Less than a week ago, Quincy native Bill O’Toole and his wife Lindsay lived in their dream home in the Pacific Palisades of Los Angeles, a place they hoped to raise their 4-year-old daughter Leighton and a place to grow old together.
“It was Mayberry inside of Los Angeles,” O’Toole told The Patriot Ledger from an AirBnB where they’ve temporarily taken refuge because of the wildfires. “Every neighborhood had a kid with a bike. That was my childhood growing up in Quincy.”
A lot can change in a week.
The O’Tooles’ once-idyllic neighborhood looks like its been “carpet bombed,” Bill said, describing a satellite image he saw of his home after the fire.
“You hear the term ‘lose everything,'” O’Toole said. “It’s vague. It’s too big. It’s abstract when you hear it. But once you experience it, it’s a clean swipe.”
Bill O’Toole, his wife Lindsay and their daughter Leighton. The O’Tooles lost their home to a wildfire in the Pacific Palisades section of Los Angeles.
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Where are the California wildfires
At least 24 people have died, including 8 in the Palisades. Fire has damaged or destroyed 40,300 acres of property, including more than 12,000 homes, businesses and schools, forcing more than 100,000 residents to flee for safety.
The Palisades fire, one of four wildfires still raging in America’s second largest city of Los Angeles, swept through the residential enclave where the O’Tooles lived, reducing whole neighborhoods to smoldering ruins.
In the Pacific Palisades, more than 1,200 commercial and residential structures have been destroyed, according to Cal Fire’s estimates. Another 200 homes, businesses and other structures have been damaged by the wildfires.
The fire, which broke out the morning of Jan. 7, has wreaked havoc across 36 square miles, transforming entire communities into piles of ash. It is the most destructive fire in the history of Los Angeles. As of Monday morning, it was only 14% contained.
The remains of a home in Pacific Palisades was destroyed by the Palisades fire. Firefighters continue to battle multiple wildfires in Southern California as Santa Ana winds were gaining strength Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, hampering efforts to tamp down the explosion of fires that have killed at least 24 people and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses.
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On the road, from one temporary stay to the next
The three O’Tooles and their two dogs, shar-pei mixes, escaped unharmed, leaving when the fire still registered only as a mass of smoke rising over the mountains. They spent the first night in a hotel. When they couldn’t return the next morning, friends put them up in a Brentwood guesthouse. Soon Brentwood, a neighboring city district, was evacuated too.
“We came out to the desert,” O’Toole said of the family’s two-hour drive east to La Quinta, just outside Palm Springs.
Bill O’Toole with his daughter Leighton. The family recently lost their home in the Palisades Fire, one of multiple destructing wildfires burning in Los Angeles.
A life put on hold
O’Toole moved to L.A. at the end of 2006. He and his wife built a company called “Lead Education LA” specializing in educational services for students with learning disabilities.
In 2020, Lindsay gave birth to Leighton. They moved into the Palisades around that time, a home for their budding family.
Before the fire, Bill and Lindsey juggled parenting and work, running their business out of offices in a local Lutheran church. In fact, O’Toole was at the office proctoring exams Wednesday morning, Jan. 8, when his wife called asking him to pick up Leighton early from school and meet her outside somewhere outside the Palisades. Somewhere safer.
Four-year-old Leighton O’Toole watches a movie in the living room of her Pacific Palisades home in Los Angeles. A devastating wildfire destroyed the home and much of the neighborhood. Leighton and her parents escaped unharmed and are now temporarily housed in an AirBnB near Palm Springs.
He made a brief stop at home to pick up the dogs and a few belongings. It was the last time he’d see his house intact.
Barred from returning by police checkpoints, O’Toole discovered his home’s fate on TV.
“The reporter was out in front of our house conducting the report,” he said. “I see our garage, two chimneys − that’s all that’s standing.”
’86 years of life’ packed into the trunk of a car
The O’Tooles lost their home and entire neighborhood in one fell swoop. They had no time to pack their belongings before evacuating, and the fire claimed troves of irreplaceable heirlooms and keepsakes.
“It’s a life,” O’Toole said. “I’m 42. Lindsay’s 40. Leighton’s 4. That’s 86 years of life that fit into a four-bedroom house, offices, playrooms and a two-car garage. Now that fits in the back of an Audi.”
O’Toole mentioned yearbooks from grade school at Quincy Catholic Academy, a Super Bowl football autographed by Tom Brady, his wife’s home movies of her childhood dance recitals − all lost and irrecoverable.
Though insured, O’Toole said his policy is “not nearly enough” to cover the total loss. Still, he and his wife are determined to rebuild in Los Angeles, a city he said has proved its character through tragedy.
“This past week, everyone has been so immensely kind and supportive and generous and gracious,” he said, contrasting the warmth he has experienced firsthand with the L.A.’s reputation for glitz and pretense. “There’s so much heart there.”
Semblance of normalcy
Four-year-old Leighton embraces her dad, Bill O’Toole, on the lawn in front of their Pacific Palisades home in Los Angeles. A devastating wildfire destroyed the home and much of the neighborhood. Leighton and her parents escaped unharmed and are now temporarily housed in an AirBnB near Palm Springs.
O’Toole said he and his wife told Leighton on Thursday that the fire destroyed their home and neighborhood.
“She was devasted,” he said, describing how she began to ask after neighborhood friends.
“All of her friends lost their houses,” he said. “Their houses are gone.”
As he and Lindsay grapple with the big uncertainties thrust upon them, O’Toole said small frustrations have a way of revealing the enormity of the disaster.
“We went to CVS, and they had no socks,” he said.
On another occasion, he returned to their rented room with a bundle of tuna fish, mayonnaise and some paper plates he just purchased. “We don’t have a can-opener,” he said. “Down to the littlest, stupid thing, it’s just gone. It’s incomprehensible.”
‘One day at a time.’ Quincy rallies to aid of O’Tooles
Asked what the family’s plans are, O’Toole said that’s the “million dollar question.”
For now, he said they’re taking things “one day at a time,” talking with insurers, seeking temporary housing and checking in with students and their families, many of whom also lost their houses.
Back in Quincy, his network of friends and family have stepped up in a big way. His sister, Kerin O’Toole, a city employee, co-organized a GoFundMe campaign to help Bill stabilize the situation as much as possible. As of Tuesday morning, the campaign garnered more than $47,000, with 1,300 donors chipping in.
“We’re asking for your help to rally around them with us, during this incredibly tough time,” the webpage says. “Please consider donating today and sharing this page with whoever you can. Your kindness and support will make a huge difference. Most importantly, it will help provide stability to their number one priority, Leighton.”
Bill O’Toole, who has great pride in his Quincy roots and credits the city for his upbringing, said he was initially reluctant to appeal to his home community for help, but he relented.
Though monetary support is valuable and appreciated, he said the community support has meant just as much, providing the family a morale boost when they needed it most.
“The city of Quincy is the backbone of this story, partially,” he said. “It’s where I grew up. It’s why I am who I am.”
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Reach Peter Blandino at pblandino@patriotledger.com.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Bill, Lindsay O’Toole lose Palisades home in LA fires. How to donate