The Palisades fire, which started on Jan. 7, began a day after UCLA students returned from winter break. The fire prompted students of neighboring colleges — such as Class of ‘24 alumna and UCLA freshman Brielle Wong — to fly home; no evacuation order has been issued to residents of the UCLA campus as of Jan. 17, but an evacuation warning is in place just northwest of the university.
UCLA went into remote learning mode like in the pandemic, but the school plans to resume in-person classes on Jan. 21.
With about 15 SHS graduates who matriculate to UCLA each year, dozens of SHS alumni have been affected.
After UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk announced on Wednesday, Jan. 8, that classes would be canceled for the rest of the week, Wong decided to fly back to the Bay Area, a day after the fire erupted.
As of Jan. 17, the fires in Los Angeles have torn through more than 10,000 structures and 20,000 acres, marking them as some of the destructive fires in state history. Over 150,000 residents have been ordered to evacuate, while around 160,000 residents were issued an evacuation warning. At least 25 people have died from the fires.
Despite the effort of thousands of firefighters, the blazes, including the Palisades, Eaton and Hurst Fires, are largely uncontained. This is a result of the fanning of Santa Ana winds — winds formed inland that are dry and powerful, which accelerates the spread of the fires.
Saratoga alumni attending UCLA fly back to the Bay Area
A day after Wong, Class of ‘24 alumnus and UCLA freshman Johan Amirineni decided to fly back to the Bay Area on Jan. 9 and hopped on a flight back home as soon as possible.
He described the fires as overwhelming, similar to how he felt during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying: “There’s so much happening. School is actually getting canceled. It feels so surreal and it’s taking us back to 2020.”
According to Amirineni, several UCLA students were directly affected by the fires. Some classmates lost their homes and found themselves without a place to stay. Another whose home was only partially burnt started a GoFundMe and received donations such as water from the community.
Amirineni thinks the UCLA administration did not communicate effectively with students. In the hours leading up to classes being canceled, Amirineni felt like the administration did not present the situation realistically.
“They were trying to downplay everything until the very last minute, and all of a sudden they just canceled classes,” Amirineni said. “There should be some level of transparency with students.”
However, Zitong Wang, another Class of ‘24 alumnus, felt that the administration did a fair job of communicating with students.
“With how fast the fire is changing and how unexpected it can be at times, it’s hard for them to come up with a plan of action quickly — especially since it affects so many students and employees,” Wang said.
However, Wang wished the administration sent out an evacuation plan earlier to address the uncertainty and panic among students.
Students also reported that ash started falling on the campus by Jan. 10. According to Wang, many students started panicking and a more serious mood enveloped the school campus. By that time, however, most that remained were international and out-of-state students.
While the majority of students left campus on Jan. 9, after classes were confirmed to be canceled, Wang decided to remain on campus longer, eventually leaving on Jan. 12. By Jan. 11, Wang estimated that 95% of students had left of their own volition; UCLA was not under an evacuation warning, though the evacuation warning zones bordered UCLA.
“I think for people who feel their life is endangered or are sensitive to worsening air quality, it’s smart to leave even if just for peace of mind. For me, I felt pretty safe and had things I wanted to do on campus,” Wang said.
Most students climbed up to the seventh floor of the dormitories before they left to look at the fires. At first, Wong believed them to be clouds or a gas station bloom.
“You could see the hill burning and then you realized that homes were being burned,” Wong said. “It was insane, and it all just happened so fast.”
Why is the blaze so destructive?
Experts say that the wet winters of 2023 and 2024 led to lush vegetation growth. However, with little recent rain, dry brush and trees now serve as fuel for the flames. In addition, hurricane-like Santa Ana winds, which can reach up to 100 mph in worst cases, propel the flames significantly.
Damages are staggering: It’s estimated that economic loss from the LA wildfires are set to cost a record $135 billion, according to the BBC. These crippling costs are triple the initial estimates, as new fires have sprung up and begun further rounds of rampage.
The risk of fire in California: How to prepare for a blaze at your front door
California is one of the highest fire risk areas in the world, with more than half of its 101 million acres covered in flammable vegetation.
According to the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) for Saratoga, parts of the city are designated as areas with very high wildfire risks. Studies have shown that as many as 80% of homes lost to wildfires could have been saved if their owners had only followed fire-safe practices.
These practices include maintaining a defensible zone, clearing combustible material from roofs and trimming trees growing close to chimneys. Homeowners can ensure their properties are fire safe by maintaining a defensible space. Defensible space acts as a buffer zone between property and surrounding wildland area.
The Santa Clara County FireSafe Council (SCCFSC) identifies three zones. The immediate zone — zero feet to five feet from buildings and other structures — should be clear of combustible materials such as shrubs and leaves in order to prevent embers from igniting a home. The intermediate zone — 5 feet to 30 feet from buildings — should have no dead vegetation. Live shrubs should be pruned regularly to avoid the spread of flame movement. The extended zone — 30 to 100 feet from properties — should have islands of vegetation, with spacing between shrubs and trees. Trees should also be trimmed regularly to maintain 10 feet of distance from the nearest neighboring tree.
Homes can survive wildfires by managing combustible materials on a property.
Homeowners should also clear combustible materials from the roof and gutters and to cut trees within 10 feet of a chimney.
The SCCFSC also offers Home Ignition Zone (HIZ) assessments for individual homeowners, who will receive written recommendations from a trained SCCFSC representative for how to have a fire safe home. Chipping services are also offered, free of cost, to homeowners residing in Santa Clara County’s Wildland Urban Interface (WUI); the City of Saratoga, along with Los Gatos, Cupertino and parts of San Jose, lie within the WUI.
As of Jan. 15, firefighters were bracing for more Santa Ana winds. The fires could take up to weeks to contain — not before scorching and blazing through acres of hills and entire neighborhoods.
Smoke from the Palisade fire was visible from the UCLA campus on Tuesday.
