Los Angeles is currently on fire as it has never been on fire before.
The Palisades Fire alone is almost twice the size of the island of Manhattan in terms of acreage.
It seems like a new fire pops up every day.
I've had two fires near me—a structure fire on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood and a brushfire between Wattles Mansion and Runyon Canyon, the latter of which I could see from my building. That second one almost sent me evacuating, but I decided to pack up and wait it out until I was told to leave, rather than trying to get my cat in the carrier.
I have been so very lucky so far.
But all of Los Angeles is in mourning. And the grief has only just begun.
Because I'm me, I've set my attention to documenting what's been saved and what's been lost. It feels productive. Maybe it's helpful.
I haven't been able to leave my apartment yet to go see anything. The air quality is not good for my weak lungs. I'd have too much separation anxiety being from my kittyboy during what feels like an apocalyptic time. (Besides, there are too many looky-loos with drones and cameras shooting photos and videos out there already, and they're getting in the way of emergency crews and the residents trying to go and check on their own homes.)
So, I'm keeping tabs on things remotely for now. From what I've seen on the internet and the local news, I'm not sure I'd want to see any of this in person.
So here are some of the major updates as I know them—particularly about places I've documented before and was pretty familiar with, so I can confidently report what's going on with them.
The first conflagration to erupt, the Palisades Fire, first raged through the Pacific Palisades community of Los Angeles. It's wiped out entire residential neighborhoods, a commercial district, and historic structures in Palisades—and it's not done, as it rages towards the 405 to the east and the 101 to the north as I write this. (It's headed straight for San Vicente Mountain Park!)
Photo: California State ParksA press release from California State Parks confirmed that the historic home and barn at Will Rogers State Park were completely lost to the Palisades Fire.
circa 1930 (Photo: Santa Monica Public Library Image Archives)
All that's left in the rubble are two chimneys.
circa 1946 (Photo: Santa Monica Public Library Image Archives)
Reportedly, state parks officials were able to get in there and save some artifacts before they had to abandon the property for their own safety.
Photo taken 2019I took a tour of the estate in 2019—but for some reason, interior photography was not allowed at the time.
Photo taken 2019I always told myself I'd go back when photos were allowed inside. I really wanted to document all the taxidermy and rustic furniture and cowboy stuff that Rogers had collected and that was on display in there. Now I won't have the chance.
circa 2021 (via Google Streetview)
Photo taken 2013
Photo taken 2021
The barn, where two of Will Rogers's favorite horses were buried (Bootlegger and Soapsuds), is also gone (pictured in 2019, above)—but fortunately all of the present-day horses in the stables were safely relocated.
It'll be a while before we can grasp the extent of the damage to the rest of Topanga State Park, including Temescal Gateway Park (above, pictured in 2011, with a view of Pacific Palisades and the Pacific Ocean, much of which is gone)...
...Rivas Canyon (above, pictured in 2014)...
...the Rustic Canyon Trail (above, pictured in 2014)...
...and Sullivan Canyon, where Murphy Ranch and some (rumored) remains from Camp Josepho (above, pictured in 2012) were tucked in thick vegetation.
We do know that the present-day Camp Josepho facilities (entrance pictured above, circa 2012) were destroyed in the Palisades Fire.
The fire famously reached the perimeter of Getty Villa, although the institution is fine. Right behind that is Parker Mesa in Los Liones Canyon (above, pictured in 2012, with much of that residential and commercial area now destroyed), which I assume is scorched.
circa 1925 (Photo: Huntington Digital Library)
The news has been reporting that downtown Pacific Palisades lost its Starbucks—but the truth is, it lost 100 years of history when the Palisades Fire took the Business Block Building.
I first discovered it in 2022 when I ventured to the Palisades to have brunch during Covid times. It was painted pink then; and I immediately fell in love with its circa 1924 Spanish Colonial Revival architecture and trapezoidal shape.
"The Pink Building" was the work of architect Clifton Nourse—all 30,000 square feet of it, which was bounded by Sunset Boulevard, Swarthmore Avenue and Antioch Street. It was built to house all the town’s early businesses, although it was sold to Santa Monica Land and Water Company (a.k.a. "S.M. Land & Water Co., as a nearby sign indicated) in 1936.
It was almost leveled for a new multi-use development in the 1980s, but local celebrities rallied around preserving it—and the sale never went through.
Photo: December 2023 (Google Street View)
At some point between February 2022 and December 2023, the building's owners got their wish and painted The Pink Building off-white and replaced the green and white awnings with boring contemporary gray ones.
But even that was better than the burned-out shell that the century-old landmark is now. (For more before-and-afters, visit ABC News.)
circa 2021 (via Google Streetview) Farther down towards the ocean, we lost the Topanga Ranch Motel (which Hearst once owned), the Moonshadows restaurant, the Malibu Feed Bin, the Reel Inn restaurant, Cholada Thai and—although not a landmark, still devastating to me—the Rosenthal Wine Bar & Patio.
I'd toured the Rosenthal Malibu Estate winery and vineyard (west of the Palisades Fire perimeter, and currently safe) back in 2013—but it was their little shack on the PCH that I really loved, for impromptu winetasting or just a glass while spending a day at the beach (as pictured above, in 2023).
All of that would be devastating enough on its own. But Los Angeles has been concurrently under siege by yet another firestorm—this one to the east, the Eaton Fire, which started in Altadena in the foothills of Angeles National Forest.
A GoFundMe fundraiser from Zorthian Ranch (pictured above and below in 2015) announced that 95% of the infrastructure of Zorthian Ranch—including wooden retaining walls and the bridge—was destroyed in the 2025 Eaton Fire.
The stage (home to performances during "Primavera" parties) collapsed—and, most tragically, family archives were also lost, including historic photos and all the artwork that Jirayr Zorthian created.
I'm hearing the main building was saved, but Zorthian Ranch was an entire compound of many outbuildings, artist studios, a gallery, etc. The family says it hopes to rebuild.
Inconceivably, the Eaton Fire went farther south than anybody ever thought a brushfire ever would—taking with it The McNally Estate, the Zane Grey Estate, Charles Farnsworth Park, many Altadena businesses (like Fox's), and The Bunny Museum on Lake Avenue (pictured above in 2017, about 1.5 miles southeast of Zorthian Ranch, as the crow flies).
Photo taken 2017
All the live bunnies and their humans (and their cats) made it out alive, but Bunny Museum founders Candace and Steve were only able to save a couple of rabbit-themed keepsakes. The rest of the record-breaking collection has been lost. In a recently published GoFundMe, the museum vows to rebuild.
Photo taken 2013 There are several other sites I've been tracking in the area, like the beloved Christmas Tree Lane.
Photo taken 2021 I know from live newscasts that Santa Rosa Avenue did burn, including several houses along the lane. But many reports are saying the trees were saved.
Photo taken 2021
Although residents haven't been allowed back to their homes to assess the damage, we know for sure that the house at the end of the block—the one behind the historic marker for Christmas Tree Lane—burned at the corner of Santa Rosa and Calaveras Street.
Parts of Pasadena's Upper Hastings Ranch burned, too—mostly on Riviera Drive above Alegria Avenue, (the street that abuts the Eaton Canyon Golf Course and the Sierra Madre Villa Debris Basin to the west) and the surrounding streets, particularly to the north. I'll update here when I know more specifics.
And of course the namesake of the fire is Eaton Canyon—where the nature center has been lost. No word yet on the status of the fire lookout tower and educational and interpretive displays at Henninger Flats, but we know that the fire did burn that general area.
This is in no way a comprehensive list. And I don't mean to pull focus away from the people who devastatingly lost their homes, schools, churches, and, in some cases, loved ones.
This is just how I can grasp the enormity of what continues to unfold.
I'm keeping tabs on lots of places and will continue to update this post with more losses as I verify them. I hope there are no more. But I no longer know what to expect.
Stay safe out there, guys.
All photos above were taken before the fires, except the first photo of the burned-down Will Rogers mansion (courtesy of California State Parks).
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