Beginning Tuesday morning, January 7, the largest urban wildfires in L.A. County history, and among the largest urban fires in U.S. history, struck like an explosion. The hurricane-force Santa Ana winds¹ right away spread the fires in every direction. As of Sunday, at least 180,000 people had been forced to evacuate their homes; over 12,000 homes and other structures had been destroyed, including schools, churches, synagogues and mosques. 800,000 people were without power; and—so far—there have been at least 24 deaths and another 16 are missing, with the figures continuing to rise. 

Horrific as it is right now in LA, such fires have been occurring more and more frequently all around the globe. These fires are connected to the larger problem of global climate change—one effect of which is an overall rising temperature of the earth, hotter and drier days, and more fires. This problem of climate change comes from the system of capitalism-imperialism and its need for ever more oil, gas, coal and “fossil fuels.” How and why this is so is covered elsewhere in this issue. We also talk elsewhere about the inspiring way people have been volunteering—and how in a socialist society this spirit could much more fully flower. Here we want to get into some of the ways this has hit people in LA.

Many of the stories are heartbreaking. Among those who have died was a man whose body was found still holding a garden hose he was using to try to save his home, and a grandmother who refused to leave her home despite her family's pleas. A man was found next to his son, who had cerebral palsy and could not walk—their family had been prevented from entering the area to rescue them, and the promised rescuers never came. 

Firefighters and other rescue workers were overwhelmed in the early, most critical period. The two major fires were more than 30 miles apart, and the violent winds blew burning embers for miles while making it impossible to rely on air support for water drops. On top of that, there were not nearly enough fire fighters needed for such a firestorm.

The winds have subsided for now, and helicopters have been finally able to drop water on the fires. Yet the fires are still not contained. The skies over parts of LA are still filled with smoke and ash, and people have been wearing masks whenever going outside. Many have bags packed, unsure whether they may be the next to be forced to evacuate. 

For people living throughout the LA area, there's no escaping the fact of the fires—local television coverage has been non-stop, 24/7, on every channel. Ashes coat almost every neighborhood. Constantly seeing the destruction and terrifying flames is casting a pall, as everyone tries to even imagine what the future will hold.

And now more high winds are projected from Sunday night—with not a drop of rain in sight.

Pacific Palisades, and Eaton Canyon/Altadena

The two largest areas affected are 35 miles apart: Pacific Palisades, with a population of 23,000, is west of downtown LA, sitting atop the cliffs overlooking the ocean at Malibu; Altadena, with about 43,000 residents, is part of the Eaton Canyon area northeast of downtown, in the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains. 

Pacific Palisades has a mix of wealthy and middle class people. It's home for a great number of actors, celebrities, and artists, many having lived there for decades. From the air, Pacific Palisades now looks as though it were bombed, while most of the beachfront homes along the Malibu coastline have been reduced to ashes. 

This area's fires have been named the most destructive in the modern history of Los Angeles. And now as people whose homes are burned to the ground consider how to recover, they come face to face with the profit motive of the capitalist system. Because the Palisades are one of the five Southern California areas with the highest danger of wildfires, many insurers are canceling home owner policies or refusing to issue new policies. The state insurance commissioner has now blocked insurance non-renewals and cancelations in fire zones. Where things go next remains to be seen. 

This Catastrophe Has Devastated Many Artists and Their Creations

Many artists in both Pacific Palisades and Altadena have lost not just their homes but decades of artistic works. One artist posted on Instagram a list of at least 28 other artists who have lost their homes and their art. One artist said she was mourning “over 20 years of artmaking,” including hundreds, if not thousands, of prints, drawings, and sculptures in metal, ceramic and glass, that she stored in her home studio. “Now it’s evaporated.” 

A celebrated artistic filmmaker and her husband, a conceptual artist, stored their archive—including decades of raw video footage, master tapes, hard drives and paintings—in a temperature-controlled garage, which has burned to the ground. “It’s hard to live to be 62 years old and lose your entire life in one night.” 

Altadena’s Black Community

Altadena is a very diverse, multinational community, with a prominent grouping of artists as well. It has for decades been home to a significant Black community. Beginning with the Great Migration in the early-middle 20th century, when great numbers of Black people were escaping Jim Crow segregation in the South to cities in the northern and western U.S., Altadena was one of the few places where Black and other minority people could purchase homes in metro Los Angeles because the area was exempt from the discriminatory practice of redlining and race-restrictive covenants (agreements that new homebuyers had to sign agreeing not to sell to non-white people). Altadena's population is now 20% Black, with a significant number of Black homeowners.

Now, for a good portion of these Black residents of Altadena, everything they had invested in their homes has gone up in smoke. And because many of them were uninsured, the stress of possibly losing everything can be overwhelming. This can be seen on people's Instagram postings. One Black woman, standing in front of what's left of her home—a concrete foundation and chimney—went from attempting a smile to bursting into tears: “We lived here our whole lives.” 

Another Altadena resident, an older Black man, said in tears: “I used to be a guy who had everything. I lost everything. I spent my whole life helping people. I didn’t think it would happen to me. But it did!”

An inspiring development has been how quickly thousands of people are organizing to provide food and clothing to those forced to evacuate because of the fires. People and organizations are contributing millions of dollars. In Altadena in particular, people have come to donate clothes, to share stories and insights and to find other ways to help. World Central Kitchen—an organization founded by chef José Andrés to feed people in areas of need and which had some of its people murdered by Israeli bombs while they were helping to feed starving people in Gaza—was on the scene in Pasadena. 

But this is a society organized to meet the needs of capital, not the needs of people. And the futures of the people devastated by the fires are now in the hands of that system. 

Who vs What Is to Blame

As the LA fires continue to spread, threatening lives and structures, already the battle over who to blame is gaining momentum. To whatever extent deserved, the targets of attack are solely limited to the mayor and local government, the fire departments, and others. The focus has not been where it belongs, on what is to blame. 

At the same time, it is important that people be supported in just demands for immediate relief, decent housing and what they’ve been burnt out of, and jobs or other means to survive. But even more important, people need to be given the tools with which to understand the roots of the problem, the revolution we need to overcome it, and how to make that revolution.

As the accompanying article points out, “Climate change and the fires in LA are fundamentally a SYSTEM problem. And the answer is revolution and a whole new and far-better system.”