In his last week as L.A.’s fire recovery czar, Steve Soboroff said he was shut out of high-level planning almost from the start, raising questions about why Mayor Karen Bass chose him and whether rebuilding from the Palisades fire is on track.

The idiosyncratic longtime civic leader, who has a penchant for speaking his mind and little patience for stuffed-shirt protocol, was hired for a three-month term at a salary of $500,000, to be funded by nonprofits. But Soboroff agreed to work for free after searing rebukes from Pacific Palisades residents and others.

As nearly 500 crews of expert heavy equipment operators work around the clock to rapidly clear ash, soot, and fire debris from structures damaged by the Eaton and Palisades fires, there are now just a few days left for businesses and homeowners to register.

Property owners have four days left until the April 15 deadline to submit a Right of Entry (ROE) form to LA County in order to have debris removed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).

Already more than 1,700 parcels have been fully completed and placed back under county authority, and hundreds more have been cleared of wildfire contaminants and are now awaiting erosion control, tree clearance, and final inspection.

Los Angeles County

Department of Public Health

Post-Fire Assessment Plan Town Hall:

Initial Findings from Representative Soil

Samples at Intact Parcels

It all begins with an idea.