Provided by Ariana Goetting

The Palisades fire blazes west of LA, filling the sky with smoke and ash. The wildfires damaged essential sewer, water and power infrastructures, leaving more than 175,000 people without electricity.

Raging wildfires across the Los Angeles area have claimed at least 25 lives, displaced over 150,000 residents and scorched nearly 40 thousand acres since Tuesday, becoming the most destructive fires in LA history. 

The fires reduced more than 12,000 structures to ash, including homes, apartment buildings, businesses, schools, churches and vehicles. The estimated economic loss from the fires is $250 billion to $275 billion, according to weather forecasting company AccuWeather. 

Chemistry teacher Casey Brown grew up in LA and still has family members living there. The fires threatened several of their homes, and at his father’s property, the flames destroyed a shed and a car in the front yard but spared the house itself.

“We deal with fires with some frequency, but this is a totally different scale,” Brown said. “The feeling we’ve had before is that we are under threat, but that houses are not actually going to burn. Now there are whole blocks leveled to ash where we lived. There might be an unharmed house right next to a charred wreckage. The destruction is just totally random.”

The Palisades Fire, currently the largest fire, burned over 23,700 acres west of LA, including numerous celebrity mansions. The Eaton Fire, located farther inland near Pasadena, burned 14,000 acres and claimed over 7,000 structures. Many densely populated areas like communities near the Getty Center and UCLA have received evacuation warnings.

As of Tuesday, firefighters contained 18% of the Palisades Fire and 35% of the Eaton Fire. The smaller Hurst Fire is 97% contained, and the Kenneth Fire is 100% contained. However, the fires are expected to worsen with extreme winds, high humidity and dry conditions throughout the week. 

Senior Shaila Tandon’s grandparents live in Santa Monica, just 7 blocks away from the border of the evacuation order for the Palisades fire. Despite the smoke, ash and poor air quality, her grandparents decided to remain at home.

“Part of me wishes they would just evacuate and just stay safe, but at the same time I understand that it’s the emotional value of their house and belongings,” Shaila said. “LA is my second home, so it’s terrible to hear about all the people that have lost their homes and everything that they own. I’ll be going to LA in a couple of weeks and it’s going to be shocking to see all the damage.”

UCLA student Ariana Goetting (‘24) first noticed a cloud of orange smoke near campus on Tuesday afternoon. The Palisades fire was just 2.7 miles of campus, so UCLA moved classes to a remote learning format until Jan. 17. More than 5,000 undergraduate students left campus due to safety and health concerns.

“Front desks in the dorm buildings were distributing N95 masks for free, and a lot of students were wearing masks just to minimize how many toxins they’re breathing in,” Ariana said. “My roommates and I packed evacuation bags on Tuesday night just in case we had to evacuate in the middle of the night.”

The wildfire damaged essential sewer, water and power infrastructures, leaving more than 175,000 people without electricity in neighborhoods of LA, Santa Monica, and Long Beach. The overall LA air quality is 62 AQI, according to Accuweather, with a smoke advisory extended at least through Wednesday 7 p.m. 

After observing the city officials’ response to the fires, Shaila noticed frustration among locals towards politicians for lacking the resources to tackle the devastation caused by the fires.

“LA has never had something so severe, and I don’t think they were prepared at all for a disaster of such a large scale,” Shaila said. “It’s been a week and the Pacific Palisades fire is only 18% contained, and the fire hydrants have run out of water. They also cut the budget of the fire department just this year.”

In addition to working to contain the fires, the National Guard was deployed to Altadena on Friday to deter looting in evacuated areas as more and more people leave their homes. Los Angeles police have arrested at least 30 looters so far.

Community groups have taken the lead in providing relief. The People’s Struggle San Fernando Valley coordinated a network of drivers to transport evacuators. All Power Books converted their location bookstore into a temporary warehouse for donations of emergency resources including canned food, masks and blankets.

Dr. Brown noted how the LA community has come together to share information and resources during this crisis. People have posted doorbell camera footage to update others on fire activity in evacuated areas. 

“There is an enormous amount of camaraderie between people who are just one step away from being strangers,” Dr. Brown said. “While there are some looters, the vast majority of people want to help each other, and that is on display during this situation.”