Mackenzie Williams (COL ’09) received a call from her mother, asking her what mementos she would want saved if the family was forced to evacuate. A San Diego resident of ten years, Williams is one of many Georgetown students whose families and hometowns have been affected by the wildfires throughout southern California last week.
“Wildfires are an enduring reality of living where I do,” Michael Pfeiffer (SFS ’11), a resident of Malibu, Calif., said. “Add the winds to the dry weather, and the hills are a tinderbox ready for a spark.”
Burning hundreds of square miles and destroying over 2,000 homes, the fires reached from northern Los Angeles County to the Mexican border, according to the Los Angeles Times. The majority began naturally in California’s dry heat, spurred on by the strength of the seasonal Santa Ana winds, which travel from the interior to the coast and can reach hurricane force as they travel through the mountain passes. However, the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department has identified a young boy playing with matches who accidentally ignited one fire in the community of Agua Dulce, and another fire is suspected to have been arson.
Personal landmarks in some students’ hometowns were destroyed in the flames. Sarah Schechter (COL ’11) saw a photograph of her family’s church as it burned to the ground on the front page of the Oct. 22 Los Angeles Times. The 450 members of the church, Brentwood Presbyterian, are now meeting at the Malibu Community Center until further notice.
“I’m not too concerned about seeing damage,” Schechter said. “If anything, I’m excited to go home and attend a church service.”
Pfeiffer’s church, Malibu Presbyterian, also fell victim to the fire, as well as parts of his elementary school and the surrounding buildings. Although California residents are largely accustomed to seeing fires around this time of year, Pfeiffer said that it may still be difficult to come home at Thanksgiving and not have “places that played a large role in [his] childhood” be standing anymore.
Students from the area said they listened closely to live streams from news websites and kept track of constantly-updated Google Maps, which showed the reach of the wildfires. Sarah Swigert (COL ’08), a resident of Rancho Santa Fe, found herself frustrated with occasionally misleading information as she attempted to gather news from the east coast of the events.
“In an area where just one home or structure burned, the entire area [on Google Maps] was marked as ‘fire,’ and thus gave the impression that the entire area had been burned,” Swigert said.
Williams recalled looking for friends’ houses on these maps to compare with the most recent spread of fires. In one instance, she said, the fire reached less than a quarter mile from her best friend’s home.
“On the Monday and Tuesday that the fires were spreading, I could barely do anything else besides watch CNN and read news online about the fires,” Williams said.
Southern California students recalled the danger of going outside and the effect the annual fires had on their lives, even if they didn’t reach their towns.
“The ash travels for miles, and probably covered my car outside,” Williams said. “The smoke in the air makes it very difficult to breathe, so time outside, especially for kids and the elderly, has had to be limited for their safety.”
Schechter said that all activities in her area had been cancelled due to the unsafe quality of the air, and several students’ families, including Swigert’s and Pfeiffer’s, were forced to evacuate over the weekend.
Efforts on the part of Georgetown students for those affected by the wildfires included a fire relief fundraiser last Sunday organized by California resident Solomiya Pyatkovska (COL ’08).
“I’m happy with the amount of aid offered to the people who lost their homes, and I’m proud of all the volunteers in the city that made the evacuations more tolerable,” Williams said. “But overall, the situation is still heartbreaking.”
