” said Natalie Tran, executive director of the CAA Foundation.
Brake had just started working on the show when a fire destroyed her home. He returned to work a few weeks later, but quickly became overwhelmed.
“We knew that rebuilding would be a competition for materials and labor,” he says. “We really felt pressure to start this rebuild. By March, we were overwhelmed by the amount and amount of work we had to do to rebuild.”
He took three months off and lived off his savings to focus on dealing with architects, permits and various agencies. At one point, work was delayed by a month because they had to obtain screening permits and track down 20 truckloads of “quality soil.”
“I had never thought about ‘quality dirt’ before,” he says.
He hopes to have the framework completed by early February, and if all goes well, the house should be finished in the fall. Although the neighborhood is still in disrepair, about seven nearby homes are already fully assembled.
“It’s very encouraging to see that people want to come back,” he said. “And even if we move, we know we’re not alone.”
