For 47 years, Gaily Cowart’s mother woke up every morning in her sunlit bedroom overlooking a garden and the San Gabriel Mountains, but after the Eaton Fire swept through Altadena on January 7, the garden and much of her home are now covered in ash and soot. The fire destroyed over 9,000 homes in the area, causing at least 17 deaths and displacing thousands.

While Cowart’s childhood home survived, it stands amid the ruins of nearby homes and businesses, in one of the worst-hit areas of the fire. Both the Eaton and Palisades fires displaced about 150,000 people, and many are still in temporary housing. Survivors whose homes remain intact are now dealing with high costs for smoke remediation and restoration, with many facing difficulties in receiving adequate insurance payouts despite having smoke damage coverage.

Insurance has long been a contentious issue in California due to increasing wildfire risks. Major insurers have stopped offering new policies, and State Farm, California’s largest insurer, shocked residents by dropping coverage for 72,000 properties last year, citing rising costs and inflation. Many homeowners, like Andrea-Marie Stark, whose home survived but suffered smoke damage, are struggling to get their remediation estimates approved by insurers. Stark’s insurance company, State Farm, has yet to approve a remediation estimate, leaving her anxious about losing her place in line for services and potentially having to cover the costs herself.

Insurance companies have faced increasing pressure due to wildfires, and experts like Michael Sollner, California’s deputy insurance commissioner, emphasize that insurers must properly investigate smoke damage claims. Thousands of claims have been filed, with billions in payouts, but residents still find the process frustratingly slow and complicated.

Gaily Cowart is also facing difficulty handling her mother’s smoke damage claim from Texas, where she has been living for over a decade. The costs to restore her mother’s home, which may top $100,000, remain unresolved as her insurance adjuster has yet to finalize the payout. Many homeowners, especially in wildfire-prone areas, are finding the insurance process confusing, costly, and inadequate in addressing the full extent of their damages.