As we hit the 21-month mark since the Palisades and Eaton fires ignited, we are wrapping up season two of Rebuilding L.A. with a return to a community that knows disaster all too well: Malibu. A third of the city was destroyed by the Palisades fire, even as it was still recovering from the devastating Woolsey fire in 2018. Malibu is a coastal enclave of catastrophe - a paradise prone to burning. Mudflows and erosion, too. Now it’s facing a new threat from the West: a warming and rising Pacific Ocean. The decisions Malibu is making right now to rebuild its homes and businesses will shape the city for generations to come and, say the Malibu long-timers who've grown up in the area, it's all worth doing and fighting for.
GUESTS: Wade Major, Malibu Rebuild Task Force and palisades fire survivor; Jefferson 'Zuma Jay' Wagner, former mayor of Malibu and business owner; and Joseph Irvin, Malibu City Manager

'Zone Zero' is the latest tool in California's kit to help mitigate fire risk in the state. The new regulation applies to anyone with a home in a high fire zone, and bans any kind of plant, even well hydrated ones, within a foot of a house. No hedges. No rose bushes. No ivy clinging to the walls. Nada. And homeowners can’t have anything that can catch fire - like fire wood or leaves or a flammable gate - within five feet of a home. Homeowners have five years to comply with these new regulations, but not everyone wants to. While there is research that says such policies could prevent a home from catching fire, there are plenty of skeptics who are not convinced it'll work. Plus, major changes to people's yards can be costly and, so far, there are no state plans to helps homeowners pay for this. Host Kate Cagle digs into what people like — and what they don't — about these new rules with Noah Haggerty, who covers wildfires for LA Times.

GUEST: Noah Haggerty, Environment Reporter for the Los Angeles Times

California's High Fire Severity Zones: https://osfm.fire.ca.gov/what-we-do/community-wildfire-preparedness-and-mitigation/fire-hazard-severity-zones

How Zone Zero, designed to protect California homes from wildfire, became plagued with controversy and delays: https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-11-03/how-zone-zero-became-plagued-with-controversy-and-delays

Early adopters of ‘zone zero’ fared better in L.A. County fires, insurance-backed investigation finds: https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-12-10/zone-zero-early-adopters-fared-better-in-la-county-fires-report-finds.

Newsom signs first-in-nation standards for homes damaged by wildfire smoke: https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2026-09-15/newsom-signs-first-in-u-s-standards-for-homes-damaged-by-wildfire-smoke

The Eaton and Palisades fires destroyed or damaged at least a dozen schools, adding to the heartbreak and displacement for families that were already dealing with so much. Most of the campuses that suffered the worst are still closed, but this episode is about one school that burned to the ground and rose back up, earlier, even, than expected.  

Thanks to the sheer grit of some determined parents, and really the luck of the landscape, Marquez Charter Elementary School in the Pacific Palisades has been able to welcome kids back to campus for the second year in a row. Now, even more families who had been previously displaced are coming back.

This is, in the end a feel good story, but it was not easy to get here. There were some tears and some terse words. It was, at times, pretty tense. Kate Cagle gets the backstory from three moms on the post-fire frontlines, and hears from other parents and LA Unified administrators — folks who were not only rebuilding their lives, but also a school.

GUESTS:
Jodi Lederman, Palisades fire survivor and parent on the Marquez Governing Council
Caroline Nick, Palisades fire survivor and former president of Friends of Marquez
Cameron Pfizenmaier, Palisades fire survivor and parent on the Marquez Governing Council
Dr. Debra Bryant, Executive Director, LA Unified School District