Birds are returning to areas of Altadena on Sunday morning as a cloud of smoke hangs over the seemingly endless blocks of destroyed homes and businesses.
As residents slowly trickle back to check out the scope of the destruction, Moogega Cooper and her fiancé Alex Shekarchian were stunned to see their Altadena home reduced to ashes.
"I can see my washing machine. I can see so many remnants of what used to be," remarked Cooper.
"What do you regret not taking with you?" asked ABC's Jaclyn Lee.
"Definitely my box of keepsakes," said Cooper. "My dad fought in World War II came back to a segregated country and there were little fragments of his tours around the Pacific that I really wish I'd kept."
Stories are now emerging about the lack of adequate water supply as both firefighters and residents battled the flames during some of the largest fires in Los Angeles history.
"I blame that lady," said Altadena resident Marcela Banuelos. "The mayor?" asked Lee. "Yes," replied Banuelos. "Because of how she cut the funds to the fire department."
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass does not have jurisdiction over Altadena, which is in Los Angeles County, but residents are frustrated.
Banuelos, 24, watched her home burn to the ground in Altadena and then ran to her grandmother's home, grabbed a water hose, climbed to the roof, and tried to save it all.
"I jumped on the roof, and we were spraying the water," said Banuelos. "There was no water pressure. There was nothing. They shut the water off on us. And, you know, there was nothing we could do. Like we didn't have any water to try to put out anything. And, you know, I tried my best. And thankfully, you know, my grandma's house is still there."
"We were using garden hoses, we were using the Sparkletts gallons of water, just the plastic bottles and filling buckets and just throwing it overboard," said Banuelos. "And we were also scooping the dirt, throwing the dirt, the water supply cut off. Yeah, they shut the water off on us."
Banuelos choked up recalling the moment she watched the flames tear through her beloved home.
"It was like straight flames and black smoke and dust and it was just really sad, because I'm only 24 and I was about to make two years that I moved out of my parents, and I took a lot of pride in that and I was very happy there," said Banuelos.
As residents try to figure out next steps, Cooper and Shekarchian are determined to rebuild but plan to do so differently.
"I'm definitely worried about this happening again," said Cooper. "And I'm going to be very conscious since we're rebuilding from the ground up of the materials that we use to make sure that it's a fire deterrent and in hopes that this doesn't happen again."
The couple said they are worried about the ability to obtain home insurance after rebuilding.
