LOSS, RESILIENCE AND THE MANY REMAINING QUESTIONS

OVER THE LAST YEAR, the Los Angeles Times published countless letters to the editor related to the Eaton and Palisades fires. They've included messages of solidarity, expressions of grief, frustrations over the fire response and recovery, and demands for accountability, all of them published as L.A. and its residents continue to unravel exactly what happened.

- By Alex Stedman, Assistant Op-Ed Editor

Photographs by CHRISTINA HOUSE, GINA FERAZZI, BRIAN VAN DER BRUG, WALLY SKALIJ, GENARO MOLINA Los Angeles Times

As we approached the one-year mark, I checked in with some Times readers who had letters published over the last year to see what has changed and what hasn't. What are their thoughts on the recovery efforts? What questions about the response and recovery remain unanswered? What has given them hope in these challenging months? How can Los Angeles avoid devastation on this level in the future? And if they lost their homes, how is their rebuilding going?

In response we received emotional reflections of loss, gratitude for the resilience of L.A.'s communities and, still, calls for answers and accountability. They serve as a reminder that a year later recovery is far from over, but Californians press forward still.

Wisdom gained through loss

On Jan. 7, 2025, my home, my belongings and my community were reduced to ashes. My initial feeling was shock. How could I have lived so precariously on the edge for 35 years in my little paradise?

Fire had never crossed Sunset Boulevard from the mountains, my husband, the native, told me so many times and again the morning of the Palisades fire. When the fire was in the mountains and the smoke became troubling, he told me to come to his office in Santa Monica. If I had really believed we were in danger, of course I would have brought my cats.

A few hours later, we got an evacuation notice and we desperately tried to get back to rescue our cats, but law enforcement blocked every roadway. I lost all hope. We watched our home burn in footage from a neighbor’s Ring camera before their home burned as well.