California wildfires: Rebuilding in Malibu after Palisades Fire is complex and moving slow

MALIBU, Calif. (KABC) -- It's been a traumatic seven years for Malibu.

The 2018, the Woolsey Fire destroyed 488 homes and roughly half of them have been rebuilt. Then there was the pandemic, which stalled tourism.

Mudslides and more fires, including the Franklin Fire in December 2024 and the Palisades Fire in January, destroyed more than 700 homes, closing Pacific Coast Highway for months.

Now, it's been 10 months since the Palisades Fire, and the city of Malibu has issued 11 permits to rebuild.

"Seven hundred twenty people were ripped out of their homes, didn't volunteer to add on," said Darren Graves, who lost his Malibu home in the fire. "They just want to come back home. They should have a different process than the traditional process."

"We understand that there is a paradise ta