Veterans of Los Angeles fire seasons past know all too well the importance of having a go bag ready, but as raging wildfires began to engulf whole neighborhoods in the Pacific Palisades, Altadena, and other LA areas last week, many Angelenos were left scrambling to grab as many personal effects (strictly practical or otherwise) as they could before evacuating.
I know firsthand how impossible it can feel to figure out what to take with you when it’s no longer safe to stay put. I was still in New York when the Sunset fire broke out near the home that I share with my partner in East Hollywood, and when he asked what of mine he should take to his parents’ home further south, I was flummoxed. I eventually came up with only two irreplaceable items: the stack of notebooks that held my maudlin early-20s diary entries and the framed picture of my parents that hung on my bedroom wall.
My family and I are lucky to be back home safe, but as we focus on mutual-aid volunteer efforts and check in on our friends across the city who have been displaced, I find myself wondering about the so-called impractical yet unimaginably precious items that other LA residents grabbed while evading the fires. While the usefulness of an item like a map or a flashlight is self-evident, there’s also tremendous value in being surrounded by the things you love most as you recover from the stress of watching your city (and, in some cases, your home) burn. Below, find a list of the things that nine Angelenos carried with them as they left their homes this past week.
I packed my collection of porcelain figurines, one of which was a table decoration and party favor at a dinner that Sally Singer threw for Rick Owens at the Chelsea Hotel in 2007 or 2008. —Jane Herman, designer and writer
Photo: Jane Herman
I packed all of my son’s favorite books. I know I could get them again, but they have his torn pages and bite marks on them, and although our suitcase was full, I still left with five books. —Lauren Bethke, tutoring coordinator, South Pasadena
Photo: Lauren Bethke
We brought all our tarot decks and stuff from our ancestral altar, as well as a Saturday Night Live cue card I gifted my husband for his birthday. (I forgot my Diva cup and toothbrush, LOL.) —V Jimenez, writer, Valley Village
Old comics I drew in grade school, three pieces of glassware sentimental to me, three of my grandma’s paintings, one drawing of me and my partner done by our friend, and a couple of special books from Korea and Japan gifted to me. —Lynn Hong, video editor, East Hollywood
Photo: Lynn Hong
I grabbed my three dogs (I also grabbed my beloved late labradoodle Teddy’s ashes) and our passports. It’s so hard to think of what’s valuable in those moments. —Irene Neuwirth, jewelry designer, Santa Monica
My mom’s Armani suit jacket. —Hadley Sachs, comedian, Silver Lake
Photo: Hadley Sachs
A quilt our friend made us for our wedding, my partner’s grandma’s wooden spoon and grandpa’s crystal paperweight with his initials on it, and our childhood stuffed animals. —Isabel Osgood-Roach, designer, Highland Park
My collection of Cometbus zines and Moschino jackets. I also grabbed a pink fur coat that I got directly from the designer, the London-based Pristine; it’s still in my trunk. —Elizabeth Teets, writer, Runyon Canyon
Photo: Elizabeth Teets
The box containing tufts of fur from my dog who passed away this summer. —Erica Wachs, writer’s assistant, West Hollywood
