Destruction of the west coast
By: Sarah Parsons
Starting on Jan. 7 of 2025 LA began suffering the devastation of more than three wildfires. According to NBC news, the wildfires in California began due to severe wind and dry conditions. Many lost their lives, and many lost their homes and loved ones. Recovering from this hot mess will be an uphill battle, but with all the help and all the donations those have been giving, LA will overcome this painful start to 2025.
The Palisades fire, ranking the biggest fire, began the morning of January 7. This fire was in the Pacific Palisades, near Malibu. This fire grew to 23448 acres. This fire burned more than 18,900 buildings, 11,00 of those buildings were houses. Then another fire ravaged in the west. On the night of Jan. 7 at 6:35 pm the Eaton fire set ablaze on Altadena and some parts of Pasadena. This fire became as big as 14,021 acres, and burned almost 10,000 structures. Just when it was almost under control another fire broke out called the Hughes fire. This new fire was the smallest out of the three largest fires, but still caused chaos. Even though this fire was smaller it still stretched more than 10,000 acres. Luckily no houses were burned during this fire.
All of these deadly fires have been stopped in their tracks. All of L.A. have been diligently working together to help this city recover. It is known that about 10,497 structures have been damaged or destroyed in the fires. Some of these buildings are the Bunny Museum, Palisades Charter High School, and countless other schools , and Reel Inn Malibu, of course there are many other great losses as well.
Many have been working towards helping those who have suffered greatly by donating clothes they no longer need or donating food and water, etc. There have been a lot of great opportunities given for people to help out and many have taken those opportunities humbly. There have been many donation drives around L.A. that were supported so considerably that some even had to close down due to fullness. The Santa Anita’s mall was accepting donations until they were so full they had to send people away. Some of the other places one could donate include L.A. Fire Donation Drive, Pasadena Humane Society, American Red Cross. Even though it is now over one could have donated right here at Rosemont. The donation ended February 14th. But those that donated could have brought gift cards or money to Mrs. Katchs room.
During the Grammys, the Los Angeles Fire Department was praised for their hard work and dedication during these recent tough times. Many of the celebrities that attended the Grammys also donated to the fire victims with abundant amounts. Beyonce, winning best album of the year, donated to the fire victims as well. She was one of the biggest donors and raised over 2.5 million.
The amount of devastation that LA. has received recently is no joke at all. It is estimated to take over 20 years to fully restore every structure that was affected by this fire, and that is not even including the cost that is going into all of it. 250 billion dollars is estimated to be the total cost of everything which will most likely end up being more.
Every donation and sacrifice that one makes for the unfortunate during this time makes a difference towards the overall recovery of LA.
