Eaton Fire survivors blasted State Farm for insurance payment delays during a press conference on Thursday. "Our pleas, questions and assertions just go into the black hole," resident Wendy Davis said. "State Farm has delayed, stonewalled and denied us the help we're entitled to." Start Farm recently asked for an emergency rate increase, arguing that it needs to boost capital to avoid an increasingly dire financial situation. The company initially proposed its emergency insurance rate increase because of the destructive Los Angeles wildfires, including the Eaton and Palisades fires — the second and third-most destructive fires in California history, which destroyed a combined 16,248 buildings and damaged thousands more.

Families who survived the Eaton Fire in Los Angeles County plan to hold State Farm accountable. They’re calling on State Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara to investigate what they’re calling a pattern of delays and denials in the handling of their claims. The fire, which hit the community of Altadena, burned over 14,000 acres and destroyed over 9,400 structures. They are planning a news conference with advocacy group “Consumer Watchdog” to detail their experience with the insurer since the fire.

Survivors of the Eaton Fire, which torched its way through Altadena and parts of Pasadena in January, have called out State Farm for alleged mishandling of insurance claims. Residents of the embattled community gathered at the State Farm catastrophe claim tent Thursday on Colorado Boulevard, urging California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara to launch a formal investigation into the insurance giant, alleging it has failed to uphold its duty to wildfire victims by routinely denying and delaying valid claims. Eaton Fire victims also denounced the insurance empire for requesting a 17 percent emergency rate hike, which Lara approved last month on a “‘provisional’ basis, pending an administrative judge’s sign-off,” per the Los Angeles Times.