Living through fires and covering them

New York Times journalists wrote personal profiles on the fires in the California Today newsletter. Here is a collection of their dispatches on what the disaster means for them and for Los Angeles.

The memories that also burn

There was a time in my life when I went to Will Rogers State Historic Park all the time. My husband and I would drive up to Pacific Palisades and park near the polo field, where they had real polo matches. We walked past streams and live oaks and smelled eucalyptus. Sometimes we would peek into the preserved ranch where Will Rogers, “the cowboy philosopher,” once lived. This house is gone now, burned to the ground.

Later we settled far to the east, in the San Gabriel Valley. It was a time when everyone was scrambling and saving for a first home. With the kids in tow, we spent weekends at open houses, looking at bungalows and ranches. One memorable house had a backyard with a patch of ivy that looked like a secret garden, and I still sometimes think of its fresh greenery. It was in Altadena, near Eaton Canyon. I suspect it’s ashes now.

When wildfires occur, people often talk about lost property. Legacy in the rubble. The family album, gone up in smoke.

But fires like this week’s also take away landscapes that, when they disappear, can take a piece of you with them. As the flames spread across Southern California, I thought about lost settings. The destroyed cafes where screenplays were written. The burned stands where teenagers shared their first kisses. The park where my husband and I once held hands and smelled the eucalyptus and, in a place that is just a memory, we were young.