AMNA NAWAZ: The wildfires that burned parts of Southern California last month will likely become the most expensive wildfires in U.S. history.

They also burned a scar through historically Black neighborhoods in Altadena.

William Brangham recently visited with families there who are still sifting through the debris and are concerned about what Altadena will look like going forward.

DIANE PALLAY, Eaton Fire Victim: Oh, my goodness.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: This is a drive that Diane Pallay and her family never imagined they'd have to make.

DIANE PALLAY: Look at all these homes.

Oh, my goodness.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: They're returning to the charred remains of their beloved neighborhood in Altadena, California.

WOMAN: Look at -- their whole chimney fell.

WOMAN: Fell, yes, into our house.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Their house, like hundreds of their neighbors, was devoured by last month's Eaton Fire.

DIANE PALLAY: This is incredible.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Pallay's parents bought this house in the 1960s, becoming some of the first Black homeowners in this part of Altadena.

Diane was raised here and then she and her husband,Richard, raised their own kids here, including their daughter Lisa.

DIANE PALLAY: And, as a matter of fact, right before the fire, we were in process and talks of having Lisa and her husband have the house.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So three generations.

DIANE PALLAY: Yes.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Now they're gingerly stepping through what's left of the past, both their own families and their communities.

DIANE PALLAY: It was a lot knowing that our home was gone, but then to see the devastation, that we're talking about an entire community, entire blocks and blocks and blocks and blocks, it was just really too much to bear.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Richard and Diane are now staying with Lisa and her husband and their two little kids, crowded into Lisa's rented townhouse in nearby Pasadena.

For Lisa, the fire stole not only the family's refuge, but also the place of countless memories, where she took her first steps and then, years later, her son did the same.

LISA ODIGIE, Eaton Fire Victim: And I just cried.

I literally collapsed on my knees and I just cried, because it was -- it's just an unbelievable feeling.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Like so many families here, they're unsure about what comes next.

WOMAN: his was the bathroom.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Lisa's lease is up in a few months.

The mortgage on their house still comes due every month.

They had insurance, but it's not clear if it'll be enough to rebuild.

While the Eaton Fire destroyed more than 9,000 structures in all, it hit Black homeowners in Altadena particularly hard.

A recent study found that almost half of Black households had their homes destroyed or severely damaged, compared to 37 percent of non-Black households.

Many of those homes can be traced back several generations.

JASMIN SHUPPER, Founder and President, Greenline Housing Foundation: The history of Altadena as it pertains to Black people is very significant.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Jasmin Shupper started the Greenline Housing Foundation.

It's a nonprofit that works to increase homeownership in minority communities.

She says, during the civil rights era, Altadena became an increasingly popular destination for Black families.

JASMIN SHUPPER: Redlining still existed in Altadena, but it was much friendlier to Black people purchasing, especially in the '60s, when the Fair Housing Act was passed.

You had a significant increase in the population, the Black population in Altadena.

So this was for a lot of Black people a haven and a place of solidarity and a place where they could actually access homeownership and the wealth-building that it affords.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: It's a legacy that continues.

About 75 percent of Black residents here own their homes.

That's nearly double the Black homeownership rate nationwide.

But even before the fire, things were changing.

As the cost of housing in L.A. rose, more people flocked to this community of 42,000 people just north of Pasadena.

Today, Altadena is less than 20 percent Black, down from over 40 percent in the 1980s.

JASMIN SHUPPER: The Black population in Altadena had been declining significantly because of gentrification, because of increased home values and prices, because of speculative investment, but this threatens to decrease that population even more significantly.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: As rebuilding gets under way in Altadena, there is a concern in this community that real estate developers are going to swoop in and buy up all of this property and somehow change this integrated, diverse community into something that people here just don't recognize anymore.

MICHELLE BENN, Altadena Resident: They're a saying among the Black community now.

Don't move out of Altadena.

If you move out, you will never get back in.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Michelle Benn's family was lucky.

Their home survived the fires, coming right to the edge of their yard.

MICHELLE BENN: That fire was burning so hot, and it was just burning straight up.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: He says divine intervention held the flames back, but he still can't believe what happened everywhere else.

MICHELLE BENN: For me, it's our home.

It's the only thing I have ever known.

But when I was driving by, I couldn't even recognize what street I was on, because all the houses were burned down, and you didn't know where you were.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: He says the damage from the smoke and all the toxic particles make living in the house unsafe.

MICHELLE BENN: Everything that was burnt up, whether it was cars, the chemicals from the cars, the paint, the lids, the asbestos, and different types of materials all together floating throughout the air and made into our attic, and it's in our house.

It's all over the floors.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: While they're still trying to figure out exactly how much their insurance will cover, Michelle's daughter Cienna says they will never leave Altadena.

Her great-grandfather first came here back in the 1930s.

CIENNA BENN, Daughter of Michelle Benn: Considering Jim Crow and what it would mean to move to California and to build a life for yourself as a Black person in this country, it's just such a great investment, such a -- just such emotional strength to be able to come here and believe in that.

There's no other place like this to me in the world, and I'm not interested in finding another one.

I'm interested in growing everything that they planted here.

JASMIN SHUPPER: You know, thinking about that and the thought of rebuilding, like, what is needed?

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Jasmin Shupper's nonprofit is working with Black families who lost their homes, but want to rebuild, and those who don't plan to stay but don't want to sell to outside developers.

JASMIN SHUPPER: You have got generations of blood, sweat and tears threatened to be wiped out if we're not able to come alongside and support the rebuilding specifically of this Black community.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The Eaton Fire not only destroyed Black homes, but also several Black-owned businesses.

This is what's left of Rhythms of the Village, a learning center that celebrated African culture and music.

EMEKA CHUKWURAH, Rhythms of the Village: We're not going to give up so easily, you know?

I tell those developers, those capitalists, good luck.

They can try, but these are some resilient people.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The store's owners are father and son Onochie and Emeka Chukwurah.

ONOCHIE CHUKWURAH, Rhythms of the Village: So this fire came here, devastated our community.

And it's turning us around to each one help the other.

Everybody's helping.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Right after the fires, they set up a donation space in Onochie's driveway, collecting and dispensing clothes, shoes, toiletries, all for free.

ONOCHIE CHUKWURAH: Anybody out there who is in need right now is welcome to come here and take whatever you see that you need.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: While their store is gone, Emeka says this effort and others like it across the area gives him hope about Altadena's future.

EMEKA CHUKWURAH: We have our boutique, free boutique here, but this is being replicated all over the community.

So, seeing us share resources at this level, I'm very optimistic that we can rebuild.

DIANE PALLAY: We're going to remember the beautiful memories, and also let's just look to the future.

RICHARD PALLAY, Eaton Fire Victim: This is what's going on around the tree.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Despite losing everything, Diane and Richard Pallay are hoping to rebuild in Altadena.

They say it's the people who will make this area back into what it once was.

RICHARD PALLAY: Give us the opportunity to build this community again.

We don't want it to be released to developers and change the whole look and feel and the being of Altadena.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: For the "PBS News Hour," I'm William Brangham in Altadena, California.