Deep Concern for Friends in L.A.

This is a helpless and meaningless thing to do, but it feels callous to blithely carry on with no mention of it. Obviously we can't acknowledge many things that happen in the world at large. But today we acknowledge and express concern for all of our friends and their relatives affected by the terrible fires in Los Angeles.

I spoke to my cousin John yesterday, checking on him and his wife—they live near the Pacific west of Torrance. Thankfully there is no danger yet where he lives, but he said the stories there are truly horrible. Thousands of building have been lost and tens of thousands of people displaced. The fires have destroyed homes along the Pacific Highway, and the eastern part of Malibu is ablaze. In Palisades, with limited roads in and out, he told a story of people fleeing who got caught in slow traffic, and, seeing fire on both sides of the road, panicked and fled on foot. Authorities then had to send bulldozers down the road pushing abandoned cars aside to reopen the road. Today fires virtually ring the San Fernando valley. Pierce has not been heard from yet—Pierce (his first name is Bill, but he never uses it) is a good old photo-dawg and photojournalist who used to be a custom B&W printer for the professionals and famous artists in New York City. Given the location of his house he probably had to evacuate. I saw a report that actor James Woods was in tears when he related that his eight-year-old niece offered him her piggy bank to help rebuild his destroyed home.

A friend who works in public policy, in a different specialty, offered wise counsel—"Rule No. 1 for these occasions to ignore all immediate spin from politicians and pundits. Only after all the ashes have literally settled will it be possible to reliably sort out whether and where there have been preventable policy or implementation failures, and what might reasonably be done about them." Amen to that.

A well done BBC page offers perspective on what is happening, as well as many visual illustrations. It's called "In maps: Thousands of acres on fire in LA."

Our thoughts go out to those affected today.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2025 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)

Featured Comments from:

Gordon Lewis: "I was born in Los Angeles and moved almost 20 years ago. The so-called Eaton fire in Altadena, California, just north of Pasadena, has just consumed the neighborhood I once lived in. Old friends who once owned multi-million dollar homes in Pacific Palisades and Malibu are now homeless. This is the paradox of Southern California: the very things that make it so attractive can be destroyed in an instant by fires, mudslides, earthquakes, riots, hubris, you name it. Those of us who live elsewhere shouldn't feel too smug though: climate change is spreading the same seeds of pending disaster worldwide. We just don't yet know what form it will take."

William Lloyd: "As a native Angeleno, I am particularly well-acquainted with the areas lost to these fires in general, and especially in the Pacific Palisades. I have spent much time working in these neighborhoods; I recognise many of the locations we see in the pictures of devastation. I still have family in Ventura and South Pasadena, who remain safe.

"But, in addition to my deep sympathy for those who have lost everything is a startling personal realization: perhaps as much as half my output in my career as a professional cabinetmaker has been lost in this and other recent fires. A trivial loss in comparison to be sure, and yet...I have outlived my legacy!"

Mike replies: I'm sorry to hear that. There are many kinds and forms of loss. The emotional impact of loss (and grief) doesn't follow a rational hierarchy. Many people think it should; they disapprove when someone, say, mourns a pet more than a sibling. Jacques Lowe's photographic archive was stored in a bank vault in the basement of the Twin Towers. That loss was not primary when compared to the lives lost that day and the first responders exposed to toxins that later debilitated them, not to mention the trauma to a nation and the political turmoil that followed. For years it seemed almost disrespectful to even bring it up. Yet I still think of it as a pity.

JH: "Until 3 p.m. this afternoon, the evacuation zone here in Santa Monica was 3.5 blocks from us and the evacuation warning zone across the street. Fortunately, the fires have burned as far S and E toward us as they will but are headed N into the hills where we hike. The fury of these wildfires and the speed with which they spread is unfathomable—until you see it personally. (This was our second one.) In this case there were winds pushing the fire toward densely packed neighborhoods at 40–60 mph (70–100 kph.)

"Here some photos.

"Noon Tuesday from the corner of our block. The fire had started less than an hour before.

"About 4 p.m. Tuesday, view from the oceanside park 10 blocks from us. The fire was gaining intensity fanned by the high winds, headed for the Pacific Coast Highway and the ocean..

"View from our balcony at 1 a.m. Wednesday. The fire was about 2–3 miles away but scary. Hard to get to sleep.

"Today 4 p.m. from the same oceanside park as above. The fire has leveled most of Pacific Palisades and moved North but still burning ferociously in mountain brush in the Santa Monica Mountains.

"Incredible losses—5–6,000 homes, probably average value $4–5 million. Homes and collections of many artists. Lost: a number of famous architect houses, Will Rogers Ranch (where we hiked several times a week...we think the Eames House survived, along with several other Case Study Houses.

"Scary from where we live...."

Comments

[KeithB]

My sister works at the Huntington Library and they closed for the time being, she lives in Pasadena, but so far they have not evacuated.

So far, I have not been personally affected, though several of my coworkers have.

As to Rule #1, I heard a particularly ignorant pundit on CNN last night. I yelled at the TV: "If you are not a DWP engineer, shut your pie hole!"

[DavidB]

Thank you for this. We have friends who were forced to evacuate. At this time, it appears their neighborhood is still untouched--but the fires continue so the future is unknown.

It is of little comfort to know that the weather prediction models did an outstanding job many days in advance. Knowing what may happen and being ready for it are two different things.

[Stew Epstein]

Sadly, I can empathize with what these folks are going through for in Santa Rosa in 2017, the Tubbs fire, I was evacuated. I was one of the lucky ones, my home was still there, scorched but standing, alone in a wasteland.

I have friends down there who are now having a similar experience to my own, evacuated, frightened of what they will find upon return.

My heart goes out to all those affected. You are in my prayers.

[Stan B.]

Don't know how many more ham fisted warnings we need before we start doing something like our very lives depended on it. Storms bigger and more destructive than ever- some occurring in places they never did before, fires of biblical proportions, giant sinkholes forming in melting PERMAfrost, coral reefs and glaciers dying en masse, 18 of the hottest years in recorded history in this quarter century alone!

[Mike Fewster]

A media coverage note. Fox and Murdoch. When Australia had major fire disasters some years ago, Murdoch media burnt their fingers, so to speak by being very fast to claim the fires were the work of arsonists. Subsequent statements from fire services, police and public Inquiries flatly denied this. The Murdoch press was very fast to shift debate away from Climate Change. Looking at USA Fox news, I see they are at it again. They have learnt a little caution. They are politicizing the tragedy by making statements from some celebrities blaming arsonists, the lead story.

[Moose]

Lots of noise about the poor celebs and rich people. Washington Post headline: The celebrity homes that burned in the L.A. fires.

What about the poor, who will in many cases be homeless for at least some time? And when all one's assets are physical things that fire will destroy, the loss is more devastating.

Friends of a close friend were burned out of their house. Employed, but living from paycheck to paycheck single mom and 3 kids. Real disaster, they literally had only the night clothes they were wearing, everything else burned.. As a cook who is always upgrading gear, my basement was able to fully stock their new kitchen with nice stuff; what a joy!

Unlike folks in that situation in LA, one rental lost here was easily replaced. Where are those people going to go?

Lives that have been close to the edge, but OK, can go over. That's a larger tragedy, both proportionately and likely as a whole, than folks with other abodes and/or the money to recover "normal" lives fairly easily.

I'm lucky; my son and his wife couldn't head here, north, because of blocked freeways, so they are in a hotel in San Diego. Longer run, if their rental house is destroyed, they'll stay here (a treat) until new quarters can be established.

The only other acquaintance we have down there is far from the fires and has ample money.

We have insurance, and assets that don't burn with the house. In case of disaster declaration, withdrawals from IRAs likely won't be taxed, as elsewhere. We'd be seriously inconvenienced, but more than just OK. What about those who haven't been as lucky (very) and perspicacious (decently) as I?

[Greg]

I'm not in the midst of it, but it unnerving and friends have been evacuated and lost their homes. A point of fact. Los Angeles has only received 0.2 inches of rain when the normal is about 4 inches. Two good rains years previously so lots of fresh, but now dry growth. I doubt we've had significant rain since early spring. We have plenty of water in the reservoirs, just not enough delivery capacity to move the extraordinary quantities needed to fight a fire of this size.

Secondly, I have a geography or semantic question. Torrance runs to the ocean, so are your cousins in the western part of Torrance? Even more confusing because the addresses for this area are Redondo Beach for the convenient of the Post Office.

I'm fortunate enough to live there and have views of the Pacific Ocean (I guess it's really Santa Monica Bay here, but it's not an enclosed bay.

[I was confused by that too. They actually live pretty much due southwest of Torrance in Palos Verdes Estates. --Mike]

[KeithB]

A local reporter for the 24 hour news station became the story when her childhood home burned:
https://www.audacy.com/knxnews/news/local/knx-news-reporter-loses-childhood-home-to-eaton-fire