Overwhelmed by loss, hopeful these special communities can rebuild from the wildfires

As you likely are, I’m overwhelmed by the destruction and deaths from the Palisades and Eaton fires.

This year marks my 40th as host of AirTalk, LAist 89.3's daily radio show. Five days a week, we connect Southern Californians with each other, and the news of the day. We were still on air when the Palisades Fire sparked last week. The evacuations began shortly after the show ended. By the time we went on air again the next day, the Eaton Fire was out of control and more fires were popping up. The whole region was on edge.

I’ve been asked multiple times how last week’s disasters compare to others I’ve covered on AirTalk. Over four decades, that’s a lot of devastating fires, earthquakes, debris flows, mass shootings, terrorist attacks, and riots. Several of those events stand out for their extensive loss of life, wide-scale destruction, and shocking violence. They provoked collective and personal anxiety, and brought to the front of our minds the concerns we have about the future of our region.

But, to me, the Palisades and Eaton fires have an impact that will last even longer and go deeper.

Listen

Imperfect Paradise host Antonia Cereijido and AirTalk's Larry Mantle talk about the wildfires in a special episode of LAist's podcast series.

Staggering losses

An aerial view shows homes destroyed in the Palisades Fire.

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Mario Tama

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Getty Images

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The night before the fires began, we already knew the winds were going to be bad. I always get a feeling of dread when winds like this are forecast. I was scrolling through the news to figure out what I’m likely going to wake up to, and I get the blast from the National Weather Service.

And I see language that I've never seen before to describe a fire threat, saying that it was an unprecedented mix of low humidity, lack of rain and high winds.

So I started feeling a bit of anxiety.

When the fires grew so fast, with the winds so high, I knew we were in for some tough days. Since then, I've talked to people who lost their homes, to my colleagues covering the disaster, to experts on fires, air quality, insurance and more. Those conversations have all helped to process some of my feelings on the staggering losses caused by the Eaton and Palisades fires.

But I still come home feeling a deep sense of loss.

There's no question that's tied to how many people I know who’ve been directly affected. I’m well into double digits between both fires. I can only imagine the feelings of those who have lost everything. My sadness, in part, is just seeing the scale of destruction.

Neighborhoods define L.A.

Lake Avenue in Altadena photographed in the mid-1950s. Original caption reads: The business thoroughfare is Lake Avenue, looking north, showing a majestic backdrop of the Sierra Madres, "Mother Mountains."

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Terry Sullivan

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Herald Examiner Collection courtesy L.A. Public Library

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Sunset Boulevard near where it ends at the ocean in 1962. The original caption reads: Pacific Palisades, a complete town within city limits of Los Angeles... has a population of 25,000 and a small-town-like identity of its own.

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Terry Sullivan

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Los Angeles Herald Examiner Photo Collection courtesy L.A. Public Library

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My great grandfather Will Mantle arrived here from Michigan at the turn of the last century. His soon-to-be wife Carrie arrived around the same time on a boat from England. They, and my paternal grandparents, gave me a real sense of how Los Angeles had grown over the early and mid 20th century, and how important its neighborhoods are in defining the city. That’s front of mind for me as we reel from the destruction of most of Pacific Palisades and Altadena.

Almost every caller to AirTalk who lost a home to one of the fires talked as much about the loss of their neighborhood as they did their family’s lives being turned upside down. Altadena and Pacific Palisades are communities with clear identities, each full of a sense of place. You wouldn’t mistake them for somewhere else as you drove their streets or talked with their residents.

Altadena’s remarkable population of engineers, artists, teachers, healthcare workers, musicians, entrepreneurs and more brought together people with wide-ranging backgrounds and interests.

Though Altadena’s Black population has declined by half in the past 20 years, its influence remains substantial. Along with northwest Pasadena, Altadena retains a significant Black identity. Its racial and ethnic mix are notable, as is its unincorporated status. It’s a place for residents who prefer the freedom to have horses and livestock in some parts of town or to rehearse your band into the night. It’s a community without an image to conform to, or a city government to bother you.

Pacific Palisades also provides a great sense of place, as its residents have long touted its small town feel and beauty within the city of L.A. Its business district featured historic buildings that captured the development boom of early 20th century Los Angeles. Its schools have always been important in bringing families together. Nearby Malibu and Santa Monica may be better known, but that’s to residents’ liking. Pacific Palisades is a largely residential community without a massive influx of tourists.

Worries about what's next

My biggest concern from these fires is whether both communities can return with the characteristics that have made them so unique.

• Will a majority of residents rebuild and return?
• Will the demographics significantly shift? Will the remade business districts recapture the feel they had on Monday, Jan. 6th?
• Will the community resilience and mutual support we see now survive heated debates over how to rebuild?

These, along with the losses suffered by individual families, are the concerns that I have.

There is no singular “Los Angeles.” Our region is composed of distinct communities with their own identities and contributions to our quality of life. Pacific Palisades and Altadena embody that essence. Let’s hope they emerge as distinct as they were before the flames did their damage.

You can listen to AirTalk live Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and Friday 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on the radio at LAist 89.3, here on LAist.com (click the "Listen" button on any page), our apps for Android and Apple or wherever you stream audio.

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