L.A. to Logan tales: ‘The world caught on fire’

As their city burns, Los Angeles residents leaving the inferno grabbed their bags at Logan Airport saying they were “one bad gust away” from catastrophe.

Touching down thousands of miles from home, residents found a reprieve from the smoky air and looming danger, but held onto hope they’d have a home to come back to.

“We took a video of the house before we left, just for safety sake,” said Rob LaRussa, standing at a baggage carousel at Logan. “Just thinking of what happens if the winds shift.”

LaRussa and Yvonne Kubicek, a couple from the Hills in Los Angeles, were among many who landed in Logan Airport in Boston this week for a vacation to see family — a short break from the now smokey skies of their home city.

Across L.A. county, now over 12,300 homes, businesses and other structures have been destroyed, according to Cal Fire. Over 40,000 acres have burned — about 40 times the size of Boston.

At least 24 people have died, according to preliminary reports on Cal Fire. More than 100,000 have been forced to flee their homes.

Since Tuesday, Jan. 7, the massive fires around L.A. have leveled neighborhoods from the Pacific Palisades to Altadena. As of Thursday after, Cal Fire reported the largest fire, the 23,000-acre Palisades fire, was only 22% contained.

“We’re closest to the Palisades fire,” said Dana Daniele, traveling to Boston from her L.A. home on business on Tuesday. “We haven’t been in the direct line, but you can see ash falling from the sky.”

Since the outbreak of the fires, Daniele said her household has been “so on edge” and had their bags packed. At the start, she added, planes couldn’t even fly.

Now, her husband is at home with their kids “manning the fort,” with an evacuation plan in place just in case.

“The city of L.A. sent out that false evacuation alert to everyone in L.A. County,” Danielle recounted, referring to erroneous alerts sent out to millions on Jan. 9. “I feel like we all had a mass heart attack.”

Danielle showed the app she uses now, Watch Duty, which provides real-time updates for the location of the fires and evacuation zones.

Others in the airport echoed her experience with the false alarm.

“We’re all already a bad gust away from upending our whole lives,” said Elise, two large duffel bags slung over each shoulder as she headed out to stay with a Boston friend. “That was a terrible moment.”

The young native Californian said she’s seen fires decimate other communities, but it didn’t make the outbreak of the L.A. fires any less shocking.

“It’s been shocking to see the destruction of places I’ve been, places I go,” Elise said. “I don’t think it’ll ever be the same.”

Though the two largest fires continued to burn across L.A. county on Thursday, the Santa Ana winds began to calm, allowing residents a slight reprieve from the spreading blaze and fire crews a chance to make progress.

Red Flag warnings remained in place for Santa Susana Mountains, Western San Gabriel Mountains, and I-5 Corridor, according to the National Weather Service, and early forecasts predict dangerous fire conditions returning at the start of the next week.

For one L.A. resident who fled her North Hollywood house to stay with friends, the break meant a chance to return home and a moment of normalcy.

“I packed in a hurry so things are everywhere in my house,” said Lilliana Marquez, who moved out to L.A. from Boston around a year ago. “My Christmas tree is still up, because I was supposed to take it down, and then the world caught on fire.”

Marquez said the day the fires started she was picking up a friend from the airport, who flew in overhead seeing the Palisades on fire. She spent her days in a nearby neighborhood “in limbo, just keeping an eye on things” through the week, Marquez said, as some friends fled back to the East Coast.

“This experience, like — I drove past the Palisades fire,” said Marquez. “I could see the mountain glowing. At my friend’s house in Van Ness before we left, you could see the fire coming up over the hill from the street outside their house as it was blowing. And it was fully terrifying, the fact that it looked within reach.”

Several of those away from home said they feel ok for now, but still not quite certain of the future.

“I’m nervous being away,” said Elise. “I’m nervous for my family, but I know they’ll let me know if anything changes. I’m just praying for everyone.”

All this as the flights from L.A. to Boston keep coming.