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I have lived in Los Angeles for 24 years. We have lived in our current home since 2006. Built in 2005 and moved in in 2006. Overlooking Eaton Canyon. Eaton Canyon is located on the border of Pasadena and Altadena in Los Angeles County. It's less than 10 miles from downtown Los Angeles. I am married with two children and a dog.
I've heard about the fires while in LA, and where we live was actually caused by a fire. You always think, “Those poor people, pray for them.” And that's you.
This is my experience. We are used to power outages several times a year. In the summer, extreme heat causes power outages, and in the winter, strong winds cause power outages. We lost power for several hours Tuesday morning. Then it turned on again. I was very lucky because the broadcast was on when I needed it. And during the day, I was sitting outside in 70-degree weather drinking coffee and having Zoom meetings. A few hours later, at 5:10 p.m., the power went out again. But it's dark now.
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So my son and I did what we do when the power goes out: searched for flashlights, batteries, and candles. Winds of up to 160 miles per hour were expected, so people went outside to move furniture and other items to avoid them being blown away. Very strong winds can blow chairs and tables through your home or your neighbor's home.
We were securing things in front of the house when all of a sudden my son said, “Look, Mom, what is this?”
It was a huge cloud of dark gray smoke rising from the house across the street from us. It was so close that if my son threw a soccer ball, he might hit it.
At first, I honestly thought something was burning in my neighbor's backyard. My son called 911 and was told he was the second caller.
As I was doing so, I noticed an orange glow to the left behind the house and realized that the smoke was not coming from the neighbor's backyard, but from the foot of the mountain behind it.
Moments later, a fire engine and a police truck came onto the street. The first responders were saying something but we couldn't understand what they were saying. So I alerted the police officer and asked, “Are you telling us to evacuate?”
He said, “Where is your home?”
I pointed and he said, “No, the fire is on the west side of the street. You're on the east side.”
But as I watch the news throughout the year, I know that fires can jump and change direction in an instant like the wind.
My maternal instincts were telling me to get the kids and dog out of the house right now. We don't know if we'll ever see our homes or neighborhoods again, or if anything will happen to us. I posted a video on Facebook.
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I went back inside the house and said to my children, “I think I'm going.'' And within seconds, the police came and said over the loudspeaker, “Evacuate now! Evacuate now!”
I hadn't packed anything, so it was pitch dark. We blew out the candles to keep the house from burning. The kids got very emotional because I said, “Bring me a change of clothes, my phone, my computer, and my charger.'' Back then, there was school the next day, and my son was also trying out for volleyball.
I couldn't find the dog because it was pitch black and he didn't have a collar or lead.
The next thing I thought was, “Oh, I need food for that person.'' The next thing I thought about was, “Where are we going and where are we going to stay?”
I grabbed my wallet, keys, cell phone and charger, dog and two kids, and headed out the door with my clothes on. That's it.
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My street was the first to be evacuated due to the fire. There were fire trucks coming down the street – so many fire trucks, but I had never seen so many fire trucks. Police, ambulances and forestry trucks were also present. It was difficult to get out of our neighborhood and it would have been complete chaos and chaos if the first responders hadn't told people to wait or leave and then controlled traffic. .
Given the circumstances, the first responders were amazing and got us out quickly.
Going down the hill on the right was a hellish situation. It was surreal. It was so bad that the kids couldn't watch it.
I told my kids, “Don't look back.” I had already looked in the rearview mirror and saw the flames and honestly thought there was no way our family would survive.
As a mother, I tried not to let my children see me cry. I travel a lot for work and have worked in LA, DC, and New York. I usually stay at Marriotts and knew there was a Marriott hotel within a few miles of my house. I was literally calling the hotel on speaker from my car and the service kept coming and going. We also had to find a hotel that allowed pets. We were very lucky that our hotel took us there.
I'm currently staying at this Marriott, and more than half of the hotel is filled with evacuees.
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My children attend different schools. My daughter's school is located at the top of the mountain. Classes at the school were canceled on Tuesday due to strong winds. Her school is also closed today. But my son, we didn't know that his school was canceled on Wednesday until last night when we were at the hotel. And I was so relieved because my son couldn't do his homework and had a volleyball tryout. I was hoping I could feed them and let them rest. I don't know yet if they have school on Thursday.
I'm safe in my hotel now, but another thought occurred to me.
We have family dinner on Sunday night. We have four schedules, so we can't eat dinner together every night like we used to when the kids were little. On Sunday, my husband asks everyone a question. Last Sunday, by chance, I was asked the question, “If you had to leave the house and could only take one thing with you, what would it be?” I thought about the answering machine cassette I still have with my father's voice. My father passed away in 1992.
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Earlier in the day, I had been listening to news reports about Pacific Palisades. I had friends there and suggested to my husband that we should check on them. And this is what I thought. “Hey, where are we going?'' I have two cousins here. However, most of our family lives on the East Coast. And just having four people and a dog land on someone is tough. Earlier in the day, I researched which hotels nearby allowed pets.
Even before I got to the hotel, I was thinking about the Sunday dinner question. Then I thought about my mother's engagement ring, my grandmother's ring, my wedding album, and the piano I hadn't played in years. I used to be a pretty good piano player. And I always thought that when I retired, I would do it again. I think about some sentimental things. It's a teacup that belonged to my great-grandmother. Then I started thinking about all my clothes. After all, I'm a woman, so I thought about it.
My husband's mother, who is from India, just passed away a few months ago. There was a photo of her with her mother. That's what was on his mind Tuesday night.
Then you start thinking, how am I going to do this? If I lose my home, where will I live? Will there be enough insurance money to replace it? Shall we rebuild it? Right now, my head is like a three-ring circus.
I was always one of those people who said, “You made it home alive, so it's okay.” That's what's important. But to be honest, that and this are different things.
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We know that a house is just a building. But there are memories in that building, and there's something very special about that building. It includes cards and photos my kids made me, and love letters my husband wrote me when we were together.
I don't know if our house is okay. And these are all things that are on my mind as we wait to be unraveled.
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