Los Angeles, California – Less than a year after watching flames raze his home in the Altadena foothills, Ted Koerner has moved into a brand new house, one of the first to rebuild in this Los Angeles suburb.
It has been an uphill battle, and Koerner is visibly moved as he brings his dog, Daisy, back home. “We’ve been through a lot this year,” he told AFP.
Altadena was hardest hit by the fires that ravaged parts of the sprawling California metropolis in January 2025. Thousands of homes were destroyed and 19 people died in the town – compared to 12 killed in the upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood.
To rebuild his home, Koerner, a 67-year-old head of a security company, had to front up several hundred thousand dollars as his mortgage lender refused to release insurance payouts for months…