‘We Couldn’t Stay’: A California Family’s Life After Evacuating

“They’re having food right here. Now we’re staying at an Airbnb. I come back and forth to get food, or waters and stuff like that. Really, to come get hot meals so we can come eat. A lot of stuff that’s been helpful is all the donations and stuff that these people have provided for us. They’re going to have a wildfire relief night, too. And then also this other place called Altadena Girls, they’re giving away some stuff too.” “Without school, I really don’t have a lot to do. But when I hang out with my mom and my aunties and my cousins, they fill up my schedule. Even though I don’t really like having to do math and not being able to play all the time, I really like school, hanging out with my friends. I always knew a fire was going to happen eventually, but I didn’t know it was going to be like this — destroying houses everywhere it went and blocking things. And yeah, making people not be able to have a home or going back to their home to get what they need.” I never thought that it would happen to Altadena, to our neighborhood. It’s no longer going to look the same. It’s no longer going to be the same.”