Dr. Grauer was captivated by media accounts of schools and students disrupted by the catastrophic Los Angeles fires, which prompted him to narrate insights gained during an interview with a teacher affected by the fires. The result is this vivid, first-hand account.
Growing Up Uncertain: Two Students in the LA Fire Zone
By Stuart Grauer
(I was captivated by numerous media accounts of disrupted schools and students, which prompted me to narrate the insights I gained during an interview with a teacher affected by the Los Angeles fires. The names and locations are changed, but all the circumstances and stories are real.)
Virtually all the schools in the entire Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) were closed for a few days last week due to "weather-related" issues—but these were not the fun snow days of yesteryear, nor are they over. They have been devastating and long-range. My daughter, who has worked in three LA schools, introduced me to Silvia some years ago, and I knew she worked at a school deep inside the fire zone. I reached out and planned a meet-up to hear her story firsthand.
Silvia is one of 82,400 people under evacuation in LA, and “red flag” warnings are in effect. She kindly and steadily recounted what she had seen earlier that day.
Silvia’s Account
“Flames consumed Ocean Pines Middle School last week. It left smoldering ruins, but even more, it left our community unmoored. Driving up through the canyon this morning into the burned-out school zone felt surreal: a wasteland of scorched earth, skeletal remains of trees with blackened trunks, and ash covering the ground like snow.
As I got closer to the school site, the acrid smell of smoke thickened the air. Patches of debris smoldered, and scattered embers littered the road. A few homes still stood, their chimneys acting as grim markers of what was once a school neighborhood.
At the school, I ran into two students I knew: Ben Wilson, a 14-year-old eighth grader, and Ellie Martinez, a 10-year-old sixth grader. For them, the fire has been even more devastating than for me.”
A school destroyed by the Los Angeles wildfires - January 2025
Ben Wilson
Silvia found Ben and his mom standing outside what used to be his classroom, staring at the blackened remains of the building.
“I kept thinking, this can’t be real,” Ben said. For him, school wasn’t just a place for learning; it was a sanctuary. “We were growing sunflowers for a science experiment, and I was so excited to see how tall mine would get.”
Ben’s mom, her voice breaking, shared, “Everything he loved is gone. His curiosity, his excitement—how do I bring that back?”
LAUSD confirmed that over 1,000 schools were affected by the fires, with 600,000 students displaced for days. While most schools reopened within a week, several—like Ben’s—were permanently destroyed. For Ben, whose backpack now sat untouched back in his room, this was more than a loss of structure. It was a loss of normalcy and safety.
Ellie Martinez
Ellie’s face lit up when Silvia approached, but she could not hide the uncertainty behind it. “The fire felt like losing a second home,” Ellie said, or more like whispered. Her best memories were in the school’s art room, where she spent hours sketching animals and painting landscapes.
“She said she wants to draw a picture of the school before the fire so she won’t forget it,” Silvia continued. Ellie had developed her passion for art four years ago during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when isolation pushed many children to find new forms of expression while homeschooled.
The fires also destroyed Eaton Canyon Nature Area, a 190-acre preserve near Altadena that served as an outdoor classroom for countless schools, homeschool groups, and camps. “Rain or shine, Ellie and her friends spent afternoons hiking, climbing, and exploring the canyon. Now, that’s gone too,” Silvia said. The fires have torn through natural areas that served every type of educational setting: public and private schools, nature-based preschools, homeschool groups, summer camps and more. Hundreds of outdoor education areas have been destroyed by fire along with many of the animals thriving in them.
Wildfire damage at the Eaton Canyon Nature Center in Pasadena, California, Jan. 8, 2025 - photo by Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation
Teacher’s Dilemma
As Silvia surveyed the ruins of her school, the distorted structures, two twisted bikes in the rack out front, she reflected on the future for teachers like herself. “The fate of our jobs is uncertain. Some of us may be reassigned, while others might have to move to online teaching all over again—or leave the district altogether.”
The LAUSD acknowledged these challenges in a statement, noting that relief funds and community support would play critical roles in assisting teachers and students during the transition. However, hundreds of teachers, including a friend of Silvia’s who lost both his home and his school, face even grimmer prospects.
“I’ve lived here my whole 43 years, and I’ve never experienced anything like these fires,” Silvia said. “It’s terrifying to think you could lose everything in the blink of an eye.”
Rebuilding and Resilience
The road to recovery is still too much to conceive of, but communities are rallying to rebuild. A temporary school for students like Ben and Ellie is envisioned to open next month in a converted office building, with local businesses donating supplies. Relief organizations are providing food and resources, and many schools have already installed new air filters to combat lingering smoke.
Generosity is pouring out. The Humane Society announced that while it cannot even accept more donations now, it expects to in the near future. Even private schools remote from the situation, like The Grauer School, are stepping up, offering to host displaced students temporarily.
Despite the support, Silvia knows the challenges ahead. “This isn’t just about burnt walls and desks. It’s about losing the friendships, routines, and security that schools provide—for the kids and for me. We’re a small school, and at the heart of this community—for its shops and volunteers and grandparents.”
Supermoon Moonset over The Grauer School, by Stuart Grauer - January 13, 2025
For many students, this is the second life-altering disruption in recent years. Those who started high school during the pandemic are now seniors, facing yet a second upheaval. They are reluctant masters of remote learning, but LA Unified's efforts to provide online learning during the closures this time are hindered by widespread power outages and unreliable internet access. As LAUSD superintendent Alberto Carvalho said, "Uncertainty is the biggest challenge." 19% of the fire is contained.
The fires have left scars on more than land. Silvia watched Ellie sketching the ruins and Ben’s mom comforting her son, and she envisions a surge of resilience. I got the sense that she saw a kind of magic in the school she had not seen until this day. I thought of the kids I have been reading about in acting and music schools that were popping up around devastated parts of Ukraine. And Silvia’s story also made me think of the French after the Notre Dame fire that left us all speechless and became a source of heroism and endurance. “I believe we will rebuild,” she says, “I really do.” Up north, the winds are picking up.
References:
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE). (2025, January 7). Eaton Fire. Retrieved from https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2025/1/7/eaton-fire
BBC News. (n.d.). Fires burn Los Angeles schools, destroy outdoor education sanctuaries. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/cp3jw8jwwe0o
Los Angeles Unified School District. (2025, January 7). Statement on fire-related school closures and recovery efforts.
Los Angeles wildfires: Community faces devastation and recovery. (n.d.). Voice of America News. Retrieved from https://www.voanews.com/a/fires-burn-los-angeles-schools-destroy-outdoor-education-sanctuaries/7934188.html
NBC Los Angeles. (2025, January 7). LA schools' outdoor education centers burned in wildfires. Retrieved from https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/national-international/la-schools-outdoor-education-centers-burned-wildfires/3602725/
NPR. (2025, January 10). Fires leave LA students and schools struggling to rebuild. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2025/01/10/nx-s1-5254509/fires-la-school-students
The Cut. (n.d.). How to help victims of the L.A. wildfires. Retrieved from https://www.thecut.com/article/how-to-help-victims-of-the-l-a-wildfires.html
The Cut. (n.d.). I lost my house. My kid's school burned down. Now what?. Retrieved from https://www.thecut.com/article/i-lost-my-house-and-my-kids-school-in-the-palisades-fire.html
The 74 Million. (2025, January 7). LA schools struggle to reopen as fires still rage. Retrieved from https://www.the74million.org/article/la-schools-struggle-to-reopen-as-fires-still-rage/
The Wall Street Journal. (n.d.). Melted bikes and a destroyed chicken coop where a 'magical' school once stood. Retrieved from https://www.wsj.com/us-news/at-a-charred-los-angeles-school-a-vow-to-rise-from-the-ashes-fdab7e22
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