From Ashes to Hope: A Woman’s Journey After Losing Her Home in the LA Wildfire
Missi Dowd-Figueroa has transformed the fire-ravaged land where her home once stood into a vibrant garden, one sunflower at a time. This journey of healing began after she lost her cherished 1898 farm-style house in the Eaton Fire, one of two devastating wildfires that swept through the Los Angeles area last January, destroying entire neighborhoods and displacing tens of thousands.
Related: Insurance Payments Now at $22.4B From LA Wildfires One Year Ago
A year later, many residents are still grappling with the aftermath of the disaster. The rebuilding process has been slow, and countless individuals face significant challenges. “The Altadena I know and love is gone,” Dowd-Figueroa lamented, reflecting on the suburb devastated by the fire. “Everything burned down — my dentist, my pharmacy — all of it’s gone. But there’s still something about Altadena that feels like Altadena now, even though there are no homes.”
Choosing to stay, Dowd-Figueroa embarked on her healing journey with tiny seeds that eventually transformed her barren property into a flourishing garden. She and her family had lived in their four-bedroom, three-bath house for a decade, marking the longest time she had ever resided in one place. The loss left her overwhelmed with grief.
For months, she visited the empty lot, often in tears. The weight of her sorrow deepened when she realized that not only had her grandmother’s artwork been lost, but also her father’s ashes. “I spent several days digging through the ashes just looking for his little urn, and I never found it,” shared Dowd-Figueroa, 44.
Related: The LA Fires Destroyed 11,000 Homes. Less Than 10% Have Permits to Rebuild
Every family photo was gone, except for those saved on her iPad. “That was like a second grief, too. I was like, ‘Well, great.’ Now, if my dad knew, he’d be so disappointed because he was such a family lineage type of person,” she reflected. “I have nothing from my father. You know, I’ll never touch anything that he touched ever again.”
One day, after cleanup crews had cleared the debris from her 2,000-square-foot lot, she decided to bring some flower seeds. Primarily sunflowers, along with zinnias and cosmos, were planted in the soil. “I was already going there every day crying, so I was like, ‘Why am I just sitting here?’ I might as well do something that keeps me busy, and I enjoy, because the house I’m in now, I can’t have a garden,” she explained.
Sunflowers can absorb cadmium and other heavy metals that may linger in the soil, although experts debate their effectiveness post-wildfire. Dowd-Figueroa hoped they would help detoxify her property. For several months, while she and her husband took steps toward building a new home, the garden flourished, blanketing the lot with approximately 500 colorful flowers — bright orange, red, and yellow blooms with giant heads.
“It was really healing just to come back and tend the space where I lived for the longest time in my life,” she said, noting the arrival of butterflies and various insects. “I felt like I was helping nature come back a little bit.”
Construction on Dowd-Figueroa’s new home began in late September, aided by around $100,000 in donations from a fundraising site. By then, most of the sunflowers had bloomed and faded. However, with construction progressing and expected to be completed by mid-June, the emerging shape of her new home is lifting her spirits.
“Prior to this, I was just so depressed, like literally sobbed every day,” she admitted. “It just feels like now there’s a place that exists. It will happen. We can do this.”
Associated Press reporter Dorany Pineda contributed from Los Angeles.
Copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Missi Dowd-Figueroa has transformed the fire-ravaged land where her home once stood into a vibrant garden, one sunflower at a time. This journey of healing began after she lost her cherished 1898 farm-style house in the Eaton Fire, one of two devastating wildfires that swept through the Los Angeles area last January, destroying entire neighborhoods and displacing tens of thousands.
Related: Insurance Payments Now at $22.4B From LA Wildfires One Year Ago
A year later, many residents are still grappling with the aftermath of the disaster. The rebuilding process has been slow, and countless individuals face significant challenges. “The Altadena I know and love is gone,” Dowd-Figueroa lamented, reflecting on the suburb devastated by the fire. “Everything burned down — my dentist, my pharmacy — all of it’s gone. But there’s still something about Altadena that feels like Altadena now, even though there are no homes.”
Choosing to stay, Dowd-Figueroa embarked on her healing journey with tiny seeds that eventually transformed her barren property into a flourishing garden. She and her family had lived in their four-bedroom, three-bath house for a decade, marking the longest time she had ever resided in one place. The loss left her overwhelmed with grief.
For months, she visited the empty lot, often in tears. The weight of her sorrow deepened when she realized that not only had her grandmother’s artwork been lost, but also her father’s ashes. “I spent several days digging through the ashes just looking for his little urn, and I never found it,” shared Dowd-Figueroa, 44.
Related: The LA Fires Destroyed 11,000 Homes. Less Than 10% Have Permits to Rebuild
Every family photo was gone, except for those saved on her iPad. “That was like a second grief, too. I was like, ‘Well, great.’ Now, if my dad knew, he’d be so disappointed because he was such a family lineage type of person,” she reflected. “I have nothing from my father. You know, I’ll never touch anything that he touched ever again.”
One day, after cleanup crews had cleared the debris from her 2,000-square-foot lot, she decided to bring some flower seeds. Primarily sunflowers, along with zinnias and cosmos, were planted in the soil. “I was already going there every day crying, so I was like, ‘Why am I just sitting here?’ I might as well do something that keeps me busy, and I enjoy, because the house I’m in now, I can’t have a garden,” she explained.
Sunflowers can absorb cadmium and other heavy metals that may linger in the soil, although experts debate their effectiveness post-wildfire. Dowd-Figueroa hoped they would help detoxify her property. For several months, while she and her husband took steps toward building a new home, the garden flourished, blanketing the lot with approximately 500 colorful flowers — bright orange, red, and yellow blooms with giant heads.
“It was really healing just to come back and tend the space where I lived for the longest time in my life,” she said, noting the arrival of butterflies and various insects. “I felt like I was helping nature come back a little bit.”
Construction on Dowd-Figueroa’s new home began in late September, aided by around $100,000 in donations from a fundraising site. By then, most of the sunflowers had bloomed and faded. However, with construction progressing and expected to be completed by mid-June, the emerging shape of her new home is lifting her spirits.
“Prior to this, I was just so depressed, like literally sobbed every day,” she admitted. “It just feels like now there’s a place that exists. It will happen. We can do this.”
Associated Press reporter Dorany Pineda contributed from Los Angeles.
Copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
