Emergency responders are removing toxic waste from incinerated neighborhoods and cutting off electricity and gas lines posing a hazard amid the ruins.

No stranger to natural disasters, Pasadena resident Pedro Rojas keeps a safety bag in his car with essentials like a jacket, gloves and running shoes in case he needs to flee at a moment’s notice.

Many neighborhoods are still off-limits to residents. Evacuees say they are increasingly frustrated and at a loss over what to do next.

As firefighters in California continue to make progress on the wildfires that are still burning in Los Angeles, planning for the recovery process is just getting started. Meanwhile, one insurance firm is changing course for some wildfire-affected residents there.

Frustrated Los Angeles County evacuees are anxious to return to their houses to survey damage, retrieve necessities, figure out what their insured losses are and assess what can be salvaged of their remaining property.