Photos: One Year After the Los Angeles Wildfires

SOURCE:The Atlantic|BY:Alan Taylor

Josh Edelson / AFP / Getty An aerial view shows empty lots and new homes under construction in Pacific Palisades, California, on January 5, 2026. Thousands of homes were destroyed and at least 30 people were killed in the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire. Daniel Cole / Reuters A drone view during a foggy evening shows a newly rebuilt home in Pacific Palisades, nearly a year after wildfires raged through the neighborhood, on December 12, 2025. Josh Edelson / AFP / Getty Left: A home completely engulfed in flames on January 8, 2025, during the Eaton Fire in Altadena. Right: The same property, now vacant, nearly one year later, on January 5, 2026. Mario Tama / Getty Left: An aerial view of homes destroyed in the Palisades Fire on January 27, 2025, in Pacific Palisades, California. Right: The same view nearly one year later, on December 27, 2025, of homes being rebuilt amid cleared lots. Justin Sullivan / Getty Left: Wind pushes embers into a home as the Eaton Fire moves through the area on January 8, 2025, in Altadena, California. Right: An empty foundation remains on December 18, 2025. Mario Tama / Getty Left: An aerial view of trees and homes that burned in the Palisades Fire, seen on January 28, 2025, in Pacific Palisades, California. Right: The same view nearly a year later, showing surviving trees and cleared lots on December 22, 2025. Justin Sullivan / Getty Left: A car burns as the Eaton Fire moves through the area on January 8, 2025, in Altadena, California. Right: A burn scar remains visible on the street in front of a property that was destroyed by the Eaton Fire nearly one year earlier, on December 18, 2025. Mario Tama / Getty Left: A view of destroyed homes as the Palisades Fire continued to burn on January 10, 2025, in Pacific Palisades, California. Right: A view of cleared lots and vegetation regrowth near the Pacific Ocean nearly one year later, on December 27, 2025. Jonathan Alcorn / ZUMA Press Wire / Reuters A surfer enters the Pacific Ocean at Will Rogers State Beach in Los Angeles as runoff debris, including material from last January’s Palisades Fire burn area, washes into the surf following heavy rain from a powerful storm system on December 27, 2025. Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times / Getty Fire debris remains at Pacific Palisades Bowl Mobile Estates in Pacific Palisades, California, on December 31, 2025, nearly a year after the Palisades Fire. The owners shared a plan with residents to clear the property of fire debris, and informed residents that they had until January 2 to remove any burned cars from the lots in preparation. Jae C. Hong / AP Ellaird Bailey and his wife, Charlotte, live inside their RV parked on their property after their home was burned by the Eaton Fire, on December 11, 2025, in Altadena, California. Jae C. Hong / AP Ellaird Bailey kisses the forehead of his wife, Charlotte, after Los Angeles County approved their rebuilding plans months after the Eaton Fire, as they visited a neighbor in Altadena, California, on December 11, 2025. Mario Tama / Getty An aerial view of the construction of 16 new homes at a planned community amid cleared lots where homes were destroyed by the Eaton Fire, seen on January 5, 2026, in Altadena, California Mario Tama / Getty A member of a cleanup crew works in a home that survived the Eaton Fire but remains contaminated on December 23, 2025, in Altadena. Numerous homes that survived the flames remain contaminated by toxic ash and smoke damage and still require remediation. Mario Tama / Getty Eaton Fire survivors Heather Sandoval Feng and her son Noah attend the “Horses and Healing: Finding Strength After the Fires” day retreat at the Healing Equine Ranch in Agoura Hills, California, on December 21, 2025. Their family had lived in their Altadena home, which was destroyed in the fire, since shortly before Noah was born. The special holiday event offered somatic and equine-assisted practices to support healing within the fire-survivor community with a small herd of rescued horses. Jae C. Hong / AP A photo of sunflowers that Missi Dowd-Figueroa once grew on her property is projected onto her palms as she poses for a portrait at her rebuilding site in Altadena, California, on December 19, 2025, after the Eaton Fire destroyed her home. Mario Tama / Getty Eaton Fire survivors ride on the “Rising Together” Rose Parade float ahead of the Rose Parade on January 1, 2026, in Pasadena, California. The float honored the 13,000 families whose homes were lost and the dozens who died in the 2025 L.A. wildfires. Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times / Getty An aerial view of empty lots and homes under construction in the Palisades Fire zone, one year after the fires burned through, in Pacific Palisades, on January 6, 2026

An aerial view shows empty lots and new homes under construction on a California hillside. — Josh Edelson / AFP / Getty
An aerial view shows empty lots and new homes under construction in Pacific Palisades, California, on January 5, 2026. Thousands of homes were destroyed and at least 30 people were killed in the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire.

An aerial view, on a dark foggy night, of a house under construction, lit from within — Daniel Cole / Reuters
A drone view during a foggy evening shows a newly rebuilt home in Pacific Palisades, nearly a year after wildfires raged through the neighborhood, on December 12, 2025.

A pair of photographs, on the left a house goes up in flames, and on the right the same scene one year later with damaged trees, regrowing — Josh Edelson / AFP / Getty
*Left:* A home completely engulfed in flames on January 8, 2025, during the Eaton Fire in Altadena. *Right:* The same property, now vacant, nearly one year later, on January 5, 2026.

A pair of matching aerial photographs, on the left, showing a neighborhood in ashes after a wildfire tore through, and at right the same view of vacant lots and many under-construction buildings, a year later. — Mario Tama / Getty
*Left:* An aerial view of homes destroyed in the Palisades Fire on January 27, 2025, in Pacific Palisades, California. *Right:* The same view nearly one year later, on December 27, 2025, of homes being rebuilt amid cleared lots.

On the left side, a photograph of embers being blown toward a burning house during a wildfire, and at right an image of the same scene one year later, showing an empty foundation where the house once stood — Justin Sullivan / Getty
*Left:* Wind pushes embers into a home as the Eaton Fire moves through the area on January 8, 2025, in Altadena, California. *Right:* An empty foundation remains on December 18, 2025.

A pair of aerial views of the same location, one year apart. At left scorched palm trees and the ashes of burned houses, at right, regrowing palm trees, and vacant lots — Mario Tama / Getty
*Left:* An aerial view of trees and homes that burned in the Palisades Fire, seen on January 28, 2025, in Pacific Palisades, California. *Right:* The same view nearly a year later, showing surviving trees and cleared lots on December 22, 2025.

A pair of photographs at left showing a car going up in flames, at right, showing a large scorch mark on the street where it had been parked a year earlier — Justin Sullivan / Getty
*Left:* A car burns as the Eaton Fire moves through the area on January 8, 2025, in Altadena, California. *Right:* A burn scar remains visible on the street in front of a property that was destroyed by the Eaton Fire nearly one year earlier, on December 18, 2025.

A pair of matched photographs, at left showing an aerial overview of a smoldering coastal neighborhood after a wildfire burned through, and at right the same neighborhood one year later with some plant regrowth and cleared residential lots. — Mario Tama / Getty
*Left:* A view of destroyed homes as the Palisades Fire continued to burn on January 10, 2025, in Pacific Palisades, California. *Right:* A view of cleared lots and vegetation regrowth near the Pacific Ocean nearly one year later, on December 27, 2025.

A person carries a surfboard toward the shoreline, walking on a beach that is partly covered with debris from a previous wildfire — Jonathan Alcorn / ZUMA Press Wire / Reuters
A surfer enters the Pacific Ocean at Will Rogers State Beach in Los Angeles as runoff debris, including material from last January’s Palisades Fire burn area, washes into the surf following heavy rain from a powerful storm system on December 27, 2025.

An elevated view of a completely burned neighborhood, showing rusted car bodies and steel framing members among ashes — Myung J. Chun / *Los Angeles Times* / Getty
Fire debris remains at Pacific Palisades Bowl Mobile Estates in Pacific Palisades, California, on December 31, 2025, nearly a year after the Palisades Fire. The owners shared a plan with residents to clear the property of fire debris, and informed residents that they had until January 2 to remove any burned cars from the lots in preparation.

A person stands inside an RV, seen from outside at night. — Jae C. Hong / AP
Ellaird Bailey and his wife, Charlotte, live inside their RV parked on their property after their home was burned by the Eaton Fire, on December 11, 2025, in Altadena, California.

A man leans over and kisses his wife on the forehead, as she sits at a table on a porch. — Jae C. Hong / AP
Ellaird Bailey kisses the forehead of his wife, Charlotte, after Los Angeles County approved their rebuilding plans months after the Eaton Fire, as they visited a neighbor in Altadena, California, on December 11, 2025.

An aerial view of construction of new homes in a hillside neighborhood filled with vacant lots — Mario Tama / Getty
An aerial view of the construction of 16 new homes at a planned community amid cleared lots where homes were destroyed by the Eaton Fire, seen on January 5, 2026, in Altadena, California

A person is seen working inside a house, viewed from outside, through an open door, at night. — Mario Tama / Getty
A member of a cleanup crew works in a home that survived the Eaton Fire but remains contaminated on December 23, 2025, in Altadena. Numerous homes that survived the flames remain contaminated by toxic ash and smoke damage and still require remediation.

A mother and son stand together beside a horse in a field, petting it. — Mario Tama / Getty
Eaton Fire survivors Heather Sandoval Feng and her son Noah attend the “Horses and Healing: Finding Strength After the Fires” day retreat at the Healing Equine Ranch in Agoura Hills, California, on December 21, 2025. Their family had lived in their Altadena home, which was destroyed in the fire, since shortly before Noah was born. The special holiday event offered somatic and equine-assisted practices to support healing within the fire-survivor community with a small herd of rescued horses.

A woman poses, holding her hands up, with a projection of a photograph of a sunflower seen across her palms. — Jae C. Hong / AP
A photo of sunflowers that Missi Dowd-Figueroa once grew on her property is projected onto her palms as she poses for a portrait at her rebuilding site in Altadena, California, on December 19, 2025, after the Eaton Fire destroyed her home.

Three people wearing rain ponchos sit on a parade float decorated with floral patterns, depicting a fanciful phoenix rising from a field of flowers. — Mario Tama / Getty
Eaton Fire survivors ride on the “Rising Together” Rose Parade float ahead of the Rose Parade on January 1, 2026, in Pasadena, California. The float honored the 13,000 families whose homes were lost and the dozens who died in the 2025 L.A. wildfires.

An aerial view of a home under construction, in a neighborhood of vacant lots and other newly-built homes. — Allen J. Schaben / *Los Angeles Times* / Getty
An aerial view of empty lots and homes under construction in the Palisades Fire zone, one year after the fires burned through, in Pacific Palisades, on January 6, 2026

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Photos: One Year After the Los Angeles Wildfires