The state of California has been living in a state of uncertainty since multiple widespread wildfires erupted in southern California starting early January.
The Palisades and Eaton fires are both still active in Los Angeles County; both igniting on Tuesday, Jan. 7.
According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Palisades fire has destroyed 6,207 structures and damaged 821 as of Monday night. A total of 23,713 acres have been burned since the seventh. The organization also reports four injuries and 11 deaths due to the growing fire.
The Eaton fire has engulfed the Pasadena and Altadena areas of the state, destroying 9,418 structures and damaging an additional 1,069. As of Monday night, 17 deaths have been reported, as well as eight injuries. Over 14,000 acres of land have burned due to this fire.
Although the official cause of both fires is still under investigation, many are attributing the state’s notoriously dry climate and Santa Ana winds to fueling the flames.
The destruction was described as devastating by LA based journalist John Cadiz Klemack, who got his start in West Virginia as a morning anchor for Charleston’s WOWK before moving west to Salt Lake City and now Los Angeles. He has been in LA since 2008.
As a bilingual reporter and anchor for NBCUniversal, Klemack is no stranger to telling complex stories, but the fires proved to be an entirely new bear.
“These fires were like nothing I’ve witnessed before,” Klemack said. “Not only the scope of what happened, but to be on the streets as homes were burning and to see not one fire engine in sight putting the fires out, it was eerie, and it was intense.”
Klemack was one of the few reporters granted access to the 2023 aftermath of Lahaina, a community in Maui, Hawaii, that fell victim to one of the deadliest series of wildfires in United States history.
“I thought then that this would be the worst disaster I’d ever cover in my career,” he said, “and when I saw what the Palisades and Eaton Fires did, I knew I was way off.”
“Being in the smoke and ash and flying embers, it felt like what I would imagine a war zone would be like – literally using the live van as a shield from flying debris,” he described the California scene.
While recovery is possible, Klemack says with the continuing devastation, Los Angeles County has a long road ahead of them to rebuild.
“It will take years. Maybe decades,” Klemack said. “It will definitely not be the same as before.”
Journalists from a wide variety of backgrounds and specialties have been on the scene, often getting up-close-and-personal to capture reality.
However, this doesn’t happen without the proper training.
“In order to cover fire in California, we take part in an annual training program through CalFire,” Klemack said. “We have fire gear issued to us – pants, jackets, goggles, hard hats, face masks. Even the live vans have the fire shelter pop-ups for the last resort.”
Klemack said doing this – and carrying the weight of it – looks a bit different for every reporter.
“I’ve seen some just collapse on air in grief over what they’re reporting; I’ve seen others stoic as ever,” he said. “I think what I saw most was journalists helping victims on the air – not as a ‘look at me, I’m on TV and watch me do this thing,’ but as a humanity thing, knowing your fellow neighbor needs you, and you do it because it’s what’s right to do.”
“We had a cameraman who grabbed a garden hose in one hand, his camera rolling live in the other, trying to put a spot fire out near a house,” he said.
Klemack said his biggest takeaway thus far from telling these stories was leaning into authenticity and sticking to service.
“Help your neighbor as needed. It’s okay to care,” he said, “but also to make sure to hold accountable those who need to be.”
Sarah Davis can be contacted at [email protected].
