Where the fire reached inside Pasadena
City staff reports place the losses in four neighborhoods: Upper Hastings Ranch, Victory-Rose, Dundee Heights and NATHA. A February 2025 City Council presentation counted 117 single-family homes, 12 apartment or townhouse units, 3 ADUs, 5 commercial structures and 59 accessory structures among the 185 destroyed. Upper Hastings Ranch alone accounted for 92 structures, including 80 homes, and it sits within the City's hillside overlay districts.
The housing that burned varies a lot by street. The City's survey describes the NATHA and Dundee Heights homes as mostly 1920s and 1930s bungalows, the Victory-Rose homes as largely 1940s, and the Upper Hastings Ranch homes as built from the 1950s through the 1980s on larger lots, many with pools. That history matters, because the City measures what you may rebuild against what stood on the site the day before the fire.
Pasadena or Altadena: two different permit offices
Much of the Eaton Fire burn area lies in Altadena, which is unincorporated Los Angeles County. Mailing addresses do not follow city limits, so a Pasadena address alone does not mean the City of Pasadena permits the home. Altadena rebuilds go through the County process, with its own forms, reviewers and rules, which we describe on our Altadena rebuild contractor page.
The difference is practical, not just a matter of paperwork. When Pasadena adopted its rebuild standards in early 2025, City staff noted that two of its local allowances, moving the house to a different spot on the lot and an automatic 12-month permit extension, were not part of the County's rules for Altadena at that time. We check the parcel's jurisdiction before any drawings are started.
What the City's rebuild ordinance allows
In March 2025 the City Council adopted Interim Ordinance No. 7444, and in May 2025 it extended the ordinance with Resolution No. 10125 for roughly another two years. A fire-destroyed structure can be rebuilt without a City land use entitlement when it meets four tests: it sits in substantially the same location, or in a spot that meets setbacks or matches the old nonconforming setback; it grows no more than 200 square feet or 10 percent of the prior footprint or floor area, whichever is greater; it is no more than 10 percent taller; and a one-story house does not become two stories.
The baseline is the condition of the structure on January 6, 2025, so old permits, plans and photos become important evidence. A design that goes beyond those limits is not barred, but it must meet every standard of the zoning district and any discretionary review that comes with it. The ordinance also gave active zoning entitlements and building permits citywide an automatic 12-month extension.
Upper Hastings Ranch and the hillside overlay
In the Upper Hastings Ranch hillside overlay, a second-floor addition normally requires a Hillside Development Permit with a public hearing. A rebuild that stays within the ordinance avoids that step, but replacing a one-story house with a two-story one does not. In one October 2025 case the City required a Hillside Development Permit, story poles, a mailed notice to properties within 500 feet and a geotechnical report for exactly that kind of rebuild.
That case also shows the standards a larger design must meet in the area, including a 25-foot or two-story height limit, a second floor capped at half the first floor area, and extra setbacks for the upper story. We lay out both paths, staying within the ordinance or going through full hillside review, with the cost and schedule of each before you commit.
Fee waivers, plan check and standard plans
Pasadena's Fire Rebuild Fee Waiver and Refund Program waives City plan check and permit fees for eligible rebuilds. As of 2026 the City lists these conditions: the home was a single-family residence or condominium that was owner-occupied on January 7, 2025, at least one structure was red-tagged by the City for Eaton Fire damage, and the rebuild meets the rebuild ordinance. Water service fees, a flat $1,000 construction and demolition waste deposit and fees charged by outside agencies such as school districts are not waived, and new structures that did not exist before the fire do not qualify. The City Council also exempted eligible rebuilds from the City's Construction Tax in September 2025.
For review, the City set up a dedicated team that committed to a first plan check review within two weeks, later rounds within one week, and next-business-day inspections. It has also partnered with the Foothill Catalog Foundation on standard home plans and said it will pre-review some of them so they take less time to check. Programs like these change, so we confirm the current terms with the City when your project begins.
How we run a Pasadena rebuild
We start with the record: prior permits, plans, the City's assessment photos and anything that documents the footprint, floor area and height before the fire. From there we work with your architect or designer on a plan that fits either the ordinance limits or the full zoning standards, and we coordinate the soils report, structural engineering and current energy and fire code requirements, which apply to the new house either way.
You receive a written scope and estimate you can share with your insurer, and regular updates once construction starts. We do not promise review times or approvals, since both depend on the City and your design, but we keep the submittals complete so the review has what it needs.