Ex-Chicagoans, former Mayor Lightfoot's relatives among 180,000 displaced by raging Los Angeles fires
A few years ago, former Mayor Lori Lightfoot came across a family photo taken at the wedding of her aunt and uncle. She decided to make a photocopy of it.
It’s now all that remains of the Altadena home the couple spent the last 60 years in.
Early Wednesday morning, William and Minnie Washington fled the home as it became one of the thousands of structures destroyed by wildfires ravaging the Los Angeles area. Left behind was their wedding album and other "irreplaceable" items, Lightfoot said.
"They lost everything, literally everything," Lightfoot said in an interview Thursday. "They left with the clothes on their back. … The entire street is gone. I just thank God they were able to get out.”
Five people have been killed, and about 180,000 others are under evacuation orders due to the fires, which have consumed about 50 square miles and spread quickly due to high winds.
Lightfoot said it was the first time fire had threatened the home where she and her family would visit to get away from Ohio winters.
"For those of us who are not physically there, we’re still trying to wrap our minds around that this really happened," Lightfoot said. "It’s just so incredibly surreal."
Rebeca Soto, a 29-year-old artist from Chicago, also lost her home. The Columbia College graduate moved to Pasadena in 2022, and then to Altadena four months ago.
In the last year she’s experienced a severe heatwave, her first earthquake and now wildfires, which she said made her grateful for Chicago’s weather. She said the high winds and relentless fires were unlike anything she'd experienced.
“I could just see it spreading in the distance, glowing bright red,” Soto said. “It was horrifying. … I packed what I could in the dark and we got in the car.”
She tried to return to her home Wednesday but was stopped by downed power lines and smaller fires. Her roommate was able to get through later in the afternoon and sent their group chat a single text: "Everything is gone."
She said she spent much of Thursday looking for help and housing so she can finish her last semester of graduate school. Otherwise, she has to take a break and move home to Chicago.
“Today, I'm just trying to gather the pieces," Soto said. "Just slow down and appreciate all the little things that make your day special because you never know when things can change really quickly.”
On Wednesday, Michael Jakubow stuffed bags with his Social Security card and other important documents as fire raged about a mile from his apartment in Hollywood.
Ash fell from the sky like heavy snowflakes during the winter storms he endured in Portage Park, before he moved to Los Angeles more than a decade ago.
"When you're that close to a fire you can see it, you can smell it, you can taste it," said Jakubow, 45. "It was surreal."
The fire was so threatening he took videos of his apartment in case he needed to provide proof for an insurance claim.
But from his roof near the Capitol Records Tower, he saw helicopters swoop down and dump gallons of water throughout the night, halting the fire's advance.
That blaze has since been contained and evacuation orders in that area have been lifted. "It's not an understatement to say that firefighters saved Hollywood," he said.
Had Jakubow been forced to flee his apartment he wouldn't have been alone. His 73-year-old mother is visiting from Chicago, looking to get away from the cold weather. He's concerned the air quality could hurt her lungs, and he plans to take her to Las Vegas for a few days to get away from the smog.
Even though the threat of the Sunset Fire was stamped out, Jakubow doesn't think they're in the clear.
"Everybody in LA is shocked, exhausted and paranoid at this point because we don't know where a new fire is going to come," he said.
As the fires continue to burn, Soto said it's important to remember what's causing the worsening fires — climate change, and all that contributes to it.
“I hope people recognize the severity of what causes these natural and partially man-made disasters,” Soto said. “We’re just real people who had everything taken.”
Contributing: Associated Press