Gabriel Gonzalez moved to Altadena with plans to grow his plumbing business and eventually buy a home. A month later, the Eaton Fire destroyed his apartment, his tools and the future he had been working toward.
Nearly a year after the January 2025 wildfire, Gonzalez has spent much of his time sleeping in his car. Temporary assistance has provided him with a place to stay during December, but that money is expected to run out on January 1.
His experience, documented by LAist reporter Libby Rainey on December 17, illustrates a side of wildfire recovery that can be overlooked: what happens to renters and small business owners who lose their housing, their livelihoods and their financial safety net at the same time.
He Had a Business and Plans for a Home
Gonzalez grew up in Los Angeles, spending his early years in South Central before moving to the San Fernando Valley.
By late 2024, he had established American Pipe Dream Plumbing Company, a business he hoped to expand after moving to Altadena.
According to the Los Angeles Times, his company employed six people before the fire.
He was also looking toward homeownership, hoping that building his business would eventually allow him to purchase a house.
Then the Eaton Fire swept through Altadena on January 7.
The apartment Gonzalez had moved into just a month earlier was destroyed, along with approximately $80,000 worth of plumbing tools.
The loss went far beyond personal belongings. Those tools were essential to his business and his ability to earn a living.
Gonzalez said his insurance didn't cover the equipment. Without the tools or sufficient resources to replace them, he lost the business he had spent years building.
From Running a Business to Sleeping in a Car
By December, Gonzalez had exhausted his savings and spent much of 2025 living in his Ford Fusion.
He told LAist that he had concealed the extent of his circumstances from many friends and relatives because he didn't want to worry them.
There were practical difficulties, including finding somewhere to sleep and managing daily necessities without a permanent home.
But the isolation was another burden.
For someone who had been working toward financial independence, asking other people for assistance was especially difficult.
Gonzalez's experience challenges a common assumption about homelessness: that people who lose stable housing must have been struggling financially long before their circumstances changed.
He had been operating a business, employing workers and planning his next step toward homeownership.
A disaster took away both his apartment and the equipment he depended on to support himself. Without that income, recovering financially became much harder.
Temporary Housing Help Is Running Out
A nonprofit organization provided Gonzalez with money for temporary rental housing during December.
For the moment, that assistance has allowed him to sleep somewhere other than his car.
But the arrangement isn't expected to last.
Speaking to LAist, Gonzalez described what he feared would happen when the money ran out.
"As of the first, I'll probably be back in my car," he said.
The uncertainty comes at a particularly difficult time. January will mark one year since the fire, yet Gonzalez is still trying to regain the stability he had before it.
His situation also shows why short-term housing assistance, while valuable, doesn't necessarily resolve the underlying problem.
A temporary rental can provide immediate shelter. But if someone has lost the business that generated their income, they may still be unable to afford housing when that assistance ends.
Other Eaton Fire Survivors Are Facing the Same Crisis
Gonzalez is not alone.
At a December 16 news conference, the Eaton Fire Survivors Network and other community organizations warned that displaced residents were running out of resources.
Some homeowners were exhausting insurance payments intended to cover temporary housing. Others lacked sufficient insurance from the beginning.
Renters faced their own difficulties, particularly those who had been living with relatives or sharing homes before the fire.
Megan Katerjian, who leads the Pasadena-based shelter Door of Hope, told LAist that 10 families displaced by the Eaton Fire were staying at the shelter.
She also expected demand to increase as families ran through their savings and other assistance.
The problem is especially difficult for households that never held a formal lease or couldn't afford renters insurance.
When their housing disappeared, they often lacked the financial protections available to some property owners.
For those families, recovering from the fire means more than replacing belongings. It means finding a way to afford housing in an already expensive region.
Survivors Ask Southern California Edison for Emergency Housing Assistance
On December 16, a coalition of Eaton Fire survivors and community organizations called on Southern California Edison to provide immediate housing relief.
The group requested assistance of up to $200,000 per affected household, based on verified housing needs, without requiring recipients to give up their rights to pursue legal claims.
Southern California Edison faces lawsuits alleging that its electrical equipment started the fire. As of December 17, the official investigation into the cause had not been completed.
The utility has established a compensation program intended to resolve claims more quickly than traditional litigation.
However, participants generally must agree to release legal claims against Edison in exchange for compensation.
Edison International Chief Executive Pedro Pizarro told the Los Angeles Times that the company would not provide separate payments without an agreement resolving liability.
Survivor advocates argue that people facing immediate housing emergencies should not have to choose between accepting compensation now and preserving their ability to pursue claims later.
For someone like Gonzalez, those decisions are especially consequential. Immediate financial assistance could help restore housing stability, but the longer-term costs of losing a home and business remain uncertain.
Losing a Rental Home Can Mean Losing Everything Built Around It
The Eaton Fire destroyed thousands of homes and other structures, leaving residents across Altadena facing difficult decisions about rebuilding, relocating and paying for temporary housing.
Homeowners may have land, property insurance or rebuilding plans to fall back on, although many face serious obstacles of their own.
Renters generally don't have a property to rebuild. They must find another place to live, often while competing for rentals with other displaced households.
For someone who also loses a business, the situation can become even more complicated.
Gonzalez needs housing, but he also needs a way to rebuild his income. Without financial stability, maintaining a rental becomes difficult. Without stable housing, starting over professionally can become more challenging.
His story illustrates how quickly a disaster can push someone from relative stability into homelessness, and how much harder recovery becomes when several sources of security disappear at once.
As the first anniversary of the Eaton Fire approaches, Gonzalez is still hoping to find the assistance he needs to move forward.
For now, the question isn't whether he can return to the home he lost. It's whether he'll have somewhere to live when January begins.
Sources
Original personal account: Libby Rainey, LAist, December 17, 2025. No Home, Drained Savings, Lost Business — Some Eaton Fire Survivors Look for Lifelines.
Additional reporting: Melody Petersen, Los Angeles Times, December 16, 2025. Eaton Fire Survivors Ask Edison for Emergency Housing Relief.
This article is based on previously published reporting. ProTenant.org did not independently interview Gabriel Gonzalez or the other individuals mentioned. It provides general housing information, not individualized legal advice.
