Written By: Daniel Holscher, Staff Writer
HISTORIC: LA County burns through one of the most historic wildfires of the century.
“When, Where, And How?”
The first of the few fires raging around LA County emerged on January 7, 2025, in the Pacific Palisades community. Within an hour about 1000 acres of land had been burned between the Palisades and Santa Monica area as firefighters struggled to respond to the early stages of this fire. Another fast moving fire named the Eaton Fire had also broken out hours later a few miles above the Pasadena foothills. This fire also failed to be contained before the next morning forcing California’s Governor Newsom to declare a state of emergency. Another blaze, the “Sunset Fire,” started above the hill carrying the Historic “Hollywood” sign but was contained within a day, making it a minor issue compared to the destruction of the other flames. Now, the main question everyone wants to know is, how could anyone let this happen? Well, looking into the question, LA County as well as many areas of Southern California had been issued High Wind Warning for the following days before this. These are perfect conditions that could be mixed with the lack of moisture in this desert is the exact recipe for raging fires. We need to look into just how many lives were affected by this ongoing devastating historical event.
“A Struggling County”
As the Pacific Palisades fire came into play, the first area(s) to be ordered evacuation was within Tuna Canyon Park and Topanga State Park, the origin areas of the fire. As the fire spread upwards it was able to reach up into Topanga itself and the neighborhoods around it.
The gusts of high winds blowing eastwards allowed embers and ashes to cover areas closer to the Santa Monica Pier. As of now 150,000 people have been forced to evacuated out of their homes as their properties and lives burn into nothing. 160,000 more people have been prepared to evacuate in the worst case scenario. The worst part about the brutality of these fires is that everything for these people has been lost. All of their hard work, time, and effort has been all for nothing as a random wildfire came into play to wipe it all out. The more discouraging bits of this story come from the sides of the LA County Fire Department as they have struggled to contain even a little of this fire, sitting at a containment percentage of 0%. The Fire Chief, in an interview in the middle of the burning land, created some controversy through expressing her view on the “unprecedented money cut on [her] department”
As of now, the Eaton fire has consumed 15,000 acres of land within its time of burning and the death toll for these two fires has risen to 24 deceased. High schools, workplaces, and businesses scramble to leave behind everything as this massive fire makes its way downhill to the foot of the mountains. As day 7 of the burning of these fires comes to a close the forecast calls for the extension of the intense winds that have taken LA County by surprise over the next couple of days, leaving more opportunity for the fires to spread into these neighborhoods. As the skies of LA County fill with a smoke-covered sun, one question still comes into play, “What or Who started these fires?”
“Winds, Conspiracies, and Politics”
With any historical event comes the entrance of speculation and denial; in the event of these fires, their places of origin haven’t yet been confirmed. Some say that it was two kids playing with a lighter and a can of hairspray in the mountains. Time is too short to speculate in the County of LA as firefighters call in reinforcements from many other states to control the flames and ashes. The only definite facts we have at the moment is that tens of thousands of animals and wildlife have been displaced and killed, tens of thousands of homes and businesses have burned to the ground, and the lives of the many families in LA County have been scarred with the devastating effects of this fire. As residents count the days of the continuation of these fires the only thing that they can have is hope, hope that the winds work in the favor of the brave firefighters putting their lives on the line for selflessness. It’s times like these where humanity unites into one section of life, support; The support to a better future, a better attitude, and a better life. As we can’t change the effects of the fires at this point in time, we can change the way we view the outcomes of our environment.
