The Los Angeles Fires Update
What a year January 2025 has already been! We started out the year here in Los Angeles with horrible winds that led to multiple devastating fires breaking out throughout the city. Thousands of people lost their homes, businesses, and everything they’ve ever owned. The magnitude of the situation is truly mind-blowing and heartbreaking. It’s too much for anyone to wrap their heads around and I can only imagine that most of LA is in fight or flight mode right now.
Our family lives in the valley and even here, we could see the massive smoke and flames billowing up in the distance. But we are the lucky ones. We are safe. Our home is safe. We can only imagine what it must have been like in the Palisades, Altadena, Malibu, or any of the other areas that were so horribly affected and decimated by the fires. I can’t stop thinking about the trauma all of the people most affected must be going through. Their neighborhoods look like full out war zones.
Like so many other families across LA, as the fire warnings kept updating on our phones (a big thank you to the Watch Duty app—the app we never knew we needed!), we quickly put our emergency “go” bags by the door. It felt like we were tagging in as doomsday preppers in the middle of Armageddon—except we had no idea what we were doing.
We gathered our “survival” bags which my hubby had bought for us years back when our babies were born. He knew exactly where they were and I’m so grateful. We also included special straws that would allow us to drink water from anywhere safely, a first aid kit, flashlights, “space food” that can stay fresh enough to eat for an insane amount of time even though I’m sure it tastes like air.
From there, I ran around the house gathering a few changes of clothes for the kids, for Phil and I. Truth be told, I was in panic mode and I’m pretty sure I blacked out picking out outfits and shoes, so the choices I made made no sense.
I managed to put my family heirlooms together in a bag, some vintage fashion pieces, and photo albums that are meaningful to me. We took our “bag of important stuff” like passports, birth certificates, etc. We gathered our computers, dog food, chargers, hard drives, and original artwork. We didn’t pack much at the end of the day because we kept thinking all that really mattered was our family getting out safely if it came to that.
Thank G-d it didn’t come to that for us. But this exercise really got me thinking: what would you take with you if you only had a few minutes to gather your things to head out the door for good? I hate that so many people no longer have to ask this question because they lived through this reality and many of them didn’t have the time to take anything with them at all.
I took a break from posting over the past couple of weeks to process everything and to focus on how best to support our community throughout this time. It immediately became clear that the people affected by these fires are going to need tons of help not only now, but for weeks and years to come.
Sharing a few resources here for anyone who may be in a position to volunteer.
I hope the new year looks up from here and that everyone stays safe. Wishing you all a much more positive start to 2025. Perhaps we return our subscription to January and start the year off fresh in February.
Photo Credits: Self-Shot, Erica Mcalister, Ashley Shapiro, LA Times
