LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Two FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers for residents impacted by the LA County wildfires will start operating with new hours Monday, officials said.

The center at UCLA Research Park West at 10850 W. Pico Blvd. and the Altadena Disaster Recovery Center at 540 W. Woodbury Road will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week, according to the Joint Information Center.

Residents seeking financial help can request FEMA assistance online at recovery.lacounty.gov. The deadline to apply is March 10.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass marked the one-month anniversary of the Palisades and Eaton fires Friday with a vow to fully rebuild and conduct a thorough review of the response to the disaster.

Bass -- who has taken heat from some critics for her handling of the firestorm -- spoke to reporters at City Hall and outlined numerous steps she says have been taken to expedite the recovery process and speed the process of rebuilding. She also announced that the city has contracted with Hagerty Consulting, which she described as a "world-class disaster recovery firm."

Hagerty, which also works with Los Angeles County, will "provide expertise and operational support to facilitate our comprehensive recovery effort," Bass said. "Hagerty will focus on implementing the city's vision for community resilience, infrastructure restoration and environmental mitigation."

The mayor said the last month has been "a defining 30 days for our city."

"So over the next 60 days, we are going to make further progress through an all-hands-on-deck effort," she said. "We are continuing to identify antiquated red tape restrictions so Palisades neighbors can quickly rebuild. We will work with our state partners to change the law where it's needed to streamline the rebuilding process, and starting next week, we will open a one-stop rebuilding office where residents can go for every question related to rebuilding and process their permit applications."

She also reiterated her appointment of longtime civic leader and activist Steve Soboroff to spearhead the city's recovery efforts, and said she has appointed former Los Angeles Fire Department Interim Chief Jim Featherstone to oversee the city Emergency Operations Center's Recovery Group.

She also said the Los Angeles Fire Commission will conduct an investigation of its own, headed by Tyler Izen, special investigator for the LAFD's Office of the Independent Assessor.

"While much has been done over the last two weeks, much, much more needs to be done, including participating in the review, evaluation and critique of everything, and then quickly acting on recommendations," Bass said.

The mayor's remarks came on the heels of a major advancement in the debris-clearance efforts in the Palisades and Eaton fire burn zones. On Thursday night, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger announced that the county Department of Public Works had officially delivered the first batch of signed "Right of Entry" forms completed by wildfire victims to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Receiving the forms means the Corps will be able to begin clearing debris from residential properties that were destroyed in the blazes, as soon as they are cleared of hazardous materials by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA's hazardous waste operations are considered Phase 1 of the debris-removal process. Once properties are cleared, residents can chose to allow the Army Corps of Engineers to clear other debris under Phase 2 of the effort. The Army process is free for residents, but they must opt in to the program by completing the Right of Entry forms. Residents can also opt out of the free program and hire their own contractors to perform the work.

The EPA operation was initially expected to take as long as three months, but local officials have pushed for the work to be completed in 30 days. Bass said Friday the EPA now estimates the work will be completed by the end of February. The Army Corps' Phase 2 work officially began earlier this week, with clearance activities at five Pasadena Unified School District campuses that were destroyed in the Eaton Fire.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and former Vice President Kamala Harris, a Brentwood resident, each toured the Palisades Fire area Thursday.

Right of Entry forms are available at any FEMA Disaster Recovery Center, and online at recovery.lacounty.gov/debris-removal/. The deadline to complete the forms is March 31.

A nightly curfew for the burn areas remains in effect from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Checkpoints restricting access to the fire-ravaged Pacific Palisades remain in place. Returning residents and authorized contractors are being given access to the Palisades Fire burn area with access passes, which are being distributed by law enforcement at the Disaster Recovery Center in West Los Angeles.

The John Kobylt Show

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