Thank you for this post. As someone says below--it's an absolute nightmare.
One thing I did the first time I was evacuated in Santa Barbara was to walk around the house and quickly video everything in every room. I figured if it came to that (and thankfully in every one of the 3 times I had to evacuate, it did not)--the video might prove helpful for insurance purposes. I was too stunned at the time to do much of anything else....and I only had a few minutes before the police came through with the bullhorns and ordered us out.
Really beautiful, and this resonates because yesterday as I left L.A., I actually did grab the cat litter (and the cat). Saw the fire and smoke driving home from work Tuesday. Forgot some documents but grabbed a small painting by my daughter. Will always remember standing in my apartment, smelling the smoke, looking around and thinking what do I really take? Never experienced that before. I think my neighborhood will be fine but the smoke/air quality was unreal and power kept coming/going with the winds. I will never forget that smell/taste of that foul air for the rest of my life. Was lodged in my throat all day yesterday as I headed east. Sending love to all of L.A., all first responders, to all my neighbors, fellow Californians, everyone everywhere doing what they can. Thank you for writing this.
So beautiful . My heart goes out to you and all of LA! After just going through something similar, Hurricane Helen in Western North Carolina (no potable water, power , internet for over 38 days), I can honestly say I agree with you. In troubling times, people are so good, kind, compassionate and open hearted. All our neighbors showed up for us in big and small ways. I agree too that in the end , "it is just stuff" and that the real practice is feeling/believing that home is where the heart is and your people are. Now, here's to hoping that insurance and FEMA and all the beings show up for LA. Prayers up for all of you.
As someone who grew up in the Midwest and now calls Paris home I am trying to wrap my mind around the wildfires ( the Midwest has tornadoes… not wildfires), and it’s so awful.
My prayers are with the people who have lost their homes.
thanks for these tips. we live in northern california and while our neighborhood and town does amazing practice evacuation drills on a consistent basis- we don’t have some of these communication things in place like the what’s app. I don’t have many of my neighbors contact info and most of them are very old- i’m going to suggest this to the group. Our neighborhood is physically a lot like parts of the palisades- we’ve talked about how thankful we are for the rain we got recently because we could imagine a fire ripping through here just like it did there. my heart just aches for you all. ❤️
1 mo before the Getty fire and 2 months after moving to CA/LA. After that fire, locals told me “don’t worry, that was a super rare event in this part of town”. Ok, yeah, I call BS at this point :-(
My heart goes out to you. I grew up in Long Beach and all my family is in Southern California, I have been watching utterly heartbroken. As an aside, in February 2000 we had a fire in our house at night. There was a lot of damage, but we didn't lose it. But, I get the feeling of trying to grab what may be most important. We ran out of our house with our kids, pets & my purse. On reflecting afterward, there was really nothing more important, nothing that I would have grabbed. It puts things in perspective.
I would like to thank the 800 prisoners who are fighting the fires earning $10.24 a day.
Thank you for this post. As someone says below--it's an absolute nightmare.
One thing I did the first time I was evacuated in Santa Barbara was to walk around the house and quickly video everything in every room. I figured if it came to that (and thankfully in every one of the 3 times I had to evacuate, it did not)--the video might prove helpful for insurance purposes. I was too stunned at the time to do much of anything else....and I only had a few minutes before the police came through with the bullhorns and ordered us out.
Really beautiful, and this resonates because yesterday as I left L.A., I actually did grab the cat litter (and the cat). Saw the fire and smoke driving home from work Tuesday. Forgot some documents but grabbed a small painting by my daughter. Will always remember standing in my apartment, smelling the smoke, looking around and thinking what do I really take? Never experienced that before. I think my neighborhood will be fine but the smoke/air quality was unreal and power kept coming/going with the winds. I will never forget that smell/taste of that foul air for the rest of my life. Was lodged in my throat all day yesterday as I headed east. Sending love to all of L.A., all first responders, to all my neighbors, fellow Californians, everyone everywhere doing what they can. Thank you for writing this.
So beautiful . My heart goes out to you and all of LA! After just going through something similar, Hurricane Helen in Western North Carolina (no potable water, power , internet for over 38 days), I can honestly say I agree with you. In troubling times, people are so good, kind, compassionate and open hearted. All our neighbors showed up for us in big and small ways. I agree too that in the end , "it is just stuff" and that the real practice is feeling/believing that home is where the heart is and your people are. Now, here's to hoping that insurance and FEMA and all the beings show up for LA. Prayers up for all of you.
Elise, this was beautiful.
As someone who grew up in the Midwest and now calls Paris home I am trying to wrap my mind around the wildfires ( the Midwest has tornadoes… not wildfires), and it’s so awful.
My prayers are with the people who have lost their homes.
thanks for these tips. we live in northern california and while our neighborhood and town does amazing practice evacuation drills on a consistent basis- we don’t have some of these communication things in place like the what’s app. I don’t have many of my neighbors contact info and most of them are very old- i’m going to suggest this to the group. Our neighborhood is physically a lot like parts of the palisades- we’ve talked about how thankful we are for the rain we got recently because we could imagine a fire ripping through here just like it did there. my heart just aches for you all. ❤️
Wishing you and your family strength and grace in getting through this. Heart's breaking for LA. Love from Canada.
My shop is near you at BW Village. I bought it
1 mo before the Getty fire and 2 months after moving to CA/LA. After that fire, locals told me “don’t worry, that was a super rare event in this part of town”. Ok, yeah, I call BS at this point :-(
God bless all of you😇
The world is watching the strengths, sorrows and goodness of Angelenos in real time. We love LA.
My heart goes out to you. I grew up in Long Beach and all my family is in Southern California, I have been watching utterly heartbroken. As an aside, in February 2000 we had a fire in our house at night. There was a lot of damage, but we didn't lose it. But, I get the feeling of trying to grab what may be most important. We ran out of our house with our kids, pets & my purse. On reflecting afterward, there was really nothing more important, nothing that I would have grabbed. It puts things in perspective.
Sending love to you Elise ❤️
Stay safe Elise! ❤️
❤️❤️❤️Thinking about you and your family❤️❤️❤️
Thank you thank you -- as an Angeleno living off my go bag right now, I appreciated your words and calm and kindness (and pictures).
Sending you much love,healing and hope from Canada 🇨🇦 we have sent help to you and will always help when needed that’s who we are as a nation