January fires destroyed thousands of small businesses

Thousands of small businesses were destroyed during the January fires, according to new research from the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute.

“We're estimating that about 2,600 small businesses were destroyed within the Pacific Palisades area,” and about 1,800 in the Altadena area, said Silvia González, co-author of the study, which looked a the impacts of the fires on businesses.

That equates to one-third and one-half of businesses inside the Altadena and Pacific Palisades fire perimeters, respectively, with the Pacific Palisades being the hardest hit.

González said the study also showed that microbusinesses, with one to nine employees, many operated out of homes, made up the majority of the small businesses affected.

The bulk of these businesses belonged to the service-orien