The Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles has been decimated by some of the worst fires in U.S. history. On Friday, WSJ’s Katherine Sayre accompanied two residents who went back to see what is left of their homes. Further Reading: -The Palisades Residents Who Took Long Journeys to See What’s Left of Their Lives -Their Wealth Is in Their Homes. Their Homes Are Now Ash. Further Listening: -The Race to Save an Iconic Train From Falling Into the Ocean Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: What happened in the Pacific Palisades?
How far back are you? I am... Behind that truck? Yeah, just behind the truck.
Chapter 2: Who are the residents affected by the fires?
On Friday morning, a long line of cars formed in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, a place that's been decimated over the past few days by raging wildfires. In areas where the fires have burned out, authorities have started to let residents back in to assess the damage and to see what's left of their homes. In one of the cars was a woman named Mariah Lanphardt.
Yeah, so we had a clue that our house was gone when we got this map from, like, Cal Fire or whatever. But they didn't update this for so long, so I was, like, holding out.
With her was a man from her neighborhood named Gavin Bates.
My wife didn't even want to come. She's like, why are you going? I feel like I just need to see it myself. Totally. I feel the same way. I just need to see it. It's hard. It's hard.
Getting into the neighborhood was a slow process. Police were escorting people in, in part to protect against looters, and they only let a handful of cars in at a time.
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Chapter 3: What was the experience of returning to the neighborhood like?
Maybe I should roll up the window. I think it's going to be smoky. Yeah, it's going to be miserable.
Also in the car was our colleague Catherine Sayre, who Mariah said could tag along to report on the damage.
Well, this is more fun than being all alone, so...
Catherine spent the next few hours with Mariah and Gavin, just two of the thousands of people whose lives have been turned upside down by the ongoing fires in Los Angeles. Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power. I'm Ryan Knudson. It's Monday, January 13th. Coming up on the show, a journey back to the Pacific Palisades.
In the line of cars waiting to get back to the Pacific Palisades, Mariah, Gavin, and our colleague Catherine chatted in Mariah's Honda Civic. They talked about life before the fire. Mariah, who's 24, lived with her 80-year-old great-aunt, Their house was a white, single-story family home with a blue awning and a big backyard. Her aunt moved there in the mid-1970s.
My aunt bought her house first with her first husband, and then they got a divorce, and my aunt bought the house from him.
Mariah said it was filled with a lifetime of possessions, like her aunt's art collection and handmade wooden furniture. Several generations of Mariah's family lived in the neighborhood, including her grandma, who she calls her Obachan.
And my Obachan would always talk about, they're building too far into the mountains. They're building too far into the mountains. Something's going to happen, you know. And here we are at the edge of the mountain. And yeah, it's decimated.
Gavin was a much more recent addition to the neighborhood. He moved there in 2010 with his wife. Now they have two kids and lived in an area known as the Alphabet Streets. Last Tuesday morning, Gavin and his family were at home when smoke began to appear on the hills above their house.
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Chapter 4: What did Mariah and Gavin find when they returned home?
And so, the first thing, the heat shattered the glass around 10, and then you can see... AM?
PM?
PM. And you can see the progression of things breaking in the house from 10 to 11, whatever. There are all different sorts of alarms going off, like... I'm sure there was... Glass break.
Oh, God.
Smoke sensor. This sensor. Yeah. two-heat sprinkler system.
Oh, of course.
And I'm sitting in a hotel room watching my house get to me.
Oh, my gosh.
As of Monday morning, more than 12,000 structures have been destroyed by the L.A. fires. Everything from mobile homes to celebrity mansions, as well as businesses and schools. Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to ash. The focus now for people affected, like Mariah and Gavin, is to figure out what they lost. And to do that, they need to see what's left of their homes.
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Chapter 5: How did the fires impact families in the area?
The irony of my situation is my wife really doesn't like my car. She's like, eh, I don't really want that car anyway. It's fine. It's gone. It's her.
It's your car.
I'm like, if that car survived, I've never given up on that car. It's old as it is, but I'm going to have... It's going to get a sticker that said, I survived the fire, and it's never going anywhere. Literally.
Another reason Mariah and Gavin were waiting in line was to take photos for insurance claims they plan to file.
Our insurance has been good so far, but they're like, we need pictures.
I know. Yeah, right. It's just started.
We need you to go in. And it's like, my car, my car might be melted right inside. It may not start.
Yeah.
The auto guy's like, your car looks fine. I can't make a claim until you go start it. I'm like, okay, I need to go and start it.
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Chapter 6: What steps are residents taking for insurance claims?
So far, the fires have racked up more than $50 billion in losses. It's the costliest fire in U.S. history. And that number is likely to grow, considering the fires aren't contained yet. At least 24 people have died. By 3 p.m. on Friday, hours after they first arrived in line, Mariah's car finally made it to the front. When they got there, a police officer was waiting.
He told Mariah and Gavin that they'd be escorted up to their homes and that they'd only have a few minutes there.
Quick, quick, quick, in and out. Yeah, we understand.
So my car is in there, so I'm getting a ride to drive my car out. I have a picture of it.
And if it doesn't work, I'm going to drive him out.
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Chapter 7: What is the extent of the damage caused by the fires?
That's fine.
When you go in your house, it's not to go in and hang out. My house is gone. Be very careful.
We will.
Whatever valuables you're going to get or medicine, it's whatever you can get in and out within like five minutes.
Yeah, I'm just taking pictures.
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Chapter 8: What are the emotional impacts of the fires on residents?
With a few other cars and a police escort, they began driving towards the neighborhood.
How are y'all feeling right now?
Numbed. It's like that numb feeling, right? It's like... Defeated. There is no words. No words that really do it justice.
Yeah.
We'll be right back.
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As Mariah, Gavin, and Catherine were escorted into the neighborhood by police, they saw the scale of the destruction with their own eyes. Oh, wow.
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