This post was updated Jan. 12 at 11:20 p.m.
Over 230 people sheltered in Westwood on Wednesday evening after losing their homes, workplaces and pets to the chaos of the Palisades fire.
The Westwood Recreation Center was designated as an emergency shelter by Los Angeles County and opened at 6 p.m. Tuesday, said Mimi Teller, the development communications manager with the American Red Cross LA Region. Anyone is welcome to use the shelter for immediate housing, to pick up food or clothing, or to access recovery resources, Teller added.
As of 10:55 p.m. Wednesday, the center sheltered 235 registered guests and 21 pets.
Fires across LA County began Tuesday and continued into Wednesday night, with evacuations in areas including parts of Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades and Topanga Canyon. The nearest fire to UCLA – just under 3 miles from campus as of 8:30 p.m. Wednesday – has burned since Tuesday morning and now has a size of nearly 16,000 acres, according to the Cal Fire website.
[Related: LIVE: PACIFIC PALISADES FIRE]
In the recreation center’s entrance hall, guests had access to tables filled with donated clothes, food and water bottles and were watching televised news about the current state of the wildfires. Rows of beds were set up in the center’s gym with guests sleeping or talking quietly, and the entire front of the room was taken up by tables of donated food.
“This is a climate crisis,” Teller said. “They’re the front line that are suffering from this climate disaster, so they’re the more vulnerable people who don’t necessarily have resources. They don’t have a second home. They don’t have friends or family in the area that can accommodate them. That’s who we get.”
The shelter is there to provide safety and comfort to anyone who needs it, regardless of immigration status, Teller added. In the coming days, recovery caseworkers will work with each registered guest to provide housing and health services until people have recovered, she said.
The shelter will stay open until everybody has a place to go, added Teller, a former member of the Daily Bruin.
Casey Colvin said he lives in Pacific Palisades near Will Rogers State Beach and does not know if his home is still standing.
Colvin rode a bike to the LA Fire Department command center on Will Rogers Beach to rescue his dogs from his house, he added. One of his dogs, a 14-pound white eskimo named Oreo, was missing while his other dog was rescued by firefighters, he said.
“There was fire shooting out of the ground,” he said. “ There was explosions.”
Colvin said he had not slept all night out of fear about his dog and was on his way to the West LA Animal Shelter to search for him. Colvin’s dog has since been found, according to NBC LA.
“I ironically don’t care if my home is there,” he said. “I care about my dog. It’s so funny how I never thought I would say that, but I could care less about the structure. I care about the structure if it’s still standing there, if my dog was able to go back inside.”
Oscar Palencia said he evacuated the Palisades branch of the LA Public Library, where he works as a messenger clerk, Tuesday afternoon. Palencia’s home is in the evacuation zone, so he packed a duffel bag along with a friend and walked from the Palisades to Will Rogers State Beach and then to Santa Monica, he said. From Santa Monica, he took the 720 bus to the recreation center, where he checked in Tuesday afternoon and slept overnight, he added.
Palencia woke up Wednesday to a text from a friend saying the library had burned down, he said.
“It hit me hard,” he said. “I’ve been working there for nine years.”
Palencia said he recognized one of the library’s patrons who also came to the recreation center, adding that the library will hopefully rebuild but cannot recover some books that are out of print. He also said that people at the center have been helping him stay positive, and his friends have been sharing words of support regarding the fire and the loss of the library.
Merete Goldberg came to the recreation center after her home north of Sunset Boulevard was included in an evacuation order, she said, but added that she believed her home was currently unscathed as of Wednesday afternoon.
“(It is) a waiting game,” she said. “There’s nothing we can do anymore. It is what it is.”
Goldberg also said the workers at the recreation center have been friendly and helpful with her dog, Silly.
Luis Chacon said his area nearby was not included in an evacuation order but said he was taking care of an elderly person nearby and came to the recreation center for basic resources. He added that the staff was helpful in feeding them lunch and helping him take care of his dog.
Tommy Geller, who works with LA Animal Services, said he came to the center to connect people to services that can help find missing pets. He added that he did not expect such an outpouring of donated food and clothes at the center.
The Red Cross will continue to support those who have been displaced with disaster, mental health and recovery services in the coming days, Teller said. The center is only accepting monetary donations as of 10:55 p.m. Wednesday, Teller said, adding that the shelter was overwhelmed with food and clothing donations earlier in the day. People can also help by donating blood or volunteering at redcross.org, she said.
The community’s outpouring of support has made the people in the shelter feel better, she said.
Rick Ciceggi, a Santa Monica resident who was staying in the shelter, said police knocked on his door Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. and informed him he had to evacuate. He brought along as much as he could to the shelter, including his cat, he said.
Ciceggi said he believes his home is standing because the fire had not crossed into his area of the Santa Monica Canyon, where he has lived for 42 years, as of Wednesday afternoon. However, a friend’s home along the Pacific Coast Highway was burnt to ashes, he said.
Ciceggi also said that he does not have any idea when the fires will be over or what will happen afterward. He added that he was emotionally moved by friends from around the globe checking in on him, adding that he ran through his phone battery twice checking people’s messages.
“We live in times, particularly of the last few years, where everybody’s been really divided,” Ciceggi said. “It’s a situation like this that brings people together, and you see their heart. When their heart gets exposed, you can’t help but be touched.”
