By Eleisha Foon*
An aerial image shows homes damaged and destroyed by the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood of Los Angeles, California. Photo: AFP/PATRICK T. FALLON
First person - Plumes of smoke hit thick and fast as I hopped off the plane at LAX.
The residual toxins from the fires wrapped me in a blanket of fumes and I winced while waiting for my Uber driver, trying to hold my breath. The vehicle pulled up and a Greek man, (I'll call Tony) in his 60's ushered me into the car.
I asked him if he'd been impacted by the fires and he replied: "Yes, I've never experienced anything like this". He'd been living in Los Angeles for over half his life and grimaced while describing the uncertainty he plunged into during the mass evacuations. He had to leave for several days. When it was time to re-enter his home, Tony was living in darkness, without power for almost a week.
This is the reality for many people who call LA home. Thousands are navigating new realities in the dark. The National Guard have since set up blockades of the devastated streets which are now ash and rubble, almost nothing is standing in the Palisades but chimneys and the occasional charred appliance.
The wildfires started on 7 January and at least 29 people were killed as they tore through 10s of thousands of acres (hectares). The hardest hit areas included Altadena and Pacific Palisades. Now the city-wide clean up and rebuilding process is officially underway.
The City of Angels has been ablaze for weeks, wrapped up in a hellish inferno that swept through neighbourhoods, devastating entire communities.
After nearly a month the Palisades and Eaton fires in LA County are fully contained after more than 37,000 acres (15,000 hectares) were scorched.
As a journalist who runs towards danger to report on the frontlines, and having covered countless fires, car accidents, earthquakes, even the Christchurch terror attacks, it is somewhat of a miracle that more people were not killed.
A close friend who is known to be fiercely independent and rarely vulnerable, called me the day the fires broke out, scared, alone and frightened. I'd never seen her like that before. It ripped her apart seeing the city she loved, and friend's homes lost to the flames. The images of a blackened sky, burning palm trees, mansions aflame, have been seared into my brain. Truly the stuff of nightmares.
I was at a cafe the other day when I noticed specks of floating grey around me and even landing on my arm. At a closer inspection I drew back, horrified, it was ash, falling like snow. Using a K95 mask almost every time I go outside and checking an Air Quality app has become a new ritual.
Although the city is deceptively spread out, it took merely minutes before the fires unfurled, engulfing the desert city. The saying we're all "one degree apart" in New Zealand, is the same here in terms of the devastation - LA with a population of 3.8 million, seems to know someone directly impacted by the fires.
A month on from the fires, smog still shrouds the city. Photo: Eleisha Foon
Weeks after the flames died down, the Santa Ana winds continue to spread toxins across Southern California, polluting not only the air but also the sea. Many beloved beaches have been blacklisted. Water to the north of Santa Monica is off limits to swimmers with concerns fire debris runoff and pollutants may contain toxic or carcinogenic chemicals.
On Sunday 25 January, it rained in LA for the first time in months, and it was as if the entire city collectively exhaled.
I've witnessed many people step back to survey the catastrophe and respond by providing a helping hand. Survivor's guilt moved people towards action. Non-profits, businesses and churches immediately mobilised at the LA Dream Centre where hundreds of people flocked to pack food and clothes and sort donated goods - a sign of hope for humanity. Habitat for Humanity, Red Cross are now on the frontlines and concerts for the LA fire relief have helped with fundraising efforts. There are countless GoFundMe pages for people who have lost everything.
While many people have been forced to leave for good, those who have chosen to stay are dusting off the ashes, linking arms and looking outside of their own lives, as many are waking up to the suffering of others perhaps for the first time in a long time.
The fires have reminded people to look beyond their own lives to offer a helping hand to their suffering neighbours. A wake-up call that people outweigh possessions. A reminder that natural disasters do not discriminate and not even the rich and famous are exempt in La La Land.
Los Angeles the city of dreamers, creatives and storytellers is rebuilding. It now has a unique opportunity to become a phoenix and rise with renewed hope, in time to host the 2028 Summer Olympics.
*Eleisha Foon is an award-winning international journalist, formerly RNZ, Newshub and Al Jazeera. She is a US and Pacific correspondent and full-time storyteller. She has worked as a broadcast journalist for over eight years where she has been a presenter, producer, writer and filmmaker.
