Thanks for clearing up so many misconceptions in your piece. My cousins are among those who lost their PP house, purchased 60 years ago. They raised two boys, a chicken, numerous Oscars, a cat, and numerous other pets I’m not sure of in that house. What did Kirie (the wife) save when evacuating? Two photos of their oldest, Robby, who died of his heroin addiction when he and I were in our 20s.
My fear, too, is that once the planning for rebuilding starts, the process will be successfully hijacked by profiteers, and even more Californians will be displaced. Obviously, getting ahead of myself there, since the fires aren’t even done. Anyone who lies about this tragedy has earned my enmity.
My aunt and uncle moved to the Palisades in, I think, the mid-60's, and only just passed away recently, in their 90's. Their home was unimproved. A modest home. With pink tiles on the small bathroom countertop. A lovely nook just off the kitchen from which to drink their coffee and look out at an open canyon's vista. A place of peace and family gatherings, made even merrier due to the lack of space inside, so if the weather was good, we'd all spill outside onto their modest backyard sporting a few fruit trees, the rose bushes they loved, and the quiet of the canyon. For a few months now the house has stood empty. The family did not know for many days if the house stood or vanished. Finally a report came out, detailing to that point a map of surveyed homes and their amount of damage. I'm going to guess, because I did not count, on their block of maybe 30 homes all were completely burnt, except for 4 houses huddling together - which the map showed as untouched, one of which was my aunt and uncle's! All I can figure is that perhaps a fire engine made a stand there. I can't imagine what it must have been like - surrounded on all sides by fire, except for those four houses. It's a headshaking mystery.
Very good article explaining the vastness of the fires and conditions that caused them.
A brilliant piece. Thank you from an Angeleno (Venice), who is sheltering her best friends—teachers who have lived in the Palisades for forty years.
Thanks for clearing up so many misconceptions in your piece. My cousins are among those who lost their PP house, purchased 60 years ago. They raised two boys, a chicken, numerous Oscars, a cat, and numerous other pets I’m not sure of in that house. What did Kirie (the wife) save when evacuating? Two photos of their oldest, Robby, who died of his heroin addiction when he and I were in our 20s.
My fear, too, is that once the planning for rebuilding starts, the process will be successfully hijacked by profiteers, and even more Californians will be displaced. Obviously, getting ahead of myself there, since the fires aren’t even done. Anyone who lies about this tragedy has earned my enmity.
My aunt and uncle moved to the Palisades in, I think, the mid-60's, and only just passed away recently, in their 90's. Their home was unimproved. A modest home. With pink tiles on the small bathroom countertop. A lovely nook just off the kitchen from which to drink their coffee and look out at an open canyon's vista. A place of peace and family gatherings, made even merrier due to the lack of space inside, so if the weather was good, we'd all spill outside onto their modest backyard sporting a few fruit trees, the rose bushes they loved, and the quiet of the canyon. For a few months now the house has stood empty. The family did not know for many days if the house stood or vanished. Finally a report came out, detailing to that point a map of surveyed homes and their amount of damage. I'm going to guess, because I did not count, on their block of maybe 30 homes all were completely burnt, except for 4 houses huddling together - which the map showed as untouched, one of which was my aunt and uncle's! All I can figure is that perhaps a fire engine made a stand there. I can't imagine what it must have been like - surrounded on all sides by fire, except for those four houses. It's a headshaking mystery.