A roaring brush fire broke out in California’s Pacific Palisades on Jan. 7, spreading rapidly as eight additional wildfires ignited throughout Los Angeles County. Consequently, over 80,000 families lost their homes and were ordered to evacuate due to 100 mph winds, flying debris and fire damage.

Families stretch far and wide throughout the Niles West community, and a great deal of students and staff members have relatives or connections in Los Angeles.

“I grew up in Pacific Palisades and had many of my childhood memories reduced to rubble and ash. The synagogue I grew up in miraculously survived, though 300-plus families from my community lost their homes to the fires. My elementary school burnt down…I was remembering where I took piano lessons, where I had my first kiss, where I used to hang out with my friends after school–all of those places are gone,” said former Los Angeles citizen Natalie Young.

Young is an active member of the Niles West community and is the mother to Niles West News’ own Bella Young. The wildfires damaged all aspects of the LA landscape, including schools, offices, neighborhoods, faith centers and businesses.

“We saw a lot of small businesses, minority-owned businesses severely impacted by the fires. I think it’s crucial that the businesses which need the most support receive that support,” LA resident and relative of English teacher Rachel Gross, Robbie Levin said.

Some citizens were not required to evacuate the county but witnessed the situation’s effects on the sidelines.

“Lots of friends and colleagues have lost their homes. Entire neighborhoods (one that we frequented a lot) are gone,” Santa Monica resident and relative of Gross, Melanie Goldfarb said.

The wildfires did not only impact LA; surrounding towns were hit with thick smoke, keeping many civilians indoors.

“For us personally, even though we haven’t had to evacuate, we’ve been monitoring the air quality pretty closely because especially in the days after the fire started, we could feel the winds and we could smell the smoke. We knew at certain times the air quality was at an unhealthy level, and so we have tried to stay indoors as much as possible to avoid inhaling some of that poor air,” Levin said.

Many celebrities living in LA posted about damages to their homes, which resulted in a spread of misinformation on social media–which claimed only celebrities were impacted by the fires.

“It’s been really distressing to see the lack of compassion some people have shown on social media, saying ‘Who cares, it’s only the rich and the celebrities and they’ll be fine,’ but that’s very much not the case. There are so many people who were in their homes again for many many years before this was a wealthy community, who have nothing left,” Young said.

Aside from the internet, the fires gathered international attention. In an effort to show solidarity, Canada and Mexico sent firefighters to California to extinguish the fires. Iran and Ukraine also offered additional support. Justine E. Larsen is a resident of Venice Beach and a relative of NWN’s own Holly Korzun.

“When I saw that other cities, states and countries were coming to help fight the fires I cried. While we may have differences in language, religion or political beliefs, we are all human. I’m so grateful that many took this as an opportunity to put love and kindness first,” Larsen said.

Not only have the fires affected Americans on a federal level, but they have also impacted many on a local level. Junior Orli Eisenberg is one of many students at West who has family in California.

“My family in California is my aunt, my uncle and their two-year-old son. My grandparents are also living there right now. They live in Pasadena so they haven’t had to evacuate from the fires, however, their synagogue which was closer to the fires, burned down in the first few days of the crisis,” Eisenberg said.

Individuals living in the Chicago area can help Los Angeles families by donating to the Red Cross and the Wildlife Crisis Relief Fund, as well as sending gift cards for stores that sell household necessities.

“…While California might seem far away, we are all connected and living on the same planet. Our daily decisions affect plants, animals, water and people whether near or far, and a wonderful way to help would be to take actions that combat climate change…You have more power than you realize and a single act can spread like a ripple in a pond,” Larsen said.