Fire

Friday January 10, 2025

Jan 10, 2025

After Palisades fire hydrants lacked water, city officials blame demand - Los Angeles Times — Credit: Los Angeles Times

I had something different lined up for today, but the fires in Los Angeles are getting insane. Everyone Lindsay and I know out there is still safe or has evacuated, but thousands of people will lose their homes, their possessions, and be forced to suffer the indignity of contentious insurance claims. Some will lose their lives.

California Fire Map, Update as Palisades, Eaton, Hurst Blazes Burn LA - Newsweek — Credit: Newsweek

There are several active fires covering an area twice the size of Manhattan. Los Angeles County is massive, but it’s hard to conceptualize how much burning is if you haven’t spent extended time there. The Palisades and Pasadena, to a resident, might as well be different states — it’s that much of a journey — and yet both are aflame, as well as a large swath of the hills in between. This is an 18th-century fire in a 21st-century city.

It’s been surreal seeing videos of the fires burning familiar places. A girl on Instagram filmed the Runyon fire from the street outside her apartment, and my initial reaction was, “Oh damn, you live next to Bludso’s BBQ?” before realizing this was not the appropriate reaction. This is not about me, which I’m frequently forced to remind myself during media-frenzied natural tragedies. It’s natural to use personal experience to ground oneself in a tragedy, but performative whining doesn’t serve anybody.

If you believe prayer is action, then by all means, pray — ideally for our friend, Jacob Proano, who’s in Santa Monica helping to evacuate residents. (He’s a firefighter, not a prisoner.) Otherwise, do what you can, even if it’s just checking in on friends in the area.

I’ll be real with you: There’s probably not much you can do. But doing nothing hurts. Griping about retrospect (for now) makes you an asshole.