Of the childhood home, only what was made of brick remains: the stairs and a chimney. The rest is ash and debris.
Tim Bearer searches through the remains, sifting through memories from the place where he grew up. Under layers of ash, something white appears: a small porcelain heart with the words "love you mom" – a gift from Bearer's sister to their mother.
My mom is going to lose it when I show her this, he says to AP's reporter.
"Creepy but beautiful"
For 22-year-old Jack Hessett, seemingly ordinary things have taken on new meaning.
It's nice to find those little things that, you know, didn't mean so much before, he says while digging through the ruins of his family's house.
Plates are plates. But now it's a memory to look back on. It's creepy to see all this, but also beautiful in a way.
Outside the burned-down house, Hessett's sister has put up a sign: "Together we can rebuild this beautiful city again."
96 percent contained
At least twelve people lost their lives in the fire in Pacific Palisades. More than 6,800 houses and other buildings were consumed by the flames. The hundreds of Californians who are now returning home are forced to pass street after street of gray ruins.
In the hills above the burned-down houses, it's still smoldering, but thanks to the year's first storm, the fires in the Los Angeles area are now almost entirely under control.
According to the state's fire department, the Palisades fire is 96 percent contained; the Eaton fire further east is 99 percent contained. Both broke out on January 7. The Hughes fire, which broke out on January 22, is 98 percent under control.
