Due to the Los Angeles fires, the start of winter quarter was distressing for several UC Santa Barbara students from the Los Angeles County area as they received news about how the fires affected their families, homes and livelihoods from campus. 

Student Jessie Garcia expressed the disbelief they felt after hearing his home was burned down as he remained on campus. Photo courtesy Jessie Garcia.

According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), the Los Angeles fires that started on Jan. 7 have burned over 40,000 acres. Of these fires, the Palisades fire and the nearly contained Eaton fire reached record levels of destruction, with more than 15,000 structures destroyed and thousands of people displaced from their homes. 

Some of these homes belonged to families and friends of UCSB students who are now dealing with the aftermath of the fires. 

Fourth-year film and media studies major Jessie Garcia lived in Altadena, where his immigrant parents from Mexico raised him. Their home was destroyed by the Eaton fire, except for the belongings he had brought with him to Santa Barbara. Garcia expressed the disbelief they felt after hearing his home was burned down as he remained on campus.

“It doesn’t seem real even now because I’m up here in Santa Barbara. I haven’t visited my family, who are actually down there and [experienced], you know, evacuating at 4 a.m. I’m still navigating, you know, my emotions and how I feel about this,” Garcia said.

Garcia emphasized the cultural significance of Altadena and the impact of the fires on families living there, including their own.

“Altadena is very diverse. We have a large Hispanic and Black population, so it’s devastating to see these families having to, you know, start from scratch. Altadena was a place where they could settle and, you know, set a foundation to uplift and hold community,” Garcia said. 

Garcia emphasized the cultural significance of Altadena and the impact of the fires on families living there, including their own. Courtesy of Jessie Garcia

For students like Garcia who have been affected, community and support from groups on campus are important pillars of recovery. As an active member of several student organizations including the Queer and Trans Latine organization La Familia de Colores, multicultural academic fraternity Theta Nu Kappa and UCSB Student Engagement & Leadership, Garcia acknowledged the support that has been provided by peers. 

“Seeing the support with all the communities that I am a part of has really been grounding. It’s humbled me,” Garcia said. “I mean everyone has been really supportive, and that support — it’s been making me persevere through this hardship.” 

Third-year political science major Josh Rhodes was also in Santa Barbara as the Palisades fire crept over the hills 15 minutes away from his home in the Santa Monica area, almost reaching his neighborhood. 

“I was constantly calling my family when I was in Santa Barbara, like, every three hours. I’d be making a call over just to say, ‘Are you guys ok? What’s the situation?’” Rhodes said. 

Rhodes’ family managed the fires by preparing emergency to-go bags and he supported them by monitoring the situation.

“It was hard because I knew that I ultimately wouldn’t even be able to go back because even if there was something that required me to be there, I would have been driving into the fires, so I kind of had to bide my time and support them as best I could from afar,” Rhodes said.  

According to Rhodes, addressing and providing aid for the fires is important for students because many in the area know someone affected by the destruction of the fires. He said that seeing the Los Angeles community organize to help recovery efforts was a highlight of the support received for the fires.  

“I think it was, it’s really important, to try and show solidarity and also get out and help volunteering community service, what have you, to try and support those people that were impacted,” Rhodes said. “Especially around the Eaton fire area, I know that some of those families are of lower income — so they are going to need as much help as they can get to recover.” 

Though many are still in development, individual students and organizations have set up donations and funds to support those impacted by the fires. 

Second-year political science major and Student Fee Advisory Committee (SFAC) Representative Lindsey Mazarei, whose family was evacuated during the Palisades fire, met with UCSB Student Affairs to discuss how to help students with support funds in addition to the resources provided in an email sent to students on Jan. 10. To Mazarei, it was important to help those who were struggling to afford recovery. 

The SFAC team has been communicating with the UCSB Financial Crisis Response Team, which has been offering meetings with students in need of financial assistance for the fires.

On Jan. 16, the UCSB Fashion Club held a clothing drive next to the Arbor to donate clothes to those impacted by the LA fires from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., filling two move-in carts with clothing donations. Donations were given to the American Red Cross and Los Angeles shelters. 

The following weekend, Santa Barbara Snow Club hosted an LA Fire Benefit Concert on Jan. 19, featuring live performances by Bare Bones, DJ Angelfish, Sunblind and Tactical Yack. The show was shut down by police before The Jackson Gillies Experience was able to perform. The show started at 7:30 p.m. with all proceeds given to Project HOPE and the LA Food Bank. 

“We have lots of members and staff from LA and just about everyone knows somebody that was seriously impacted by the fires so we wanted to use our large platform to give back, not to mention it was a great opportunity to give local musicians extra publicity and get the community together to do something fun,” Santa Barbara Snow Club Publicity Chair Carter Antebi said. 

As communities around UCSB continue to provide ways to aid students affected by the LA fires, Rhodes suggests students also educate themselves on the fires and how to help impacted students, including contributing to GoFundMe pages, donating toward organizations and emotionally supporting friends and families. 

“These fires were just scary obviously, so if your friends who lived in the Los Angeles area were a little bit more withdrawn this past week, socially, maybe just try to give them a little bit of grace just because they were dealing with a tough situation,” Rhodes said. 

A version of this article appeared on p. 3 of the Jan. 23, 2025 edition of the Daily Nexus.

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