Starting Jan. 7, 2025, a striking event bursted through Southern California. Multiple large and small fires began to form around Los Angeles. The largest, Palisades fire, burning along the Pacific coast west of downtown has burnt more than 23,700 acres with 22 percent contained. The next largest, on the east, Eaton fire, has burnt more than 14,000 acres. Which has destroyed thousands of homes and placed people into evacuation. Multiple other small fires have been fully contained; The Auto Fire, Hurst Fire, Kenneth Fire, Lidia Fire, Sunset Fire, and The Archer Fire. At least 25 people have been killed in the fires, while 17 were killed from the Eaton fire making it the deadliest in California history. Historically, climate change is the main cause of wildfires, when climate change warms the planet it makes wildfires uncertain and intense.
Though Grand Ledge is not affected by the fires, it can still impact the people, including the students and staff of Grand Ledge High School (GLHS).
“I have heard from other people that their families had to mass evacuate, people have lost their homes, and some have had to leave their pets behind.” Rebecca Patrick, a member of The Environmental club, part of GLHS
Patrick got the news of the fires through TikTok, where she heard about the deaths and devastating mass evacuations. A way GLHS could bring in information over the fires could be the
“Student news, in the newspaper, or an announcement, when it first started it would have been nice to recognize that it was happening.” Patrick said.
Mary Rodeck, a teacher of GLHS, was born and raised in Los Angeles, where the wildfires affect Rodeck in a personal way.
“The home I grew up with was only a mile away from the mandatory evacuation area,” Rodeck said.
When Rodeck lived in California they always had dry winds in September where fires would start. But during January the West Coast is mild and wet.
“But for them to come this time of year, nobody was prepared because it is not usually this dry and hot and the fires don’t usually come when it is this time of year,” Rodeck said.
Even though Rodeck does not live in California anymore, she is still very up to date where she got the news off of Facebook.
“One of my Alumni group friends said that there were fires out there, and Sylmar, my hometown, was being evacuated,” Rodeck said.
Fires like this are hard to contain when they spread so quickly, as well as climate change being a main reason of wildfires. Kuljot Singh, student of GLHS, has not had much effect because he doesn’t have family or friends there that he worries about.
“It has had me thinking about how these issues are happening a lot more.” Singh said.
He feels sympathy for all the people experiencing the fires and he hopes that they can get the help they need.
“I personally never had to deal with something like that before, so I don’t know exactly how it’s like.” Singh said.
Singh mentions that ways the school could spread information about the wildfires, could start as C3 presentations. But they could gather the school together by having an assembly.
Throughout the Grand Ledge community, everyone has different experiences and stories about what is going on in Southern California. It may affect one more than another, but for now
“putting the people of California first.” Singh said.
So we can help those cope with this unexpected disaster.