The flames that destroyed her family home in January's fires in Los Angeles were barely out when Ade Lahey began to be targeted by real estate speculators.
"Got a pretty disturbing phone call of a woman who called to see if we were selling and we immediately told her, 'No', and hung up," the 30-year-old says.
"It's unbelievable how quick they're on it."
More calls followed. "Yeah, they're trying," she adds.
The Laheys' four-bedroom home in the suburb of Altadena is worth about $US1.14 million ($1.89 million), according to estimates, but Ade's sister Kiri said would-be investors were offering them a fraction of that.
"They're like, 'Oh, you want 200,000 for your property? You want 3, 400,000?'" Kiri says.
"We're trying to stave that off as much as possible."
In January, state governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order making it a crime to make unsolicited, undervalued offers to property owners in the hardest-hit areas.
The attempt to protect residents from "predatory land speculators" was modelled on a similar order issued in the wake of the 2023 fires that devastated the historic town of Lahaina in Hawaii.
"As families mourn, the last thing they need is greedy speculators taking advantage of their pain," Mr Newsom said at the time.
But three months on from the fires, fears persist in Altadena that the neighbourhood that eventually rises from the ashes could bear little resemblance to the one they lost.
Altadena 'not for sale'
Thirty people are now confirmed to have died in the Eaton and Palisades fires, the largest of multiple blazes that erupted in Los Angeles beginning on January 7.
They were the most destructive in southern California's history. Sixteen thousand structures were lost.
It was the Eaton fire that tore through Altadena, a residential community in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains to LA's north.
For many who lost their homes here, the decision now is whether to cash in and start again elsewhere, or commit to the long process of rebuilding.
All over town, "Altadena strong" and "Altadena not for sale" signs are dotted throughout the ruins.
There's a lot of community spirit, but there's fear and distrust, too.
"Owner is on site and armed" reads one handwritten sign on the gate of a home that survived the inferno.
"We are home, we are armed, we will shoot," reads another.
Some in the fire-ravaged community are calling it quits.
Plots of land where homes once stood are being advertised anywhere from around $US400,000 up to around $US1 million.
The sales pitches can read like dark humour.
"This spacious, uncleared lot now offers a blank canvas for your vision," one states.
Acknowledging that the previous home was lost to fire, the prospective buyers are told the land now offers "endless possibilities for the future" or "an inspired new chapter".
There's often no on-site inspection of the land, with plots listed as "Drive-by only".
With real estate speculators circling and lots going up for sale, Steven Scipio is worried about what it might mean for Altadena's future.
He wants it to be rebuilt as close as possible to what it was before the fires.
The 47-year-old takes us on a drive in the neighbourhood where he was born and raised, pointing out homes that he says would have been worth well over a million dollars before the fires.
"Now they're going for $US400,000," he says.
Around 20 per cent of Altadena's population is African American and the majority own their own homes.
Historically, many settled here when discriminatory lending practices known as "red-lining" forced them out of other areas.
Four generations of Steven Scipio's family have found a home here.
"This is truly a place that was just far enough away from all the craziness of downtown Los Angeles and the hustle and bustle where it actually felt like a town."
Steven says Altadena will need the support of local authorities to ensure it doesn't totally lose its character.
"Just don't change the codes and be money-hungry and tell us that we can build hotels to the roof, to the skies," he says.
"Because then you're going to change everything about this community. And you might as well call it downtown LA."
Among the many challenges to rebuilding after such a catastrophic event is finding contractors.
Kiri Lahey says she's feeling optimistic on that front.
"This area is also a huge blue-collar area and so there's a lot of artists, there's a lot of builders located here and things like that," she says.
"They have connections with others and we've been getting in recommendations."
Rebuilding for future fires
Then there's the question of how to rebuild.
Authorities in California have just released updated fire hazard maps for the state, designating areas deemed at moderate, high or very high risk.
New homes in areas in the highest category will have to adhere to building codes requiring the use of fire-resistant materials.
Even before January, major insurers had stopped writing new policies in the state, in part because of the increasing threat of wildfires.
Jesse Keenan, an associate professor of urban planning at Tulane University in Louisiana, says the maps represent a "missed opportunity".
"There's a real limitation on this public policy that says, 'Oh, you're in a high-risk area, you've got to build with a better-quality roof and landscaping," he says.
"On the margins, that is effective in reducing risk, but it's not the solution that we need at the scale that we need."
Dr Tulane says that "short of a certain type of bunker", no amount of engineering can withstand the speed and intensity of the type of fire Los Angeles was hit with in January.
He argues buffer zones between homes and the bush should be created.
"These buffers can be amenities, they can be parks, they can be built into the way we design our communities, our walkways, roads, even.
"This will happen again, and we're just, in many cases, we're building more housing that will ultimately just be fuel for another fire."
But state fire marshal Daniel Berlant said the focus of his agency, Cal Fire, had not been on banning building in specific locations.
"It's really been focused on if you're going to build, here's how to build smartly," Chief Berlant told Foreign Correspondent.
"It's really about how hardened a community is or isn't, and that's really probably one of the lessons learned from these fires."
Lessons from Paradise
Seven hours' drive north of Los Angeles is a town that's had to rethink its very existence in the wake of a devastating bushfire.
In November 2018, the Camp Fire swept through Paradise, destroying 95 per cent of the town's structures and killing 85 people.
"I was hoping that we'd empty this town without a single loss of life," said the town's current mayor, Steve Crowder.
"Obviously, that didn't happen and that haunts me today, so we're working on making things better."
As Paradise rebuilds, significant modifications are being made.
Roads are being widened to try and ensure ease of evacuation in the event of another natural disaster, power lines are being placed underground and emergency warning sirens have been placed across town.
Steve Crowder says Paradise today is "one of the most fire-safe communities around".
Steve lost his home and small business in the Camp Fire but says there was never any doubt he'd move back.
"That fire took 95 per cent of our town, but it took 0 per cent of the community spirit."
The mayor says he has a message for the people of Los Angeles as they contemplate whether to stay and rebuild or move away.
"Don't give up … because your community's still there. You will rebuild," he says.
"I don't care what anybody tells you. Will it be easy? Will it be quick? No. Will it be worth it? No. Absolutely."
There is a sobering caveat.
Steve Crowder estimates it will take 25 years before Paradise is 100 per cent rebuilt.
In LA, Kiri, Ade and Belinda Lahey are determined to see the process through.
The family has lived in their Altadena home since the 1970s and the youngest sister, 21-year-old Belinda, says they want to build it back "the exact same way".
Just three weeks before the fires, 34-year-old Kiri was married at the house.
"We wanted our wedding to be at a place that held a lot of wonderful memories and had been a safe haven for our family and friends," she said.
Steven Scipio is currently living out of his car and various hotel rooms and just getting by day by day, but he too says he will return.
"You just can't run away from problems," he says.
"The thing about people from Altadena is, we have a lot of dignity. We're proud of what we built here in this community.
"We're going to have to go through it, get through it, and move forward."
Watch After the Fires tonight on Foreign Correspondent at 8pm on ABC TV, ABC iview and the ABC In-Depth YouTube channel.
