In a surprising turn of events, a Powerball winner who clinched a historic billion prize has purchased 15 lots devastated by wildfires in Los Angeles, igniting concerns among local residents. The fear is that developers might reshape the community, eroding its small-town charm.

Edwin Castro, the Powerball winner, joins a group of billionaires eyeing the scorched properties in Altadena. These lots, now available at reduced prices, have tempted those whose owners have opted against rebuilding.

The devastating wildfires that swept through upscale LA neighborhoods in January claimed at least 31 lives and ravaged 57,000 acres. Altadena was notably one of the hardest-hit areas.

Castro has invested over million in these 15 lots, with a commitment to rejuvenate the neighborhood and support local families in need.

‘I want it to feel like the old neighborhood,’ he told The Wall Street Journal. ‘Like if you put all those houses pre-fire in a time bubble.’

Castro is an Altadena local and purchased his history-making lottery ticket at the small gas station, which miraculously survived the Eaton fire when it tore through. He walked away with a lump sum of $768 million.

But he isn’t intending to give the homes away as charity. He has a 10-year plan to rebuild, primarily single-family dwellings but he hasn’t ruled out other structures.

He said he would sell the completed homes at market value.

Edwin Castro is one of many billionaires circling the burnt out properties in Altadena, capitalizing on discounted sales prices from owners who have chosen not to rebuild

The January fires which tore through ritzy LA neighborhoods left at least 31 dead and decimated 57,000 acres of land. Altadena was among the communities worst hit

‘The profit margin doesn’t need to be egregious,’ he said. ‘But I’m not building these homes just to give them away.’

Castro is contemplating selling exclusively to families who want to live in the area, rather than investors.

And he’s considering building a home for himself, too.

While some locals are happy the lots have landed in the lap of a local with good intentions, others are still concerned about the prospect of big developments.

Some residents fear they’ll lose the small community feel of the town, and a petition to block investors entirely has already garnered almost 1,500 signatures.

The group behind the petition warns an influx of investors could cause a ‘second wave of disaster’ by pricing locals out of the area and vastly changing the landscape with units or duplexes.

In an effort to protect local families, Governor Gavin Newsom had issued an executive order preventing developers from ‘making aggressive and unsolicited cash offers.’

‘As families mourn, the last thing they need is greedy speculators taking advantage of their pain,’ he said at the time.

Some residents fear they’ll lose the small community feel of the town, and a petition to block investors entirely has already garnered almost 1,500 signatures

The Aldadena fire alone destroyed 10,000 structures in the area

‘I have heard first-hand from community members and victims who have received unsolicited and predatory offers from speculators offering cash far below market value — some while their homes were burning. 

‘We will not allow greedy developers to rip off these working-class communities at a time when they need more support than ever before.’ 

So far, most of the developers who have snapped up lots in Altadena have lodged planning applications to build single-family homes. Some larger buildings have also been pitched.

A spokesperson for Castro told Daily Mail ‘Edwin Castro grew up in Altadena and considers it [his] home. 

‘They love and care about the Altadena community and saw an opportunity to invest in it that would also help some impacted homeowners move forward while helping it retain its character and charm.

‘Many people who were affected by the fires in Altadena cannot or do not want to rebuild and aspire to move on and start over elsewhere. These purchases will help some of them, while keeping ownership of the property local.

‘They anticipate that half the lots that were purchased will use the preexisting plans, and the others will remain single family homes with new plans and designs.’

Castro is far from the only wealthy investor circling the region.

A spokesperson for Castro told Daily Mail Edwin Castro grew up in Altadena and considers it [his] home

Work crews have cleared much of the ash and debris that was left behind in the wake of the fire, and on some lots, sparse patches of grass are beginning to grow again, but beyond that, there has been little headway in the rebuild

According to WSJ, a San Diego developer, Los Angeles-area hospice executive and an Arizona fund have made recent purchases of scorched properties.

Meanwhile, displaced locals have spent nine months in temporary housing, dealing with insurance agencies and the complexities of rebuilding their lives.

Some have been warned rebuilding could take up to a decade.

Work crews have cleared much of the ash and debris that was left behind in the wake of the fire, and on some lots, sparse patches of grass are beginning to grow again, but beyond that, there has been little headway in the rebuild.

The Palisades Fire began during heavy winds on January 7, destroying or damaging nearly 8,000 homes, businesses and other structures and killing at least 12 people in the affluent LA neighborhood. 

Another wind-whipped fire started the same day in Altadena, killing at least 17 people and destroying or damaging more than 10,000 homes and other buildings.

Mayor Karen Bass faced swift and fierce backlash at the time after it emerged she was in Africa when the fires first began to spread.

More than a month on from the disaster, she fired fire chief Kristin Crowley, revealing an additional 1,000 firefighters could have been deployed the day the blaze ignited. 

Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, was charged with starting the Palisades Fires that decimated Los Angeles

She said Crowley rebuffed a request to prepare a report on the fires that is a critical part of investigations into what happened and why.

‘One thousand firefighters who could have been on the job fighting the fires were sent home’ on Crowley’s watch, Bass said.

Uber driver Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, was arrested last week and charged with ‘maliciously’ starting the catastrophic Palisades blaze.