The Palisades wildfire began the morning of Jan. 7, 2025 in a Los Angeles neighborhood east of Malibu known as Pacific Palisades. Although students may not necessarily be affected by the wildfire, many people have families in the Los Angeles area.

According to Cal Matters and World Vision, the Palisades wildfire destroyed more than 6,800 structures, about 4,100 were not damaged, 27 people died, and thousands of people were affected by this tragedy – even Texans have been severely impacted by the devastation because of family members in California. 

“It’s the fear of not knowing what’s going to happen to your life after the fact, if the fire does get too close and does burn your own house,” senior Liana Tosounian said. 

Tosounian has many family members who live in the San Fernando Valley. Some are spread out all throughout the Los Angeles area, while a few families on her extended side are in the Palisades area. Fear played a huge role in being a challenging aspect of dealing with being in an area where the fires are happening. 

“My grandparents, the fire got really close to them and they were about to evacuate, but the firefighters were able to push the fire back,” Tosounian said. “A few family members had to evacuate. The great thing is that their houses were in an area that was safe.”

Several organizations such as World Vision, a network of warehouses across the U.S., and the American Red Cross have donated plenty of supplies to people who were greatly affected by the wildfires like water, food, air beds, hygiene kits, blankets, coolers, shoes, socks, cleaning wipes, diapers, clothing, and childrens toys. People who live in other states can also help those who have lost their homes and belongings by contributing to online relief efforts.

“You can contribute to helping the people who have lost their homes and belongings by going to different relief shelters to help with different shifts if it’s possible to give the people, whether that be food, clothing, or even donations,” Tosounian said. “But if you’re not in the area and you still want to contribute, you could give money to firefighters now to resupply everything that they had to use up.”

Governor Gavin Newsom decided to sign a 2.5 billion dollar bipartisan relief package for areas affected from the Palisades wildfire. That way, there can be faster responses and faster recovery for Los Angeles. 4 million dollars are being utilized to expedite rebuilding and use better resources, while 1 million dollars will be used to rebuild schools that have been damaged by the fire, including Los Angeles Unified School District, and Pasadena Unified School District. The impact the Palisades wildfire held will stay in the hearts and minds of people across the country. 

“Driving by the freeways, you are able to tell that everyone was able to feel some sort of damage, whether that be to family friends that they knew or even to their own family members,” Tosounian said.