A firefighter working around the clock, a district attorney fighting looting, a boutique owner creating a fire relief pop-up – these are just some of the everyday heroes working to respond to the devastating effects of the Palisades and Eaton fires that have ravaged Los Angeles over the past month.
According to AccuWeather, the wildfires caused over $250 billion in property damage in countless neighborhoods across LA. Homes, businesses and schools were burned to the ground, while looters sacked what remained.
As LA recovers, firefighters, prosecutors and everyday citizens have done what they can to support impacted communities. Here are the stories of five individuals whose assistance has provided relief for countless families, including those at Marlborough.
Kristine Priebe
Kristine Priebe is a Los Angeles firefighter who has juggled multiple positions within the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) for 10 years. Currently, Priebe is a member of federal and regional level task forces that were deployed to combat the Pacific Palisades and Eaton fires, but day to day, Priebe works as a Los Angeles firefighter paramedic as well as a rescue specialist and canine search specialist with her K9, Emmet.
During the fires, Priebe worked around the clock. She was assigned to respond to areas with needs unrelated to the fires, responding to multiple 911 calls every day during January. Priebe explained that during the initial outbreak of the fires, calls to the department rose exponentially.
“Our department [responds] to just under 2,000 911 incidents per day,” Priebe said. “On the day the fires broke out, our call volume was over 3,000 in just one day.”
Priebe is a member of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) California Urban Search & Rescue Task Force 1 (CA-TF1). FEMA task forces can either be pre-positioned when a major disaster threatens a community or be deployed to an active disaster area. CA-TF1 was one of many task forces that had been deployed last month to fight the Palisades and Eaton fires, as well as those in surrounding areas.
“These teams are deployed to disaster incidents such as the Palisades Fire,” Priebe said. “A large team of rescuers assemble and get on their way to a disaster as soon as possible.”
Members of FEMA task forces are highly trained and ready to deploy within six hours of an emergency outbreak. The task forces can split into two groups with 35 members each to conduct around the clock search and rescue operations in 12-hour shifts.
As a rescue specialist on the task force, Priebe conducts confined-space rescues, trench rescues, high-angle rope rescues and more. Priebe had to undergo extensive training and courses to join the team and take on the position of rescue specialist.
When the fires broke out, Priebe said that she, like so many other firefighters in the department, were eager to combat them quickly. Yet, while the department was flooded with available firefighters, they were lacking the resources to support them.
“Our department maxed out the amount of resources we had,” Priebe said. “We had more firefighters willing to work than fire engines that we could work on. We all wanted to be there, but we just didn’t have enough rigs.”
Priebe explains that this lack of resources led the LAFD to use non-traditional rigs to transport firefighters and water.
“If a rig could pump water and the wheels still turned, we used it,” Priebe said.
When not deployed under FEMA CA-TF1, Priebe works on fire engines, fire trucks and ambulances as a firefighter paramedic at LAFD Fire Station 70 located in Northridge, 30 minutes away from Marlborough School.
“90% of the 911 calls we respond to in LA City are medical,” Priebe said. “As a firefighter paramedic, my crew and I are able to provide life-saving measures prior to reaching the hospital.”
In September 2024, Priebe was also paired with rescued K9, Emmet, and trained with him to become a canine search team, which searches for live victims after a natural disaster. She and Emmet were certified on Feb. 8. Priebe said she is excited to continue helping the city with Emmet by her side, and she is grateful to continue doing the job she loves.
“Our goal is to protect life and property and do so through service, integrity and pride,” Priebe said. “As a firefighter, we don’t need or seek recognition for our efforts; we just love doing our job.”
Charlie Speiser
Charlie Speiser, the Pacific Palisades Charter High School student body president, was at home when the Palisades Fire hit and had to evacuate his home, which was right next to Palisades High School. The evacuation order came as a shock.
“We didn’t think there was any chance that the fire was going to jump Sunset,” Speiser told FOX 11 Los Angeles. “But we got back the next day and saw that all our houses were burned, and all our friends’ houses were burned, and it was just devastating.”
As the fire decimated his community and many of his friends lost their homes, Speiser worked with Pali High faculty to plan next steps for impacted students. According to SF Gate, the fire burned around 30% of the school, including many of its classrooms, though the main campus building is still standing. Due to the campus and surrounding damage, faculty and students are scrambling to find a new place to learn for the rest of the semester.
As a key leader in the Pali community, Speiser has been reaching out to Angelenos to search for an office building or any space where the 2,959 students of Pali can attend classes. Speiser said that the community really wants to stay together during this tumultuous time.
“We don’t want to be online like we were for COVID – that did not work well for anyone,” Speiser told FOX 11. “That’s the most important thing, just to get students back together for educational purposes and for athletics.”
As he continues the search for a new space, Speiser has also worked to support the Palisades High School community through emails, drives and more. He said that the community has remained close even though the evacuations have spread them across Los Angeles.
“While our community is so spread apart, it feels like we are closer than ever,” Speiser said. “Friends are reaching out, we are all running errands for each other and everyone is so selfless right now. It’s really great to see.”
Jenna Cooper
When news of the fires broke out on Jan. 7, Compass real estate agent Jenna Cooper sprung into action by collecting clothing and other items to help those affected. By Jan. 8, Cooper had transformed her boutique home goods store, +COOP, into a fire relief pop-up.
“We wanted to meet the very beginning moments of the crisis with action, compassion and open hearts to anybody who needed it,” Cooper said.
The pop-up gained popularity quickly, started receiving donations and was featured on the social medias of several celebrities. Although there were a multitude of fire relief pop-ups created in the days after the disaster, the one at +COOP was quick to stand out due to its focus on quality clothing.
“[Our customers] shouldn’t have to dig through piles of garbage to find clothes they might need,” Cooper said. “I wanted it to feel very generous, welcoming, curated and high level.”
Due to Cooper’s background in real estate, she was aware of the emotional connection people have with their homes. Cooper’s understanding of real estate also meant that she was conscious of the difficulty people would face when searching for new homes.
“If you come from that understanding of basic human nature, it’s not difficult to be able to understand how this event was much more than just the loss of objects and clothes. It hit so much deeper,” Cooper said. “[I also know] how hard it is to find a house and how hard people work to get there. It’s competitive. It’s expensive. It takes time.”
Despite the closing of the +COOP pop-up, Cooper plans to continue her work of helping those affected in the Los Angeles community.
“I’m constantly looking for other opportunities to be effective,” Cooper said. “We’re in a completely new stage of this, and I will look for creative and efficient ways to support with the skills and the resources that we have.”
Amy Goldsmith & Teamsters 399
They had received countless donations for food and water, but when the power went out as the Pacific Palisades fire ramped up on the week of Jan. 6, the firefighters at LAFD Fire Station 19 located in Brentwood were in need of one item that no one had – a commercial-sized backup generator. While some stations across Los Angeles had a backup generator in case of emergencies, many did not; Station 19 had been asking the city for one for three years, according to the captain of Station 19, Robert Hawkins.
The whole fire station was functioning without electricity and hot water for several days. Firefighters were working in the dark with flashlights and relying on one small power source just capable of powering a phone. It was not until Los Angeles resident Amy Goldsmith walked into the station on Jan. 11 that the issue was discovered by the public. When she learned about their problem, Goldsmith quickly posted a call for help to social media asking for a commercial-sized generator. When asked about her motivations for making the post, Goldsmith said she felt she owed it to the fire department for what they have done for the city.
“Everyone is in such pain, and these are the people who are taking care of us and helping us; they should not be worried about power,” Goldsmith said to KCAL news.
The post quickly gained traction from many individuals looking to help, including Goldsmith’s friend Shay Morris, who had just lost her home in the Palisades.
Hours later, Goldsmith received a call from Morris who told her that the Teamsters, a labor union involved with many industries, were currently at Station 19 installing a generator. Teamsters Local 399, the union that represents workers in the entertainment industry, got wind of the post through Morris. As part of their role in the entertainment industry, the union provides trailers, power and electricity to studios and the film industry as a whole, which meant they had generators at their disposal. They had reached out to the Capt. Hawkins, whom Goldsmith had talked to earlier that day, and offered to lend a generator. Teamsters member Alex Mestres, whose mother’s home was destroyed in the fire, told KCAL news that she felt inclined to help when she saw the post.
“I said, you know what, this is my moment to help, and I wanted to be a part of all of this,” Mestres said to KCAL News, who was at Station 19 as Teamsters 399 were installing the generator. “The fire department’s been working so hard. These guys don’t need to be in the dark. They need showers. They need running water, hot water, lights and communication … I just thought, ‘This is an opportunity to help.’”
When Goldsmith arrived to see the Teamsters installing the generator, she was overjoyed. She said later that she believes the strength of social media shine in times of emergency.
“Social media was a great means of communication in this case,” Goldsmith told The UltraViolet. “When so many interactions online can be negative, this was a great thing.”
Capt. Hawkins said he and his firefighters appreciated the assistance and were grateful for the community.
“We got lights now. We’re able to take a hot shower and we’re just grateful,” Hawkins told KCAL News that night.
While it has been hard to see her city struggle due to the fires, Goldsmith has realized how strong the Los Angeles community is through their collaboration and eagerness to help.
“The west side – we are a family,” Goldsmith said. “The way the whole city has come out for everyone … I’m just really proud of all of us.”
Nathan Hochman
Since stepping into his role as the Los Angeles district attorney after defeating incumbent George Gascón in the 2024 election, Nathan Hochman has been charging suspects for crimes committed during the Palisades and Eaton fires.
As the district attorney, Hochman investigates and prosecutes criminal activities throughout Los Angeles County on behalf of the city. After the outbreak of the Palisades and Eaton fires, suspects were arrested for looting homes in abandoned or burning neighborhoods close to the flames, impersonating firefighters to access these areas, deliberately starting fires and committing numerous other fire-related crimes.
Hochman vowed to go after suspects committing crimes near fire zones and described the suspects taking advantage of victims as “despicable.” He explained, as someone whose family was personally impacted by the fire, that it’s crucial to hold looters and suspects responsible for their crimes.
“People like my sister lost her home in Pacific Palisades, and thousands of people have lost their home, and yet there are criminals who look at this as an opportunity to exploit the most vulnerable people in their lowest moments,” Hochman told ABC7.
On Jan. 13, Hochman announced charges against 10 people in wildfire-related crimes. He has announced numerous other charges since then, including felony and arson charges. Hochman also explained he plans to continue using his power as the district attorney to thoroughly prosecute suspects related to the fires.
