Los Angeles, CA (January 28, 2026)—It has been a year since wildfires erupted, first in the Pacific Palisades and then Altadena, the conflagrations spreading to other areas of Los Angeles in the days that followed. By the time the firestorm had been contained, more than 30 people were dead as a direct result, with hundreds more reportedly succumbing later.
Thousands were to flee, many of them returning to find that theirs were among the 18,000-plus homes and structures that had been destroyed. The January 2024 fires significantly impacted L.A.’s audio and music professionals, communities that had long favored the Palisades and Altadena neighborhoods, where many had built studios ranging from whole-home conversions to garage-based and spare-room facilities. The industry sprang into action to help those affected put roofs over their heads and get back to work. The NAMM Foundation and The Recording Academy’s MusiCares charity quickly launched fire relief efforts, as did the Entertainment Community Fund and Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, pledging assistance to defray immediate living expenses, the loss of music-related equipment and event-related medical bills.
• Wildfires Tear Through Los Angeles Audio Community
Equipment manufacturers and retailers also pitched in. “Guitar Center Foundation, Steven Slate, SSL and Fender reached out to me,” reports Stuart Brawley, a Canadian producer, engineer and songwriter who lists Michael Jackson, Don Henley and Celine Dion among his credits. He and his partner lost their home, including his studio and three pianos, the night the fire erupted less than a mile away in Altadena’s Eaton Canyon.
Brawley also works for the Pasadena Waldorf School, a nonprofit in Altadena. One of the school’s two campuses was a total loss, and in the months since the fire, Brawley has helped raise over $2 million toward its recovery. He applied that same expertise to his home situation. “We were the renters who were dumb enough to not be carrying renters’ insurance,” he admits ruefully, “but because I do fundraising and grant writing, we were able to navigate the FEMA support program for people like us who are uninsured. They provided some moving, temporary living and lost income expenses.”
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Initial financial assistance came from a GoFundMe set up by a friend, Brawley says, bolstered by the L.A. Arts Community Fire Relief Fund and an L.A. County Household Relief Grant. The modest production setup he put together in the aftermath has enabled him to work on several projects this year. “ASCAP sent their writers who were affected some money; that allowed me to buy a couple more things,” he shares. “I also teach music production in the local high school. We were overwhelmed by the support that our community showed us.”
Most notable, perhaps, was Altadena Musicians, a nonprofit that popped up around April to get specific instruments back in the hands of fire survivors. The organization connected Brawley with a woman in Long Beach offering a Yamaha grand piano. She even paid to move it to the couple’s new home, a 750-square-foot loft in downtown L.A., he says. “I would go crazy if I couldn’t play piano. That’s my therapy.”
NEW LOCATION, NEW WORKFLOW
When Rich Mouser and his wife left their home the night the Eaton fire broke out, he fully expected to return the next day for a session with a client who had flown in from New York. “I kept thinking, if I unhook that, I’m just going to have to hook it back up in the morning,” Mouser recalls. “So, I took my computer, some mics and guitars—and that’s it.”
He had converted the entire house, with its 35-foot cathedral ceilinged living room, into Mouse House Studio about 25 years ago, but the couple moved back in just over three years ago. “My wife had really done it up; it had never looked so good.” All but one house on their cul-de-sac was razed by the fire.
