Fear and Firestorms in Los Angeles

The first signs of smoke in the Pacific Palisades as seen in Westwood.

FACTS AND FICTION

No one seems to know just how toxic our air is now from the Los Angeles firestorms that make my head throb, so I nurse a cup of strong coffee, and wait for the Excedrin Extra Strength to kick in.

Before particulates populated the air and Santa Anas roared through the dry canyons and hills last week, I had called Urban Forestry with a complaint. The supervisor James couldn’t help with my neighbor’s neglected oak, but talk turned to books about trees and James suggested Veronica Henry’s fantasy, The Canopy Keepers.

Ironically, the setting is familiar – out of control fires caused by climate change. But the similarities end there; many of the characters in the fantasy are part of an ancient, underground society. The story poses the question: what if nature fought back against the humans responsible for fires? Pure fiction.

Don’t knock fiction. For facts on our fires, I turn to KTLA and The Los Angeles Times. For alerts, there’s Watch Duty and city texts. But for tackling fear, there’s fiction. Reading a novel at bedtime brings calm so the next morning I can better process the scope of the disaster. Like my fellow Angelenos, our hearts break over the victims who have lost lives, homes, and communities. It’s overwhelming.

PRE-EVACUATION WARNING. NOW WHAT?

Recently we received a pre-evacuation alert. Fear held me down as if I were moving under water. The effort of having to choose what to bring in my To Go bag almost immobilized me. Photos? Passport? Toiletries? Did we have enough dog food? Did we remember phone chargers? Where should we go? How long would we need to be away?

Thankfully, we were able to remain in our home. That could change. Winds are expected to ramp up again.  Reading fiction has helped center me so I can set aside the fear, prepare for the present, and handle the facts. It’s a good balance to help me focus on finding places to donate blankets, clothes, and personal hygiene products. It makes it easier to connect to groups that support families and animals who have been unmoored.

THINGS TO DO FROM HOME OR TEMPORARY SHELTER

With the fear at bay, I also have done a better job keeping in touch with those I love. Today my bestie Deb sent me a text of her rescue dog running on the sand in Long Beach. “Life continues,” she wrote. Also bringing me light, my brother Greg sent me video of his cooing conversation with his baby granddaughter. Then my friend Julie’s voice on the phone telling me she’s at urgent care and the two of us start laughing because, forget her virus, the main thing is, we’ve fallen hopelessly in love with each and every firefighter and water-dropping pilot, thousands of them from all over the US, Mexico and even South Africa.

California is facing one of the deadliest and most destructive fires in its history.  More importantly, the community is finding ways to support each other. Where we find inspiration – in the people we meet, the books we read, the people we love – helps us get through this dark chapter.

Don’t you wish they had N95s for dogs?

Hmm, thinking of my next read. I found Diane Mott Davidson’s Tough Cookie in a little Free Library book sharing box. It takes place in winter at a snowy, frigid ski resort in Colorado.