LA Fires Devastates Thousands of Buildings and Lives

Written by Jimmy R Eastman

Edited by David Sisson

On January 7, 2025, two fires sparked up out of nowhere. One fire in the hills above North Palisades, Los Angeles, and the other beginning in Altadena, near Midwick Drive. Both fires have now burned through thousands of acres and killed at least 27 people by January 21, 2025. 

(Photo of Fire Engulfing a Neighborhood in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles.)

High winds in the areas (as well as sparse rain) only helped the fires grow more intense. A few months before these treacherous fires started, the city pulled about $17.6 million in funding from firefighters to put into the police force, as well as beginning work on the water reservoirs in the area. In doing so, the firefighters, which had little to no water to work with to contain the fires as a result of the reservoirs running dry, had no choice but to move people out of their homes and let the fires burn.

All of these problems came crashing down on Los Angeles once the fires began, and they weren't slowing down. In the days after the beginning of this tragedy, thousands of people were evacuated from their homes, and for more than 12,000 of the people in the area, when the fires ended, that meant going back to nothing.

With the fires being in Los Angeles, a multitude of celebrities are losing their homes as well. Usually when fires happen, we really don't have a look inside on what's happening, but with these people being celebrities, they are very vocal with what's happening and we get to see things from their point of view.

Daniel Shemtob, founder of The Lime Truck, (an award winning food truck that serves Mexican food) decided to help those in need by providing services to those affected by the fire(s). Unfortunately for Daniel and his wife, their house was also taken by the fire in the Palisades. On the bright side of this situation the army of food trucks that sat at their commercial kitchen had not been touched by the fire. So he had the trucks and a team of workers so he decided to take matters into his own hands. In an article, he said:

“I feel like we’re creating this culture or this community through food and nourishment, clothing and shoes, and it binds us together.” 

As of January 23, 2025, it is still unknown what caused the LA fires. It could have been a plethora of things, such as a stray ember from a barbecue, or perhaps kids just messing around with lighters or blow torches. But in reality, we will not know for years to come, or until someone steps forward.