Wildfires are still raging across Los Angeles County, with at least three active fires as of Monday morning, January 13. The two largest, Palisades and Eaton, have burned a combined 37,000-plus acres and remain under 14% and 33% contained, respectively.
On Thursday, January 9, I went out to speak with residents of my community on the Westside in Marina del Rey and Venice. The Marina was quiet, even for a Thursday afternoon, and most people I encountered were rushing to the store for essentials or popping in and out of restaurants to pick up meals. As a large number of schools are closed, families, too, were out and children played around a fountain. A few of the people I spoke with mentioned they were visiting the area from Santa Monica for a chance to sit outside in better air conditions (Marina del Rey is approximately five miles south of the edge of the evacuation zones for the Palisades fire). Others were firmly masked up in N95s or medical masks.
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Each person had a different connection to the fires, but everyone knew at least one friend or family member who evacuated and was waiting to hear about the condition of their home. Confirmation of losses were still coming in on Friday morning.
Later I went to Abbot Kinney Boulevard, where you can find some of Los Angeles’s trendiest shops and mainstay eateries on the palm tree-lined street. I found parking immediately (a first for the neighborhood) and the sidewalk was quiet, with a few people out and about, but many of the shops and cafes were closed due to current conditions.
As I was speaking to people, a Los Angeles County-wide evacuation alert rang out on our phones. I encountered a woman frantic to confirm if the alert was legitimate (officials later confirmed it had gone out to the entire county in error). She had evacuated from her Palisades home on Tuesday and was staying at the Venice home of her friend, and worried how they would evacuate her pet pig.
More people than not had words of encouragement or solidarity, and even those who didn’t have time to stop and speak with me told me to stay safe or keep well and wished me luck. I reached my car as the sun was setting, illuminating a red cloud to the north behind the row of palm trees. White ash sprinkled across my roof and windshield.
