According to officials, 16 people have died in the Eaton fire. Although forecasters warn of stronger winds this week, firefighters have made progress on the flames over the weekend.
For a community that is familiar with loss, it is a close call.
On Tuesday afternoon, John Ward and his spouse, Dawn Hobler, were already prepared and prepared to leave. There were no evacuation orders at the time, and the fire was in the Pacific Palisades, 30 minutes distant by car.
Their mobile home park in the Sylmar suburb had already burned to the ground due to strong winds. They were prepared to escape the Hurst fire when a neighbor knocked on their door late that evening.
Mr. Hurst stated, “We knew to get ourselves prepared because it had happened before, in 2008.”
In the end, the winds were in their favor—up the mountain rather than down into town, as was the case with the Sayre fire in November 2008, which destroyed about 500 houses in their neighborhood of Oakridge Mobile Home Park.
Although they were no longer under evacuation orders, residents of Oakridge remained uneasy on Sunday afternoon.
They had avoided the losses that some people were all too familiar with thanks to luck and firefighters. However, they were still on high alert and directing their nervous energy into action because winds were predicted to rise up again this week.
On Sunday afternoon, Vanessa Simon was at home making calls while attempting to decide what to do with the U-haul box truck that was parked outside. It was stocked with food, blankets, diapers, child car seats, clothing, and other supplies for fire victims by Oakridge homeowners. The 47-year-old Ms. Simon and her spouse were contacting shelters, churches, and other potential recipients of the items.
In order to handle a demanding week and collect and go through the large number of donations, residents had assembled in Oakridge’s communal room.
Ms. Simon remarked, “Everyone who was there just came together so beautifully.” “We cried; we hugged.”
The sky was blue on Sunday over Sylmar, a working-class, mostly Hispanic suburb of around 80,000 residents, many of whom own horses.
There were new reminders under the brilliant light that the neighborhood was in the forefront of the disaster in Los Angeles.
Burned vegetation patches terminated uncomfortably near backyard fences. The mountainside beyond Rancho Cascades, another Sylmar neighborhood, was covered in large patches of crimson fire retardant.
Kurt Cabrera-Miller, the president of the community council in Sylmar, stated that fire safety has long been a top local issue. Sylmar has been advocating for additional fire stations, but currently only has one. A second station, which has not yet been constructed, was approved by the Los Angeles City Council in 2023. According to Mr. Cabrera-Miller, Santa Monica and Burbank, two municipalities with similar populations, have five and six stations, respectively.
Oakridge is maybe the most aware of the perils in Sylmar. Hope Watterson, 62, was given an emergency preparedness booklet including a picture of a burning mobile home when she first came into the park.
On Tuesday evening, primary school teacher Ms. Watterson was able to observe the fire from her front porch. She got into her car and drove along a newly added route to join the chaotic exodus. There had only been one option when Oakridge was completely destroyed in 2008.
Sebastian Aguayo, Mr. Ward’s neighbor, came into the driveway across the street on Sunday when he was rocking in a chair on his front porch, a few blocks away from Ms. Watterson.
The man who had knocked on Mr. Ward’s door on Tuesday, Mr. Aguayo, 19, came over to greet him. Although it was a typical neighborly conversation, all parties were aware that things could change.
Both Mr. Aguayo and Mr. Ward still had their goods packed and prepared to travel.
