Altadena’s First Homeowner To Rebuild After Eaton Fire Moves Back Home

Nearly 11 months after the Eaton fire in Altadena, CA, killed 19 people and destroyed or damaged more than 6,700 homes, the first certificate of occupancy for a fully rebuilt primary home has now been issued.

That means Ted Koerner, 67, can move back into his home on East Loma Alta Drive before the holidays, after spending many months living in a hotel and then a dilapidated rental house.

His one-story, 2,160-square-foot home has three bedrooms and two bathrooms and was rebuilt in four months and five days.

It has fire-resistant features like concrete roof tiles, tempered windows, sprinklers, and enclosed eaves. 

At a ceremony this week, Koerner—who had lived in his home since 2006—told KABC-TV that getting his 13-year-old golden retriever Daisy May back to her home was his greatest motivation to rebuild quickly, given her advanced age.

Koerner told the Fox station that when he encountered permitting delays, he personally called every politician in the city, county, and state for answers—and did not stop until he received his permit on June 5.

He then had to begin the rebuilding process with his own funds.

“I was $700,000 into the rebuild with my own money before the mortgage servicer gave me one cent of my insurance money back,” he told NBC Los Angeles.

Koerner told Pasadena Now that hundreds of calls and messages to his mortgage servicer went unanswered before he escalated his case to Fannie Mae, which owned his mortgage. After a Fannie Mae ombudsman intervened, he says the mortgage servicer finally sent an inspector and began releasing insurance funds.

Koerner got a Small Business Administration disaster loan to replenish his retirement account, but says that he expects to remain “a few hundred thousand dollars in the hole” even after he receives his insurance payments from Homesite Insurance.

However, "the thing that’s important right now is really just quiet and appreciation that we’re home,” he said.

Altadena rebuilding efforts

According to the rebuilding dashboard launched by Los Angeles County to track wildfire recovery progress, as of Dec. 4, 909 building permits have been issued in the area impacted by the Eaton fire, which includes Altadena.

More than 2,400 rebuild applications have been received. At least 2,000 zoning reviews have been cleared, and over 1,400 parcels with full building plans have been received.

Last month, a two-bedroom accessory dwelling unit became the first residential structure to receive a certificate of occupancy in Altadena, Politico reported.

The main residence on the property was undamaged by the fire, but the ADU replaced a garage that was destroyed.

Palisades fire progress

In Malibu, at least 700 structures were destroyed by the Palisades fire, including nearly 600 single-family homes. As of Thursday, 30 permits have been issued to rebuild. No one has yet moved back into a newly rebuilt home.

In November, the first home to be rebuilt in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood received its certificate of occupancy.

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement that it was "an important moment of hope."

The four-bedroom, 4.5-bathroom property located at 915 North Kagawa St. was rebuilt by developer Thomas James Homes.

In early April, Thomas James Homes was one of the first to secure a building permit after the fire. Two months later, the foundation was in place, and six months after that, the finished home cleared its final inspection.

The nearly 4,000-square-foot home features interior fire sprinklers and an automated exterior wildfire defense system featuring eave sprayers and roof rotors that release biodegradable foam in the event of a blaze. 

The developer will open the home to the community on Dec. 6, allowing residents to tour the property, learn about the permitting and construction process, and examine its fire-resilient design features.

This will "mark a moment of forward movement for the neighborhood," the developer's website says.