The Palisades Fire destroyed senior living communities, but many are determined to return

Rebuilding has been slow across the Pacific Palisades burn scar. According to Mayor Karen Bass’ office, nearly 400 homes are actively being built in the Palisades, with plans approved for some 750 addresses.

That’s just a fraction of the nearly 7,000 buildings burned, but Bass has said even slow progress should inspire hope.

“The Palisades community has been through an unimaginable year, and my heart breaks for every family that won’t be able to be home this holiday season,” Bass said in a previous statement.

Casa Gateway reopened in the fall, but only a third of all residents in the 68-unit building have returned, said Rockwell, board president of Casa Gateway’s homeowners association.

Rockwell said that despite the cool winter months, she has mosquitoes circling her unit because of standing water that permeated the walls.

Sandbags still line the outside of the building and a new lobby betrays the destruction of both flood and smoke. Rockwell said the mudflow was so thick in her apartment that she couldn’t open her front door.

Seven months of remediation at Casa Gateway has included removing and replacing insulation, installing new floors in hallways and the lobby, and painting halls and community spaces. The city removed about 6 inches of mud from the slides. The process also required irrigation repairs and external wall and tile replacement.

Now that she is back home after waiting nearly seven months for repairs, Rockwell said her beloved neighborhood is eerie. Thousands of empty lots and storefronts line the once bustling Palisades village, which had been filled with boutiques, restaurants, schools and a movie theater.

“It’s just so dark,” she said.