The Only Child Diaries Podcast
The Only Child Diaries Podcast
The Brochure on the LA Fires and Unseen Heroes
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Ever found yourself trapped in an electric recliner during a power outage while your Christmas decorations take flight in a windstorm? This week I'm sharing tales about a week of unexpected chaos and resilience in Los Angeles, marked by the anniversary of my mother's passing. Reflecting on the unpredictable nature of life, I recount how a simple morning spiraled into an adventure involving a power outage, mischievous winds, and the Los Angeles fires escalating to a mandatory evacuation order. Amidst these unforeseen events, I find humor and strength, drawing on past experiences with fire threats and the challenges of living surrounded by canyons.
The community's response to recent emergencies has been nothing short of inspiring, despite the chaos spurred by mistaken evacuation orders and shortages of crucial supplies like flashlights and bottled water. This episode shines a light on how adversity has deepened my appreciation for home and reshaped my relationship with my late mother. Celebrating the indomitable spirit of Los Angeles, I highlight the tireless work of firefighters, volunteers, and the outpouring of support for local organizations such as the Pasadena Humane Society. Together, we explore how life's unpredictability can foster gratitude and a renewed sense of community amid the storm.
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Life's Ups and Downs
Speaker 1Welcome to the Only Child Diaries podcast . I'm your host , tracy Wallace . Have you ever felt like you didn't receive the how-to brochure on life , that you didn't get enough guidance about major life issues ? So did I . You don't have to be an only child to feel this way . In my podcast , we'll explore some of the best ways to better navigate adulting , while doing so with humor and light . Welcome everyone to the Only Child Diaries podcast . Today I'm going to talk about the fires here in Los Angeles . It's been quite a week so far .
Speaker 1Actually , things started on Tuesday for me . I woke up early on Tuesday morning . It was the fourth anniversary of my mother's passing and I feel like she had a hand in at least that day's events . I woke up because the power had gone off and all of a sudden it was very quiet in our house . And all of a sudden it was very quiet in our house . We have multiple air purifiers going . We have a humidifier that is running because our cat Bubby is asthmatic to balance out the air quality and the air humidity so that he is the most comfortable we could make him , and maybe the heater was on . I'm not sure , but all of a sudden it was very quiet . Everything stopped but it was also starting to get windy and had fallen asleep in one of our recliners , which is an electric recliner . My legs were up over my head and I couldn't put the recliner in the normal seating position , so I was pretty much stuck . It was like crawling out of a hole , but I did manage to get up . It was like crawling out of a hole , but I did manage to get up . And I looked outside and I realized that our award-winning if I can say that , our award-winning Christmas decorations , which you know I was narrowing down when , what day , I was going to start taking down everything . I had actually taken down a couple of things the day before , a couple inflatables , but I had the main portion of the decorations still intact and I had heard that it was going to get windy , but I never suspected that it was going to be this windy .
Speaker 1So the power was out about an hour and a half and , excuse me , I at first thought I could try to do some work . Then I realized that I didn't have internet because of the power issue . So there goes that idea . Anyway , the power came back on and the inflatables reinflated , except for two , and I thought , oh , I better go out and check , just make sure , look and see how everything is . And I realized that the reason that these two inflatables had not reflated if that's reinflated , sorry was because they had been now . Mind you , they were anchored into the ground , one of them very well , the other one maybe not so well , but they were both anchored into the ground . Both of them had been ripped out of the electrical socket that they were plugged into and one of them had been thrown against the hedge , which was like 15 feet away , 20 feet away . So I realized that this was crisis mode for the Christmas decorations .
Speaker 1I started to try to at least rescue those two and I got them up on the porch . The poinsettia plants that I had were strewn all over the place . I realized that I should uninflate the other inflatables , and some of them were smaller . So I took them out of the ground and I got them up on the porch . And then I did that for I don't know 45 minutes or so , an hour , and I was still basically asleep . So I just put heavy planters like pots on the other ones and I gave up , plus , it was super windy . Other ones and I gave up , plus , it was super windy . It was so windy that when the wind started up I had to cover my face with my arm because there's so much debris roaming around . So I came back inside and did the best I could .
Speaker 1Anyway , went about our day . And then the next morning Wednesday was when I got a text alert and a phone call it was before 6 am saying that we were under an evacuation warning . And now , the day before , I had seen that the Pacific Palisades area was on fire and that was because of the wind . This is like wind that I had never seen here . I mean , I've seen wind . It had been a long time since we had wind like this . It had been a long time since we had wind like this when I was a kid I think I've told you this before if you've listened to all my episodes but my parents and I had gone out somewhere .
Speaker 1My dad drove separately and we were coming home one night from whatever this event was . My dad was driving ahead of us . I was with my mom in her car and we were about two blocks from our house and this tree fell down right in front of my mom's car . My dad was again ahead of us . I'm not sure if he saw what happened behind him or not , and it was absolutely terrifying . So I always think about that and I always think about you know , all the trees fall down when there's a big wind or rainstorm .
Speaker 1That was pretty windy then , but this was just crazy wind and in the back of my mind I didn't want to jinx myself , you know , but we live in a fire area . We're surrounded , you know , in a canyon , by hills that have dry brush and we're not right up against the hill but we're pretty close . The insurance company tells me that we're in a fire zone , fire zone . So when they said that we were in an evacuation warning because of the Eaton Fire , if you're familiar with that , if you've heard about it , the Eaton Fire started over in the Altadena area . It was still quite a ways away from us , but they put us in a warning . It was still quite a ways away from us , but they put us in a warning . And then it was about , I guess , three hours later when we got the call that it was a mandatory evacuation .
Speaker 1So once I woke up at six , I just decided to start packing stuff up , because we don't travel lightly , we don't . We have all of Bill's supplies , his diabetic supplies that he needs for his insulin pump and his CGM , his continuous glucose monitor , his medications , my medications , the cat's medications , his diabetic supplies and his asthma stuff , pet food , clothing , my computers ID . I grabbed a couple pictures , a couple photo albums , a couple keepsakes and some snacks , hygiene supplies , things like that , started to pack up the car . But once we got the mandatory evacuation notice , the thing is here in the canyon we have 700 homes or so in our canyon and there wasn't any active fire anywhere close to our canyon ever . It sounds bad to say , but we never actually left . The neighbors on either side of us also did not leave . We didn't go out of the house , we didn't go driving around , we stayed out of everyone's way . We never saw any fire crews come by . The police did do drive-bys up around . I think they were looking for looters . It was very safe here . It was very smoky , but I think it was very smoky everywhere .
Speaker 1I remember back in the day living here as a child that occasionally there were fire scares . Occasionally there were fire scares . What they do when there is a fire is they close off the canyon and you can only get in with ID , which makes perfect sense . I remember that there was a fire on the hill behind our house and that's three houses away from us , but it was never close , is away from us , but it was never close . And I know , I know you're saying well , but they told you to leave . Well , they also didn't come and knock on our doors or go down the street and say you've got to leave . We just got a phone call . We stayed here , we were quiet , we were good , we monitored the situation . My neighbor actually went out driving a couple times . He drove all around , couldn't see any fire . Anyway , the next morning we got the call that the evacuation order was lifted . Very grateful for that .
Speaker 1I think you know I hadn't really been through this scenario living here as an adult . I went through it as a kid but I don't think I ever fully understood it when there were fires . I don't think that my parents ever actually left the house . They were like you know , we worked for this house . We scrimped and saved and we paid it off and we worked for this house and we're not leaving this house . There was a story that went around that there was a man that decided to stay and try to save his parents' house . He was 60-ish and they came back and they found him dead holding the hose . So the whole thing is difficult . The whole thing is difficult .
Speaker 1Days have been very hard on us empaths because there are blocks and blocks of streets that are in Pacific Palisades and Altadena , where homes , everything is just burned . It looks like a war zone . If you haven't seen it on the news , there's videos , there's GoFundMe pages . For days I did finally discover that someone I know personally lost their house . They posted a video of them driving up to see it for the first time . Now you can't get in to see your property at all and it's so terrible . I never thought anything like this would happen here in LA to this extent . The last I heard there were 12,000 plus structures lost . It's overwhelming that they're alive and they have their loved ones . There's been a very small amount of people who have passed away because of this fire . It's very hard . A lot of people have reached out to me from other places in the country or the world asking if we're okay , because it's been all over the news . There's been people that I know who live in different parts of the country , different parts of the world , who have reached out to me to ask if we're okay and because you know this has been all over the news . But we're fine .
Community Response to Natural Disaster
Speaker 1I can say that just what I observe about my fellow Los Angeles neighbors is that everyone has been on edge . Everyone's been just a little cuckoo . I was at Home Depot the other day when one of these emergency evacuation orders came through our phones but it was done in error and so everybody in the store had a phone and everybody's phone went off with this you know crazy beeping noise , and it said there's an evacuation order for your area and I think everybody was just so on edge you know that it was . It's just too much . And to have the evacuation orders anyway but then to learn that they're going out by mistake , it's like everyone's just had enough anyway . It's really nerve wracking . Everybody's just trying to get through .
Speaker 1Home Depot that day did not have a flashlight to sell me or an air purifier . I was looking for one . I didn't really need a flashlight . I have flashlights but I just thought I'd pick up an extra one . But I thought I'd pick up an extra one because I was thinking that the power might go off again . It hasn't , but they were all out . Home Depot's out of flashlights . I'm sure they've rectified that situation .
Speaker 1I went to the market because DoorDash and Grubhub aren't delivering even now . We're you know we're what ? Uh , friday , thursday , friday , saturday , sunday we're four days out from the evacuation order being lifted . Uh , they will not deliver to us in our area . So if you want food , you have to go out and get it yourself , which is fine I mean , it's first world problems but it just makes things a little bit more difficult If you're working or you have things that you have to do . It's just a little bit more difficult . I did go to the market one of those first days and I was trying to get water . Well , I didn't really need water , but I thought I'd pick up some water and there was no water , no bottled water to be had , because the water quality in Pasadena . They told everybody that , um , you had to use bottled water . It wasn't the . The tap water was not safe anymore . So , uh , yikes , that just makes things more complicated .
Speaker 1I think what I've learned from this is that when I first moved back here in 21 with Bill , I was kind of ambivalent . I had a lot of issues with this house and it didn't always hold good memories for me and it wasn't always comfortable . It didn't make me comfortable , at least in the beginning , but when I was faced with the prospect of leaving it and losing it , I lost it . I really did . I just I started to really get upset and you know , bill was watching me as I packed and I was going to start having a meltdown and he said it's going to be okay and I , you know I , had to pull it together and so I think what I've learned is that , you know , this is my home and I do appreciate it . And if that's what my mom was trying to tell me , they always tell you that your loved ones who have passed are watching out over you and trying to communicate and helping you along . I don't know if my mom would be helping me , but I posted on Facebook that day that I , you know , I know she loved me . I just don't know that she always liked me . I think that's a pretty accurate representation of our relationship . But in the time that's gone by since she's passed away , I think I've come to respect her a little bit more and appreciate her a little bit more , even though she oftentimes acted like she didn't like me . But that's okay , because I understand that she didn't always . I always understood that she didn't have the easiest life and I probably didn't make it any easier for her , but anyway , it is what it is . So we're okay .
Speaker 1We hear that the winds are coming back , maybe not as strong , but we hope for the best . We pray for our neighbors . We pray for our neighbors . We are strong here in LA and we love our town and we'll all get through this . I took some supplies over to the Humane Society and it was amazing to see the outpouring of support that they received . Next day they said , okay , stop , we have enough , thank you . And there's been these pop-up donation sites where people have accepted clothing and supplies and all sorts of things , and they've gotten to a point where they've said , okay , enough , we're overrun , but there are so many people that have been displaced and we're fortunate that we , that we were not displaced . La is very strong and I'm proud to be living here amongst all these people .
Speaker 1And you know I won't get into any of the reasons why this happened , but it really was the perfect storm . The winds were just unbelievably , ridiculously strong . A lot of people did stay and try to use their garden hoses , which really reduced the flow of water , the water pressure that was available to the firefighters , and there were just so many fires in so many places that I just don't think there was a way for them to fight every fire and to save every house . I think the firefighters that we have have done an amazing job of saving structures and , of course , saving lives . In the past I've seen it time and time again . There's just so much happening . This time it just wasn't possible and it's very sobering and I hope that we're on the tail end of it . I hope that the fires are going to start to be more and more controlled and it's not going to start up again . That's my hope .
Speaker 1I took those supplies to the Humane Society and I was thinking about there was this guy that they found and they interviewed . On the news there's been all these remote interviews where all the news personnel they're out in the street or they're at this fire station , and this one gal was talking to a National Guard member who had driven , I think , from Arizona or Nevada or something and he had seen the fires on the news and he decided to drive here and help us , which was great , and he said that he was a sergeant but he was going to be a private today . He was a sergeant , but he was going to be a private today and he said that he had heard a quote from Jimmy Carter that he thought was very appropriate . It was you can't help everybody , but everybody can help someone . And that was what he was going to do and he said right now , somebody is losing their home and they need help and I'm here to help do whatever I can . It's so true , we can't help everybody , because the need is so great , but everybody can do something . When I went to the Humane Society , that's what I felt like I could do something that day . I can't make a financial contribution to all the GoFundMe pages that I see , but I can do one or two or five or something . I can't do hundreds of them , but I can help some of them . That's great . So everybody can do something . Everybody can help someone . So it's something good to think about . With that , I'll leave you . That's all I've got for today .
Speaker 1Folks , next week we'll tackle another topic together . Next week we'll tackle another topic together . I hope you'll join me . If you like this episode , please follow the Only Child Diaries podcast on Apple Podcasts or other platforms you might listen on and consider rating Only Child Diaries and writing a review . It helps others to find us . Please share it with a friend you think might like it as well . Thank you , child Diaries .
