I was reading my book when my mom told me that there was a fire going on in the Palisades, and she was going to take a look from our rooftop balcony. I looked up at her and said, “OK.” This was nothing new. Fires have happened before. I thought everything was fine, until my mom called me telling me that she needed to pick up my younger sister from school, which was in an evacuation zone. She told me to hose down the roof while she was gone. 

As I hosed down the roof with the wind nearly knocking me over, I witnessed the fire roll down the mountains very quickly. That was the moment I realized my house was in danger. Real danger. My mom got home and told me and my sister to pack everything we needed and wanted. In 20 minutes I got as many bags as possible and packed up all of my sentimental objects, clothes and toiletries. Then, we headed to a hotel. The next day, I got a text from my neighbor who told me that only three houses in our neighborhood survived. Ours was not one of them. 

Edited by Brynn Santos