Their homes burned in the LA wildfires. A year later, thousands still can’t return

Esmeralda Rodas on the lot where her house burned down in Altadena, California. New homes being built and empty lots where homes were destroyed by the fires in LA. Composite: Lynda Lin Grigsby, AFP via Getty Images

Esmeralda Rodas sits on the ground in front of what was once the front door of her home, haunted by memories of her previous life. She remembers jumping for joy in 1989, when her husband, Hector Rodas, presented her with the Altadena house as a birthday gift.

It was small, Esmeralda says, but it was her castle – with windows overlooking purple mountains that, one night last January, glowed ominously red with wildfires which razed many homes on her street.