Photo credit Vernon Peterkin.
Over a million donors and 160 countries donated to the people in the Los Angeles wildfires. Many people who lost their homes rely on donations and fundraisers from GoFundMe to assist people in recovering from the wildfires. GoFundMe donated One Million dollars to a nonprofit organization, The Change Reaction, which they used to distribute over 1,800 checks valued between 1,500-5,000 dollars to people affected by the Eaton fire.
Some students and staff in the SAU community have ties to California through their families and friends, some of whom experienced are going through a challenging time losing their homes, schools, and businesses. They wonder how they will rebuild their lives after the natural disaster.
As a reporter for The Buzz covering this story, I have a family member who experienced the fires. My sister, Caitlin, lives in North Hollywood, which is located in Los Angeles County. She lives fifteen minutes away from the Sunset Boulevard fire. She was definitely worried because it was scary how fast the fire was spreading. Every day, she would either call to check in with her family or send messages to her loved ones to give a personal insight into the damage that the fires caused in the area.
Caitlin Peterkin says, “Overall I felt that it was just a sad situation that was getting worse and worse every day and for those impacted by it I feel really bad, regardless if these people have money or not these are people’s homes filled with memories and its so sad. After the fire they held a bunch of volunteer work in the area, me and my friend helped out by directing traffic to drop off location, also organizing all the donations that were received.”
SAU students, many of whom comprise the bowling scholarships are from California and have friends who live near the wildfires. Kevin Magnuson, freshman, mechanical engineering major says, “I have plenty of friends who live near the fires, and the surrounding cities, and it’s frightening knowing that one morning you could be awoken to the sounds of your backyard on fire, knowing everyone you know could be gone.”
Patricia Alvarado, senior, psychology major states, “Although I was not near the fires, I have relatives and even my brother that were near the Eaton and Palisades fires in LA. My brother was still attending his internship at UCLA which was an alarming distance from the Palisades fire.”
Magnuson says, “I feel that with the speed in which the fires spread is quite frightening. It was insane watching the fires jump from mountain to mountain!”
Alvarado added, “I had only been hearing how quickly the fires were spreading through social media so it was very concerning, especially since I had just left a few days prior to the beginning of the fires. I checked on my brother to see how he was doing and he said he was doing fine which helped ease some worries about his safety.”
Communications Professor, Dr. Marianne Fenn, Who grew up in California and also has family in the state says, “It’s a concern, the droughts obviously are impacting all of this. Everything is so dry and increases of the fires … where there is any rain the ground can’t hold it over-saturated and they have mudslides. So it’s just a vicious cycle.”
In recent events, the wildfires have mostly been contained in Los Angeles County. According to the New York Times, the Palisades and the Eaton fires are 100% contained. The blazes lasted for almost a month. Throughout January, we continue to hear devastating news about the impact the fires had on many people’s homes, schools, and even businesses. The individuals who became affected by the fires face a loss and how to rebuild their homes. It will take a long time to rebuild. But, thanks to the people in the community who have donated clothes and food for the families struggling with the unknown of the aftermath.
