Students Reflect on Southern California Fires in Light of President’s Statement
This winter, many Reed community members were affected by fires in Los Angeles, particularly the Palisades and Eaton fires. These fires both started burning on January 7 and only stopped as of February 2. In the 26 days both fires were active, they burned a cumulative 37,469 acres, according to Watch Duty, and caused an estimated $250 billion worth of damage, as reported by ABC News.
Along with the numerical extent of the loss, thousands of people from Los Angeles lost their homes, work, or even a place where they felt safe. Other colleges and universities weren’t safe from the fires, either. Timothy Carol, a freshman at Pepperdine said, “The fires broke for us at 11:00p.m. I was just chilling in my dorm and then we heard the fire, so [Pepperdine] told us to go to the library [because it was the safest place on campus]. So then, we’re all just camping out in the library [...] We had no power, no nothing, and they made us stay there with masks on. And for days we were like that, our dorms were smelling bad and the fire was getting closer and closer and they would not let us leave because it’s safest at the library.”
Not only was Carol’s campus affected by the fires, but so was his neighborhood and home in the Palisades. “I remembered I was chilling in my room and I see smoke outside. I thought it was further away, but then I saw a bigger cloud of smoke …and that’s when I saw the entire hill was burning. It got so close so fast, and I just thought ‘Oh my God, we need to get out of here,’” said Carol. “At one point the house on the other side of the street caught on fire, and I was on the roof when I saw this, and it looked like a scene out of hell. The fire was so tall that it was covering the clouds.” Carol left after that and is still not able to return to their home because the living conditions there are so horrible.
These feelings of shock and guilt were shared by Reed students upon their return from break. Claire Littman ‘28 expressed how she felt “a little bit guilty for leaving” and stated, “I definitely wanted to participate in donating things and volunteering. And you know, now that I’m gone, it feels like I’ve just run away from it when the community that I’ve lived in for my whole life is in a bad state right now.” Remi Cannon ‘28 echoed these thoughts, “[When I] came back on the 16th, [Reed] was super, super sweet. And it’s been nice being in Portland, but I feel an overwhelming sense [that] I ran away from something when I wanted to be there to support my family with this loss, so I feel a little guilty about that, but they thought it was the best decision for me.”
Reed attempted to show support for students and faculty with Reed College President Audrey Bilger’s January 27 email, “Welcome to Spring Semester 2025.” However, there has been some sentiment that there was a passage that some took offense to, or thought was out of touch. In this email, Bilger wrote, “I know many members of our community were impacted by or suffered losses from the disastrous fires in California over the break. On a personal note, Cheryl and I lost our home in Altadena, and the area where we had lived for nearly three decades was destroyed.”
The author created a poll on Fizz to gain student opinions on Bilger’s email. The Fizz poll results had 622 total responses, with 53% stating they took offense to the email and 47% stating they did not. In the poll, people who are not from LA were split exactly down the middle, with 266 votes for both “yes & i’m not from la” and “no & i’m not from la.” However, it is important to note that the results taken from this Fizz poll depend on the population of Reed students who use Fizz, and cannot be used to reflect the opinions of all Reed students.
Responding to a Google Form published by this Quest writer to Reed students, one participant stated, “I’d be PISSED if someone tried to offer their condolences by expressing their misery at losing their second home when my friends and their families were now homeless and terrified.” Even another participant who sympathized with Bilger stated, “I did not originally think that Audrey’s comment was out of touch... HOWEVER, I just reread her email, and I do feel now that it is a bit out of touch–it seems a little ‘thoughts and prayers’-esque. It had some tone of empathy, but I don’t think she should’ve brought herself into it.” It appears that the issue these students had with the comment in the email is not with the fact that Bilger was expressing a loss and broadcasting it, but rather that she compared the loss of one of her homes to that of people who lost everything.
Regardless of to what extent, thousands of people lost their comfort and stability this past month and require our help. Not only have many lost everything, but State Farm’s recent home insurance policies have made the situation worse. State Farm began dropping thirty thousand homeowners in Los Angeles on July 3, 2024, with State Farm Newsroom stating that they “pursue these reforms in order to establish an environment in which insurance rates are better aligned with the risk.” Essentially, State Farm dropped coverage for thirty thousand residents because the risk of a destructive fire, such as the one that broke out in January, was getting too high. Because of this, thousands of Los Angeles residents will not be able to get the help they need to rebuild their homes and their lives.
To donate money, please visit the California Fire Foundation and for more specifics into how to help and resources available, visit the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority resources page.