When I took the main photo of the smoke over Venice, I knew the Los Angeles fires would be bad. I had no idea how bad. I had no idea how long it would take for them to be even partially contained. But here we are.
Our home is fine. We had some intensely stressful hours where we had to pack go-bags and wait for evacuation orders. Thankfully, they didn’t come. I still haven’t unpacked the go-bags. And, now, with the new wind warnings, we won’t for a while.
The Los Angeles fires came at a time when we are supposed to be in the middle of the rainy season — we haven’t had a drenching since March. The reservoirs, generally, are higher than they have been because we had years of drought. But the rains that came at the beginning of the year meant that a lot of vegetation grew on the hillsides. Now, that vegetation is burning.
We know people who lost their houses in the Palisades Fire. We know people who lost their neighborhoods in the Eaton Fire. We know people who were evacuated and still don’t have power (for safety reasons). Everyone in Los Angeles knows someone impacted. It’s one reason why thousands of us volunteered, donated, or did supply pick-ups — those of us who have been lucky (and even those who have not) want to do something to help.
Right now, it’s challenging to go back to business as usual. In the coming days, I’ll be sharing links on how to help people affected by the Los Angeles fires. I’ll be talking about go-bags, including some of the less-than-useful things that ended up in mine. And I’ll be writing more about sustainability, climate issues, and minimalism.
Stay safe out there! I’ll be back soon.