Rebuild:LA Episode 052: Just Because Your Home Is Still Standing, Doesn’t Mean You’ve Escaped the Fire with Eaton Fire Residents United’s Nicole Maccalla

Send us Fan MailDr. Nicole Maccalla spent the first two days of the Eaton Fire on the ground, fighting to save her home. She thought that if she could just keep her house from burning, she would be okay, and when the fire was finally out, she could return to the place she and her children had called home for the last 11 years. But what she found was a house that might have been still standing, but could not be lived in. Everything inside was covered with ash, and she soon found out, other things more dangerous things that you couldn’t see, like lead, asbestos, and other heavy metals. Since then, Nicole has been trying to navigate insurance, federal aid, and state loopholes to make her house a home again. She and several fire survivors formed Eaton Fire Residents United and have created a website filled with invaluable resources and hard lessons they’ve had to learn firsthand, in their efforts to recover and rebuild. Cameron Barrett talks to Nicole Maccalla this week about her work.Resources:Eaton Fire Residents UnitedShare Your TestingWhat the Eaton Fire Left BehindContamination MapSupport the show