More than 5,300 structures are believed to have been destroyed by the Palisades fire that ripped through the community of Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles, one of several wildfires that have hit the city hard.
One of those structures was the home Lakers coach J.J. Redick was renting with his family. Fortunately, his family is safe. Redick was emotional when he opened up to reporters about the situation.
“I was not prepared for what I saw. It’s complete devastation and destruction. I had to go a different way to the house, but I went through most of the village, and it’s all gone. I don’t think you can ever prepare yourself for something like that. Our home is gone…
“Everything that we owned that was of any importance to us in almost 20 years together as a couple and 10 years of parenting was in that house. “There are certain things that you can’t replace, that will never be replaced… The material stuff is whatever. My family and I were processing the self side, the individual side, of losing your home, and you don’t ever want to wish that on anybody. It’s an awful feeling to lose your home.”
Redick expresses well what a lot of people in greater Los Angeles are feeling — a sense of loss in these communities that meant so much to people. Homes with cherished memories, favorite ice cream shops or restaurants, businesses that were people’s livelihood, churches, schools, and so much more are all gone. It’s been sad to watch attention seekers on the outside want to make things political or find a way to create controversy when people in the Los Angeles area (note, that’s where I live) are trying to focus on support, helping those in need, and mourning what is lost. Nearly everyone has family and friends who lost something with these fires, Redick’s story speaks for many people.
Ten people have lost their lives, more than 12,500 structures have been destroyed and more than 150,000 people have been evacuated because of a series of fires fanned by unusually strong winds through the region (winds which have also hampered firefighting efforts). The fires continue to burn through the region.
The Lakers game Thursday night at Crypto.com in downtown Los Angeles against the Hornets was postponed, and it’s unclear if the Lakers (vs. Spurs) and Clippers (vs. Hornets) home games scheduled for Saturday night will take place. The NFL has already moved the Vikings at Rams Wild Card playoff game scheduled for Sunday night at SoFi Stadium (very close to the Clippers’ new Intuit Dome) to Monday in Arizona because of the fires.