Late Thursday evening, I was up working on insurance claims for clients still recovering from the January 7, 2025, Palisades Fire when I suddenly heard fire trucks racing through our community. I checked our local news chats and quickly learned that a new fire had started in Malibu, already burning more than 100 acres.
Living in Santa Monica with my husband and two young children, the sound of those sirens brought back memories I will never forget. We evacuated our home for more than a month in January 2025, as the Palisades and Eaton fires devastated communities across Los Angeles County, including Pacific Palisades and Altadena. Even now, we keep apps open, tracking the winds and watching where aircraft are dropping water in an effort to contain the flames.
That evening, I found myself texting with my friends who are also moms, many of whom had spent January 2025 helping our community and those displaced by the Palisades and Eaton fires. We rallied around families from our children’s schools and surrounding neighborhoods, donating supplies, sharing resources, and helping wherever we could. As news of the Malibu fire spread, we all felt the same unsettling reminder of what our community had endured and what so many families in Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Altadena, and neighboring communities are still working to overcome.
For those who experienced the 2025 fires, hearing about new fires, fire warnings, Santa Ana winds, and extreme heat is more than just frightening news. It can bring back the uncertainty and trauma of those first hours and days when so many families were forced to leave their homes without knowing when, or whether, they could return.
These fires matter deeply to our Los Angeles community because the recovery from January 2025 is far from over. We all know someone still navigating the insurance process, trying to rebuild, or simply hoping to regain some sense of normalcy. Many of my own clients are living that reality every day.
Through our firm’s work helping catastrophe survivors across the country with insurance claim problems, one of the most gratifying insights is how much survivors contribute to the recovery of others. People who have struggled through a disaster share what they learned, the obstacles they encountered, and the steps that helped them move forward. Their experience becomes a growing body of practical knowledge for the next family and the next community facing a catastrophe.
Today’s survivors, and those who will face disasters in the future, are better equipped because of the work of earlier survivors, their community leaders, and organizations such as United Policyholders. Through its Roadmap to Recovery program, United Policyholders brings together guidance from experienced survivors and professionals, practical insurance and rebuilding resources, and survivor-to-survivor support. Behind those resources are people who remember what it felt like to need answers and who have chosen to help others find them.
The sound of sirens can bring back fear, but the generosity of those who have already walked this road gives us reason for hope. Recovery continues long after the flames are extinguished and the headlines fade. Along that road, survivors are building something valuable for those who follow. There is more knowledge about what to do, stronger connections within the community, and the reassurance that they do not have to figure everything out alone. When the next catastrophe comes, that work will matter. It already does.
