California residents thought it was just another fire. It was supposed to be just another fire. 

Monday morning, Jan. 7, 2025.  Antonella [Nella] Finci woke up in her Pacific Palisades home to look out the window and see smoke barrelling down her street. 

“I looked out my window and saw the smoke. I looked at people’s stories and everyone was posting about the fire, that’s honestly how I found out about it,” Finci said. 

Finci’s family decided to evacuate. While not yet in a mandatory evacuation zone, the traffic and air quality in the Palisades was getting worse by the minute. Residents of the Palisades already were evacuating. 

“We weren’t focused on what to pack because we thought we were just going to come back,” Finci said. 

Finci recalls putting a charger in a bag and walking out of her house. Fires are very common in the LA area, especially the Pacific Palisades, so this wasn’t abnormal. 

“I’ve evacuated my house three times before and nothing has ever happened,” Finci said. “[My mom] was freaking out because we just got a dog who is a puppy and we have a pet bird. So, we had to find somewhere we could go and our dog and our bird could go too.” 

Violet Cash, Finci’s best friend, offered her home for her to stay. The rest of Finci’s family went down the street from Violet’s house to a family friend.

Cash, who attends Palisades Charter High School, was there for an early winter break track conditioning session, and saw the smoke about to come over the mountains. 

“All the smoke was just coming continuously from the mountain. And then my coach canceled practice,” Cash said. 

All sports that had practice that day were canceled as well. Cash recalled what she did after. 

“We all left, all the friends I carpooled with and we went and got breakfast and hung out the rest of the day,” Cash said. 

Cash remembers that she didn’t think it was that big of a deal. 

“I check my phone and Nella is texting me that they have to evacuate and a bunch of my other friends were as well,” Cash said. 

Finci and Violet, together watching the news, saw that the fire was spreading and spreading quickly. 

“The wind was over 100 mph and the water reservoirs and the fire hydrants weren’t full. When the firefighters tried to plug in their hoses no water was coming out because the reservoirs were empty,” Finci said. “Since it was windy, they couldn’t use a fire retardant because it would spew,” she added. 

As the night went on, the fire blazed through the Palisades, destroying homes, businesses, schools and structures. The entire community was put to ruins looking like a war zone. 

“I called my mom because I was like, there is no way my house could have burned down,” Finci said.

LA created a “fire map” where residents could watch where the fire was, similar to a hurricane tracker that is used in Florida. Finci was getting calls from her community that homes were gone. Finci wasn’t sure if her’s was next. 

“We got this video. We didn’t know if it was our house because I live on a little block in an apartment building. It looked like my house was completely burned down. It was a lot of waiting and not knowing,” Finci said. 

Finci’s house did burn down, her entire neighborhood and the Palisades. 

About 50% of Finci and Cash’s school was burned down. They lost power, AC and the entire back of their outdoor classrooms

“They aren’t really giving us any information. They’re [the school district] saying it’s [school] going to go on zoom indefinitely and it starts Monday,” Finci said. 

Many students are already leaving due to the struggle of virtual learning and the need to be in a brick and mortar school.

“I know four or five people already that have switched schools for the semester,” Finci said. 

The Los Angeles Unified School District is looking for places to spread students who attend Palisades High. 

“They’re trying to find us a place so we can have one in person, like an alternate campus. We aren’t going to be back on our campus for a while,” Cash said. 

Finci is one of the thousands of stories of people who have lost not only their homes, but their entire lives. 

Luckily, Finci’s family was able to find a home to relocate to and live in.  are not as lucky. 

“Thank god we did because now people are having such a hard time finding places because the renters are raising the prices insanely high, which is somehow illegal and also legal,” Finci said. 

The Palisades, similar to Jupiter, has been a community for generations. Families living in the same homes as their grandparents did, places and businesses passed down are fully and completely gone. 

“I don’t think the Palisades is ever going to go back to the way it was. The rebuilding is probably going to be modern like and not the way it was before. Each of the houses have their own 60s, 70s touch and I just don’t think it will ever be the same,” Finci said. 

Social Media posts have indicated a lack of empathy for these residents as many believe they are all “rich tv producing billionaires.” This is simply not the case. 

“I see so many videos of people saying ‘Oh, I’m not going to feel bad for the palisades, people are all rich they can just rebuild.’ It doesn’t matter how much money you have, not everyone in the Palisades have enough money to rebuild,” Finci said. 

If you want to help, The American Red Cross is doing a disaster relief fund to help the victims of the fires. Click the link to donate.