Los Angeles As Angelenos called loved ones on Thursday, ash began to fall from a gloomy sky and the air was heavy with the odor of smoke.
The standard response: We’re alright. We’re secure. We’re in a shelter.
On Thursday, the evacuees paced outside the Westwood Recreation Center in West Los Angeles. In the impacted areas, it is one of four temporary locations for Red Cross wildfire refugees.
Westwood Recreation, as some residents refer to it, is located less than two miles beyond the immediate evacuation zone surrounding the still-raging Palisades Fire, just off Interstate 405 as well. According to a Red Cross representative, more than 240 individuals were being accommodated there on Thursday. The figure was closer to 20 just two days ago.
Johnnie Burman, 64, a Santa Monica evacuee who traveled to the shelter hoping to locate his elderly neighbor and friend, stated, “The devastation, the destruction, I never thought this would happen.”