“I can smell smoke when I go outside. The air quality is really toxic right now,” said Santa Monica resident Jintong Ye on the topic of the LA fires.
“The Sunset Fire in the Hollywood Hills was blown toward us, casting large clouds of smoke throughout the sky and polluting the air. We had to wear masks to protect ourselves,” added Lucia Laski, a Mid-City resident.
“I haven’t been evacuated, even though I’ve gotten 2 evacuation orders. The first one was an error sent to the entire LA county, and the second one was sent at 4am later that night. Even though I knew I didn’t have to evacuate, I felt the need to be prepared just in case, so I packed my essentials,” Ye said.
While here in the Northeast the ground was recently blanketed with snow, out west approximately 3,000 miles away, in California the skies are ablaze with orange smoke from some of the worst fires in the state’s history. The infernos have formed around the city of Los Angeles.
In Southern California fire season is typically known to occur from May to October, however with the effects of global warming, rising temperatures and decreased precipitation, fire seasons duration has increased.
“I have not experienced something as bad as this in my lifetime. The Palisades and Eaton Fires, are some of the most destructive fires in California’s history. Sure, we’ve had fires like this in the past, but these fires are something else. The Santa Ana winds dry out our vegetation and are incredibly strong, provoking terrible wildfires,” said Laski.
The winds originate in the desert, in states like Nevada and parts of Utah and make their way up to Southern California, reaching a max of 100mph.
As of Friday Jan.17th, at least 27 people have died from the fires. Some of the fires include Palisades Fire, Eaton Fire, Hurst Fire, Kenneth Fire, etc…
Palisades fire began on Jan. 7th, which reached a size of 23,713 acres. The fire ignited quickly due to the high winds, making containment difficult. The California Department of Forestry and Fire protection confirmed that 2869 structures were destroyed and 508 damaged. Residents were forced to evacuate; however, the fire resulted in ten documented deaths.
“My area was 10 minutes away from the Palisades fire, but I didn’t have to evacuate. I could see the fires when I was driving, and the air quality was really bad. Most schools in LA closed, and I had to be virtual for a couple days,” said Ye.
While Ye’s home wasn’t affected, she described how some of her close friends and peers lost their homes. Ye hangs out in the Palisades area and described how some shops she frequently visited burnt down.
Laski, had a similar situation: “One of the preschool campuses of my K-12 school burned down in the Palisades.”
Eaton Fire began on Jan. 7th. , reaching a size of 14,021 acres. As of Thursday, the fire was 55% contained. However, approximately 7,000 structures were destroyed or damaged. 17 deaths were reported but several reported injuries.
Over the recent years as wildfires became more destructive and prevalent in California, insurance companies have stopped providing home coverage. Additionally, insurance companies were expected to implement a fixed catastrophe factor to insurance rates based on former wildfire losses, not accounting for the increasing risk or mitigation efforts. However, on Monday Dec. 30th, a regulation—enforced by the state—was passed, which mandates insurers to provide coverage in high-risk areas.
Coverage will start increasing 5% every two years until it reaches 85% of the insurance’s market share. Both major insurance and regional insurance companies are expected to abide.
As of now in Pacific Palisades, solely, J.P. Morgan Insurance analysis estimated that the insured losses are nearly $10 billion.
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Compared to other major cities, Los Angeles Fire Department was found to be among the most understaffed in America. The department has around 3,500 firefighters responsible for serving the city of LA with a population of 4 million (a ratio of 7 firefighters per 8000 citizens).
Prior to the most recent wildfire, the department received budget cuts of around $17 million that rendered a few of their million-dollar fire trucks useless given the inability to repair them. Their lack of funding led a group of long-term firefighters to advocate for resources at a City Hall meeting.
Both factors of understaffing and lack of funding has made containing wildfires and daily emergencies difficult to handle.
Despite this however, residents express their appreciation for the firefighters.
“I think the LA fire department, and everyone involved is doing the best they can working around the clock to try and get [the fires] contained. I really appreciate firefighters saving houses and lives, they’re truly our heroes,” said Ye.
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Those looking to help those affected by the wildfires could directly donate to the American Red Cross general fund for disaster relief and volunteer.
Additionally, the California Fire Foundation, Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, and Los Angeles Regional Food Bank are only a few resources out of many that provide further information for supporting those impacted.
“This situation has made us Angelenos grow closer, realizing that we are dependent on the spirit of our communities for survival,” lastly added Laski.
