Dear Friend,
I’d planned for this letter, early in the new year, to be about plans, writing plans, life plans, plans for this letter.
But all around me, plans have been derailed
In the midst of intense winds two days ago, wildfires began and spread in Los Angeles County. This morning, I read that nearly 180,000 LA County residents have been evacuated and they estimate 2000 structures have been destroyed—houses, schools and businesses where people planned to be today.
Our neighborhood has not been in danger (knock on wood), as we are in the middle of the city, protected by a fair amount of concrete and stucco, and less buildup of the trees and brush that fuel the fires that spread uncontrollably. Our apartment is about ten miles from the Santa Monica fire to our west and probably 20 miles from the Eaton Fire, affecting Pasadena and Altadena to our northeast.
Yesterday we woke to a dark smoke cloud in the sky above us, and watched the air pollution map for our location turn from orange to red to a scary shade of purplish-maroon. Plans to walk to the grocery store or visitthe gym were abandoned. Our house, built in the 1920s, is drafty enough to feel the wind blow even through closed windows, so I wore an N95 mask as we responded to worried texts and sent our own, checking in on friends closer to the affected areas.
For several hours, we didn’t hear back from a friend who lives in Glendale and works in Pasadena. But in the afternoon, she called from a hospital in Mission Hills and we learned that on Monday (before any fires) her contractor husband had fallen from a roof and broken most of his ribs. He was getting out of surgery and she was waiting to see him, while a friend waited at their house with their four dogs in case an evacuation order reached Glendale.
We drove to Mission Hills to sit with her for a couple hours then headed back, stopping in Thai Town with plans to eat dinner with a nearby friend whose power had been out all day. As we sat in the car across from the restaurant, emergency vehicles started to pass us, fire trucks, sirens blaring and red lights flashing.
A new fire, coined The Sunset Fire, had erupted by Runyon Canyon above Hollywood. Our dinner plans were abandoned. We found ourselves moving south with a new set of evacuees, heavy traffic exacerbated by powerless stop lights and panic-fueled bad driving and accidents.
By early this morning, the evacuation zone had been lifted, up to a new border designated by the street of Camino Palmero. Camino Palmero was my nearest cross street when I first moved to LA, to a studio apartment on Hollywood Blvd. I’d walk a up its incline in the mornings, to a metal pedestrian gate into Runyon Canyon, where I hiked, took karate lessons from a man who taught on a dilapidated tennis court in the park, talked to people and pet their dogs.
Today the Sunset Fire and The Hurst Fire (affecting Sylmar) have been controlled, while the larger fires are still in progress. Schools and businesses are closed, sets are shut down, people are displaced.* As individuals and as a city our plans have been changed, in the short term and stretching into the future.
Take care and appreciate all the moments,
Barrington
*While these fires have dramatically affected our Los Angeles community, I think it’s important give some context and scale, especially for readers who live at a distance.
Adding these recent fires together (according to my own ballpark math), we’ve lost a total of about 35,000 acres.** They are estimating 2000 homes and 200 businesses, and a fatality count of five people, which I hope remains the case.
By contrast, the 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise, California killed 85 people and displaced 50,000 people. It burned more than 153,000 acres and destroyed nearly 19,000 structures. The Park Fire in 2024 destroyed “only” 709 structures (damaging others) but burned 429,603 acres.

**The city of Los Angeles is 302,596 acres, or 467 square miles, while the larger area of Los Angeles County is 4060 square miles.
We evacuated a couple of days ago and are now in a hotel. But word is that power is back in Hollywood HIlls so we plan to return there tomorrow. Now I hear about a new outbreak of fire, called Kenneth (no idea why)
Liking this post seems absurd. As there is nothing to like about what is happening, but I appreciate your update on what it is like to be in the middle of it all. The destruction is heart breaking.