Modular home installed for Altadena family in Eaton fire area

Rick Caruso's Steadfast LA has partnered with a home builder to provide modular homes for low-income families who lost their homes.

Nonprofit Steadfast LA and home building company Samara partnered to install the first modular home in Altadena Thursday, Jan. 22, as part of a program supporting home rebuilding in both the Eaton and Palisades fire areas.

Billionaire real estate mogul Rick Caruso created Steadfast LA in the wake of the wildfires. Samara builds homes in a factory within half a year and the installs them on properties in a few weeks. Caruso created Steadfast LA to accelerate the rebuilding process and bridge the gap between public and private sectors.

The demand for rebuilding remains high as only a handful of homeowners have been able to rebuild their destroyed homes a little over a year after the fire ravaged two Los Angeles County communities.

The Eaton and Palisades fires combined to kill at least eight people, destroyed more than 15,000 structures and burned nearly 40,000 acres.

The modular home for the Rodriguez family is lowered into place on La Fiesta Ave. in Altadena on Jan. 22, 2026. (Photo by Connor Terry, Contributing Photographer)

The Rodriguez family was the first of nine recipients selected for modular home installation this year in the rollout of the program. The Altadena family lost its home near Fair Oaks Avenue and Ventura Street, in the Eaton fire.

Steadfast LA announced the modular home installation program in February and said it would be focusing on low-income homeowners in Altadena and the Pacific Palisades. The installation comes at no-cost to the homeowner, according to Steadfast LA.

Caruso attended Thursday’s installation along with Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger and Samara CEO Mike McNamara. Last week Caruso, a former candidate for mayor of Los Angeles, announced that he would not seek the mayor’s office or run for governor.

According to a Los Angeles County dashboard, a total of 2,972 rebuild applications have been received in both unincorporated fire areas with 1,377 building permits issued, as of Thursday afternoon. Construction is underway on 616 residential structures and construction has been completed at seven sites, all in the Eaton fire area.

For more information, visit steadfastla.com.