Although California has suffered from wildfires in the past, the Palisades Fire and other recent fires have proven to be among the most devastating the state has seen in recent history, destroying communities and raising extreme concerns about the environment. The Palisades Fire startled the northern Los Angeles neighborhood of Pacific Palisades on January 7th as a brush fire, but quickly spread to roughly 24,000 acres of land, killing 27 people and leaving thousands displaced.
Unfortunately, bad weather is no stranger to California. California has long been accustomed to droughts, long periods of heavy rainfall, mudslides, and earthquakes. Recently, the state has experienced insufficient rainfall and exceptionally strong winds, with gusts reaching up to 70 miles per hour. These winds, in combination with the dry landscapes, have created conditions for the fires to spread all too easily.
Climate change has, additionally, exacerbated the severity of recent wildfires. According to BBC News, 7% of water is absorbed, or evaporated, each degree the atmosphere gets warmer. In other words, vegetation has lost much of its moisture, which has left the landscape more flammable and at risk of destruction.
Several members of the Saints community living in the Los Angeles area have been closely affected by these fires, including Charlotte Heimbach ‘23, who described the impact on her return to school at UCLA. Charlotte stated, “The sky was pretty grey and there was lots of smoke in the distance. Classes were not canceled at that point, but only 20 people showed up to my 200-person lecture.” Charlotte went on to say, “I do not personally know anyone who has lost their home. There was a UCLA chemistry professor who lost his home and his students created a GoFundMe for him. I think for the most part students are devastated by all the damage in LA and sympathetic to all the people who have lost their homes.”
Jack Priebus, a sophomore at USC and former Saints student, shared, “Many of my classmates were affected. Many people who go to USC and live in the LA area live in the Pacific Palisades so there have been a lot of absences and class cancellations. Many students are devastated as their homes and livelihoods have been taken away from them in an instant. There are many people creating gofundmes, bake sales, and stands to raise money for USC families affected.”
“I had a few friends, including one close friend, completely lose their home. It was burned to the ground and they lost all of their keepsakes and valued items,” shared Julianne Karol ‘23, a sophomore at USC.
In response to the wildfires, Mr. Yee sent an email to the Upper School with ideas of ways students can get involved, starting with staying updated with the most recent news and working collectively to raise funds through bake sales and donations. There are also organizations working to help people access food and other resources, such as The Mutual Aid Los Angeles Network and the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles. Additionally, The Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles is helping rebuild homes and World Central Kitchen is giving out food to people in need. Even by doing minimal research, it’s easy to find numerous organizations working to support the local people and animals in need- the fires may be far away, but there are still many ways we can work to support these efforts.
Luckily, the intensity of the winds has decreased significantly since the first week of the fires, but the damage is still severe. Financial estimates from JPMorgan suggest that financial insured losses are exceeding $20 billion, and economic losses may reach $50 billion.
