Several current and former Principia students were in California during the break when historic wildfires broke out in the Los Angeles region, killing dozens and forcing thousands of people to evacuate as their homes were destroyed.
Former Principia student Emily Booth said she witnessed the forest fire starting while teaching students at Berkley Hall, a private k-8 school in LA with close ties to Principia.
Three major fires around the LA area forced people to evacuate to surrounding areas into Orange County last month as blazes destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least two dozen people, according to the Associated Press. Several people witnessed the fires as they tore through the area, reporting that the air became toxic. Some said they had to wear masks just to keep from breathing in the smoke.
“We witnessed the smoke starting to cover the sky and covering the sunset in the sky,” Booth said.
She said that although the school wasn’t in the path of the fire, school officials let parents come get their children just in case their homes were near the fires and needed to evacuate. Booth said she was able to help others that were close enough to the fires and needed a place to stay. The school stayed open, but switched to online learning.
Many people were trying to get away from the fires and roads had lots of traffic.
Principia community members described gridlocked streets as people in the area jammed the roadways in an effort to escape.
Senior Elmo Small wasn’t in the fire but said he was in California in the area during the Christmas break and said he had to evacuate just in case. He said he had friends who lost their homes due to the fire, though his house wasn’t directly hurt.
“You can go outside and see the billowing smoke and wipe your car and there would be an inch of ash on it,” Small said.
He said he saw this as a wake up call that people can live in a nice area, but they’re not immune to tragedy. He said he was grateful for the LA Fire Department for containing the fires and stopping them as best as they could.
LA Fire and the LAPD are still trying to determine what started the fire, but some evidence points to arson or a downed power line. Firefighters worked to contain the fires that burned for more than a month.
