Last week when we heard about fires in California we didn’t think much of them because, frankly, there are fires in California all the time. But, as the pictures started coming in, we could tell that these fires were different. They were called “wildfires,” but they were burning in urban neighborhoods. Neighborhoods I had visited. Neighborhoods where friends lived.
At CNN we started making phone calls. To the Fire Department, local Mayors and City Council Members. But it still wasn’t apparent how bad the damage was.
By the time our show was on at 11pm ET / 8pm in California, we had pivoted to wall-to-wall coverage. Because of the strong winds, we had trouble even getting our CNN reporter shots up live. The Public Information Officer for the Los Angeles County Fire Department Capt. Sheila Kelliher showed our viewers just how strong the winds were using her phone. At one point she had to escape to her car just to be able to talk to us. The winds were relentless, and they just fueled the flames as they jumped from house to house.
Actor Steve Guttenberg had spent the day trying to clear cars that had been abandoned as people quickly fled the fire. Without getting the cars out of the way others could not evacuate, and crews could not get in to try and save any structures. He joined us to tell us what it was like saying, “I haven’t seen anything like this in my entire life and I don’t think many people have. At 9 o’clock in the morning, it was an idyllic Pacific Palisades, and then by 10 o’clock, 10:30, the sky was dark as if it were nighttime.”
The nightmare continued as the fire spread to other neighborhoods: Altadena, Pasadena, Malibu. The embers could fly anywhere and nobody felt safe in the nation’s second most-populist city. As friends sent me photos of the ashes of their homes, we booked people to tell our audience about the devastation. Whether they were celebrities like Cameron Mathison or Eric Braeden who spoke lovingly of the homes they had built and lost or regular families like the Storc family who had spent holidays hanging stockings on fireplaces that were now piles of rubble, the stories were devastating. Everyone spoke not only of a loss of home and safety but also of community.
Dalyce Curry had been a fixture in Altadena. She was lovingly known as Mama Dee by her friends, family and neighbors. She had been dropped at her home by her granddaughter and died there from the fire. But her touching voicemail message lived on to help her granddaughter and the rest of the world smile at her memory.
Chuck Hart jumped to action when he heard about the fire headed toward his family’s home. He is a contractor so had hoses and spent hours battling the flames on his own. He watched the church his dad had built burn to the ground. And then he refused to leave the burn zone for fear that they wouldn’t let him back to continue helping those who needed it. We finally caught up with him when he was able to connect via Starlink and share his story of loss and heroism.
We also spoke to a Rabbi whose home was lost but whose Temple somehow withstood the flames. He saw it as a beacon of hope for his family and congregation.
Night after night we produced 1-2 hours of fire coverage. We spoke to fire officials, local officials, and homeowners. We even showed the viewers what the planes that were brought in to fight the fires. But at the end of the coverage I can’t help but struggle with a question I am sure many of you are asking – how can I help? I have friends who lost their homes and have spoken to so many remarkable people who will struggle to rebuild. I still struggle with exactly how to help but CNN has teamed with local organizations and you can donate here: