My Firsthand Account of the LA Wildfires
Witnessing the 2025 LA Wildfires: A firsthand account of the devastation, community impact, and the ongoing recovery efforts.
On Tuesday, January 7th, my friends and I saw a large cloud of smoke outside of our windows in the Santa Monica area and had no idea where it was coming from. We soon found out that it was coming from the Palisades, and growing rapidly. Victims in the Palisades area were given little time to leave, and it soon became gridlocked as there is only one way in and out. People were abandoning their cars and running on foot, as the fire was spreading faster than they could drive. Bulldozers had to come in and move the abandoned cars in order for firetrucks to get into the area.
I grew more and more anxious as the evacuation zones neared my apartment, and on Tuesday evening decided to evacuate as the closest zone was only a handful of blocks away and I could hear the wind howling so loudly outside. I grabbed some clothes, laptops, and my purse in a panic and rushed to my car. I am extremely lucky and grateful as my parents are about forty minutes away, so I had somewhere safe to go. I felt like I was driving in a hurricane, as the wind speeds were reported up to 100 mph that evening, debris and branches were flying everywhere and hitting my car, and all of the stoplights on the street were swaying. The photos below are what I saw outside of my window (ground level) throughout the day prior to leaving.
I was horrified to also learn about the Eaton fire near Altadena/Pasadena, where another friend eventually had to evacuate late that evening. I also have friends in the valley where a couple of fires started. It seemed like everytime I looked at the map, the existing fires were only growing and new ones were appearing. Even today, both the Palisades fire and Eaton fire are 0% contained (Update: as of 1/20 2:30AM PST, the Palisades fire is at 56% containment and the Eaton fire is at 81% containment). The Palisades fire is now at 23,713 acres, and the Eaton fire is at 14,117. To put that into perspective, the size of all of Manhattan, New York is 14,604 acres. The population of LA county exceeds the population of over 40 states.
*The Palisades fire is now at 23,713 acres and the Eaton fire is at 14,117 acres
The Palisades fire alone is the largest fire in LA’s history, there has been a loss of over 12,000 structures, and at least 24 people confirmed dead. The evacuation areas are having to boil water or use bottled water only, even for brushing teeth, due to the water quality. Currently, there are 300,000 people under evacuation. Even in parts of LA not immediately impacted, the air quality from the smoke is very unhealthy as AQI numbers do not account for all of the toxins in the air. N95 masks are needed at a minimum and windows and doors need to be sealed shut. Even having sheltered dozens of miles away, my car has been covered in soot over a week after evacuating. There are mass power outages still occurring all across LA, and water safety and conservation guidance. I grew up in LA county, and have never seen anything at this scale of destructin before. Everyone in LA knows at least one person who has lost everything.
I have seen a lot of online sentiment that the fires are impacting “wealthy” areas so people are actually celebrating or having strong apathy towards LA - which is such a big misconception to have. Hollywood and the entertainment industry are only a portion — LA is a vibrant community and culture of the most hard-working people and businesses where wealth disparity is no exception. The media may be showing a lot of coverage on celebrity homes lost, but ~80% of Los Angeles is lower and middle class. Altadena in particular has been a refuge for Black families for generations, and was the first middle class Black neighborhood in LA.
There are fire victims who purchased their homes several decades ago, who worked tirelessly to buy their dream home now in ashes, who raised several generations in their home, who are disabled and at high risk with evacuation orders, who are one of thousands who had their fire insurance policies canceled in the last year, who own several animals including horses, who lost everything with no means to rebuild, and the list goes on - you never know someone’s situation. There are countless people of all backgrounds that have lost their homes in the fire, so the best thing people can do is have empathy and/or help given the resources provided or not say anything at all.
No matter who the fires are impacting, they all still have to pay the mortgage on their burned down homes, may only get a small percentage from insurance even if they do have it, and permitting laws may inhibit or delay rebuilding homes for years. It is absolutely devastating to lose everything — and memories and sentimental items are irreplaceable. This is not a battle of natural disasters; each one deserves empathy and support from the global community.
I have tried to keep up as best as I can with resources shared both in the embedded links of this blog post as well as social media; I will continue to update them as much as possible. I will be dedicating my blog donations and any donations received via Venmo during this month of January to organizations listed here contributing to LA relief efforts. Please stay safe everyone and come together as a community. Sending love and big hugs to you all, and a huge thank you to the first responders, volunteers, and good Samaritans! <3
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