To people who are not natives of the dynamic, resilient, awe-inspiring city of Los Angeles, California, massive wildfires occurring in the state do not seem to hold much weight. California is known for being dry, having little rain, and having fires and earthquakes as their natural disaster claims to fame. As a native Angeleno, born and raised in the beautiful City of Roses, Pasadena, CA, I can tell you first-hand that these wildfires are anything but normal.Â
From the affluent, coastal city of Pacific Palisades, to the humble, historical, working and middle class twin cities of Pasadena and Altadena, these fires have impacted almost every aspect of daily life in the city. Restaurants, schools, churches, small businesses, and homes have been destroyed in these blazes, belonging to people who built everything they had from the ground up.Â
The day I boarded the plane to leave my city of Pasadena to return to the East Coast for college, the Santa Ana winds had picked up and the fire in the Pacific Palisades had begun. I was in the window seat of my redeye flight watching the city I love engulfed in flames behind me, and held my breath for what seemed like the entire ride. By the time I landed and was on my way back to campus, my sister had called me asking if there was anything I wanted her to take with her; my family was evacuating their home.
For the next few days, all of my recent texts would consist of similar messages I have both sent and received: How are you and your family? Is your house okay? Have you evacuated? Where are you? I can’t believe this is happening. This is so sad. X’s house is gone. Y’s house is also gone. I can drive by your house tonight to see if it’s still up. The pizza place is gone. St. Marks burned down. The country club is gone. I was just there last week. Remember him? I just saw his GoFundMe. I wish I could volunteer. The National Guard is on my street. Did you see that video? It looks like a war zone. I don’t know what to do. I tried to stop by your house but the street is blocked off. The grocery store is gone. I’ve been crying all day. Hey, I know it’s been a while, but I wanna check in. Can you use your tap? Do you have enough water? Let me know if I can bring you guys anything. Do you guys have masks? They’re giving out food and clothes. This is a nightmare. I just want this to be over.Â
You never think your hometown would be in the center of a natural disaster. It’s not something that crosses your mind, at least, not when you’re from Pasadena, California of all places. You never think a working-middle-class, historically Black neighborhood could be thriving and standing one day, and absolutely crumbled and in rubble the next. You never think people that you have known for your entire life would lose everything they owned in the blink of an eye. You never imagine that one day, you would be at a McDonalds picking up a Diet Coke for your friend after his workout, and when you land at your university across the country the next week, the McDonalds would be burned down.Â
As with any natural disaster in this day and age where everyone has unlimited access to social media and the ability to create a 5 minute long TikTok thinkpiece, rumors, misinformation and scapegoating have added to the fire’s damages. Some people think that California governor Gavin Newsom, and Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass, are to blame for the fire’s destruction. Others, including scientists at UCLA, point to rapid climate change, analyzing LA’s dry vegetation, lack of rain, and the Santa Ana winds. Khloe Kardashian took to Instagram to criticize Mayor Bass’ response to the fire, calling her a “joke.” Many social media users quickly retaliated against Kardashian for that post, pointing out that while she had not made any donations and wasted water, she was targeting a Black female politician. Others have made TikTok videos “warning” LA residents of heightened crime and arson, as well as content creators sightseeing and filming the burned areas of the city to make videos.Â
While there has been so much negativity surrounding this event, it has been met with an uprising of community support. Restaurants and clothing stores all over LA have offered free food and clothing, makeshift donation sites have appeared on every street corner, and middle school girls have banned together to create a shopping experience for teenage victims of the fires. This serves as a reminder to me, and a message to everyone else:Â
Remember to always have empathy -even when it’s hard, or you don’t really care, or you think some group of people deserve something terrible. It’s so easy to speak negatively about situations when you are never in the situation. When your family turns on the TV in the hotel they’ve evacuated to and sees your street on fire with reporters walking on it, your views and mindset will start to change. And, another important message:
Los Angeles is forever the best city in the world. You can burn buildings, but you cannot shake the spirit of an Angeleno.Â