Pacific Palisades After the Fire
By Bonnie Donovan
Since the LA fires I have called my friends asking what I can do… Where can I help…
They told me it’s all gone. It’s beyond gone. Of course, I say I will come down and help sift to find whatever we can find…
My friends let me know that the government (EPA) said they weren’t allowed on the property because they had solar panels that, when burned, leave behind toxic waste. After that was cleaned up, we could go in.
They asked me to come down so I could see for myself there was nothing left. So last week I met them at the hotel I would stay at in West Hollywood. Then we drove into the burn area the next day.
From the 405 you take the 10, which is closed except to residents of the burn area. The highway is down to one lane lined with cones. When you hit Hwy 1 – Pacific Coast Highway – it is a dead stop, with other residents of the burn area going through a National Guard checkpoint.
Then we head up Temescal Canyon (if I remember correctly) to get to Pacific Palisades. The left side of the road was a row of burned-out houses; the right side was fine; we turn left towards my friends’ neighborhood.
All the homes are gone. We hit another National Guard checkpoint as we approach the area where my friends’ home used to be. Both sides of the road are nothing but ashes.
Emotions Hit Hard
We pull into my friends’ driveway, and I choke up. I get out and I’m like, OK… not looking to the car to get all our protective gear on; my first impression is there is absolutely nothing for me to help do.
After getting over that initial shock and noticing little green signs of life amid burnt-to-a-crisp plants, we put our protective gear on.
It’s so sad to see my friends – who have always been so positive and who can do anything- looking where their house once was with despair. When I stepped out of the car and walked on to the devastated property, I understood. The only signs of life were a few green shoots poking out of the ashes.
With protective gear on we walk around, making sure to not step on one of the thousands of rusted nails that are everywhere.
How important are the numbers of your address when it is all gone?
Their youngest daughter dug until she found the three numbers of their address. The dad at the fireproof safe, full of ash. The mom says to me, “He wants the Hide-A-Key.”
I go over to the area where it should have been and try to move the wrought-iron railing that used to be on the second story balcony to get to where the Hide-A-Key should be. I warn everyone this might be loud, as the dad said he had already tried to move it and it was too heavy, Yep, too heavy. I climb over the railing to get to the opening where the metal box should be.
At first, I find nothing, but I keep at it and find the magnets that attached to the box, But no box.
I dig and sift a little longer and voilà, the key!
Three little numbers and a Hide-A-Key is all we walk away with.
The electric lines didn’t cause this; their lines are underground. The lines survived and are ready to go. (When power is allowed back on)
Two-Story Basements
We walked to the neighbor’s property. Their basement was two-stories deep. We looked down into it… The two story home with a two-story basement is down to nothing but maybe a foot of ash.
Almost every property has a pool, and all the water was still in every pool.
I remember when fires were in our area Dad would drop a pump into our pool and hook it up to a generator, and connect hoses to it… We would put ladders up, so we were ready… And if we had to leave it would be there for the firemen.
With no water in Pacific Palisades this could have helped, a little.
PALISKATES
REBUILD PALISKATES
A Community Staple
We are devastated to share that we have to temporarily disable our online store because our store has been affected by the Palisades Fire. Especially just after celebrating our 25th Anniversary, opening our doors in 1999 as a female run small business. We ship all online orders from our Pacific Palisades storefront and are unable to fulfill orders under the current circumstances. We are heartbroken to see all the loss throughout the whole Palisades community and our heart goes out to everyone affected. We are going to use this as tragic event to bounce back stronger than ever. This is not the end of 1021 N Swarthmore Ave, we along with all Palisades residents will unite and rebuild our beloved community. Thank you for all of the memories and support.
"Since The 90’s Forever"
-Erica Simpson & The Paliskates Team ❤️
Rick Caruso saved all his properties by bringing in water trucks. We drove by his village, fenced, and guarded. We went there so I could see Paliskates, the one property that didn’t sell out to him to create The Village…
Paliskates is in between Rick’s buildings.
(How did it happen that even though it was between two of Caruso’s buildings?)
After that we drove by the first home my friends had ever bought; it is still standing, but every other house in that neighborhood had burned. We went to a favorite sandwich place in Brentwood to talk and to try to cheer ourselves up, and then drove back to the hotel…
Sacramento’s Latest Giveaway
Massive Profits for Big Real Estate in Fire-Ravaged Communities
Our Neighborhood Voices (ONV) is something we should add our names to for information.
Senator Scott Weiner is doubling down. Please click and read.
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My friends 50MM mansion on the beach there mostly survived, one of the lucky ones, it is a stunning old Italian estate, he worked his ASS off to get it and fix it up, paying 3MM for it 30 years ago. Almost everything around it is gone. His lovely home now sits in a wasteland not unlike a war zone. His friend next door burned alive, a retired optometrist who was to go to New Zealand the next day. While is friend was roasting alive, Gavin Newsom was sitting in a cozy safe studio doing a podcast show to spin the optics and do damage control for his now ruined Presidential run. Absolute scum bag. The National guard stopped me from going in weeks after the fire, and it is obvious that the main purpose is to keep it from sight while they try to clean it up and come up with some spin story about how the new community is going to be even better, all optics again for Gavin. Out of sight, out of mind, right? They know what they are doing. Also while the fire was still burning the local news basically just magically stopped covering it, it was still raging, but you could not find news let alone photos anywhere. It was almost as if Gavin ordered a black out. Do you think? This needs to be the basis of the attack against Newsom when he runs, and he will run. He has ruined CA, and he would ruin America.
I live directly beneath the Escondido reservoir on the Alta Mesa that was drained 25 years ago. It provided gravity flow emergency water for the Mesa and Westside. Last week I spent half an hour with a bureaucrat in the Water department who told me that every couple of years the State changes the water rules and they have to "do a study" and those always say that it is better to rely on water for fires being moved across town from the reservoirs against the mountains. Of course, what if the electricity goes down? Then, the traditional gravity flow supply to the hydrants would be crucial. "Oh no," he said, "we cannot keep that water potable so it would contaminate the lines." Seriously? If my house is on fire and there is a massive bone dry reservoir just above my house .... WTF? Identical to the Santa Ynez reservoir being empty above Pacific Palisades.
I'll bet that the cost of those periodic "studies" that keep those people with pensions busy at their desks could fund keeping the water present and available, as was intended when it was built.
DOGE can't come here quick enough.