Palisades Fire victims hold first community event since deadly blaze

LOS ANGELES - Residents from Pacific Palisades gathered in Santa Monica Saturday afternoon for the first community event since January’s deadly Palisades Fire.

Local perspective:

"We’re all spread out all over the city," said Brian Lenz. "It’s just nice to see everybody together a little bit. Try to remember what the community was like."

Lenz was there with his old neighbor, Steve Shannon. Both Lenz and Shannon had their homes destroyed by the out-of-control blaze.

"It’s a pretty s--- club to be part of," said Lenz. "As a group, we’re all just trying to figure out the right way forward."

"I haven’t hit the part of submitting a permit yet," said Shannon. "Going to do that now, but that will be the part where I find out if the city has it together or not."

What they're saying:

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was at the event meeting and hearing from residents.

"We say, permits, and we want them expedited," said Bass. "But tell us how it’s going. I’m hearing positive, and I’m hearing negative. That’s helpful. That’s the way we improve."

Now, more than 100 days since the fire, the massive clean-up continues. Compared to other fires in California history, Mayor Bass says they’re ahead of schedule.

"Frankly, the reason why we finished phase 1 and phase 2 so fast is because of the White House," said Bass. "The commitment made by the administration. I feel like every level of government is doing the very best they can."

"[There’s] a lot of concerns and uncertainty about the financial pathways," said Los Angeles City Councilmember Traci Park. "My mission is to move every mountain so we can get these folks home."

Big picture view:

Saturday was a bittersweet day for some residents who hadn’t seen some of their friends since the Palisades Fire.

"It’s just really sad," said Genevieve Vostic. "But it’s also really nice to see the community come together."

Residents, going through so much in the rebuild, are anxious to return to the community they call home.

"We see a lot of familiar things [here] even though it’s not in a familiar place," said Vostic. "It will come back one day."