Wildfire milestone: After clearing nearly 10,000 homes, Army Crops says it's close to finish line

Less than eight months after the Eaton and Palisades wildfires destroyed 16,000 buildings in Los Angeles County, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Tuesday announced it was preparing to clear wreckage from the final residential parcel that opted into the federal cleanup.

At a news conference in Pacific Palisades, U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman (D–Sherman Oaks), L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and L.A. City Councilmember Traci Park joined federal disaster agencies in commemorating the federal response to the wildfires as the fastest wildfire recovery in modern history. Federal contractors say they have cleared 2.5 million tons of fire debris from nearly 10,000 properties, finishing roughly four months earlier than the Army Corps’ January 2026 goal and well ahead of experts’ and lawmakers’