One year after LA fires, resident reflects on moving to Palm Springs after losing Altadena home

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) - When Michelle Bloom evacuated Altadena, she had no idea she wouldn't come back, like the many others who are still displaced by the fire. The Eaton and Palisades fires burned over 16,000 structures and left tens of thousands of people displace, according to the Governor's Office of Emergency Services.

"I never imagined I wouldn't be coming back in a day or two. No, I mean absolutely no," Bloom says.

Bloom lived in Altadena for 20 years and says she lost everything in the fire. After bouncing around temporary housing for months, she moved to Palm Springs in April.

"I don't really see a way for me to get back to Altadena. You know, I think that boat has sailed," Bloom says.

Bloom says she never would have expected to end up in Palm Springs, but once she moved to the neighborhood, something clicked.

"I found my places, my things to go to, my people," she says.