An emergency evacuation makes you realize you have a lot of junk, so you save a few photos and other memories. Most things can be replaced.

Steven, Getty Fire evacuee

The California wildfires in the last few weeks have wreaked havoc everywhere. Numerous friends of ours were evacuated from their homes in the middle of the night when the Getty fire started. I started thinking about what would I do? Am I prepared? What do you take with you when you don’t know when you will be able to return to your home?

Several of the boxers in my PD boxing class live in the hills above the Getty Center and did not come to our classes last week. When I saw Steven on Tuesday, I asked if he had been evacuated, knowing that he lived in that area. He looked visibly shaken by the experience, which he said was a nightmare. His home is above where the fire started and he could see it spread quickly.

The fire began around 2:00 am. The police came minutes later with their sirens blaring to tell people to leave their homes immediately. Steven does not recall whether he was awakened by the police or by the smell of smoke from the nearby fire.

The first thing he did was call a neighbor to find out where she was going. Her doctor’s office in nearby Santa Monica was open in the middle of the night for those who had to flee. Then Steven and his family gathered up their kids and he went in search of his PD meds. After shoving everything into a bag, they left and headed down the hill to the doctor’s office, ahead of the flames.

Once they were safely out of the area, Steven realized that he did not have his wallet, which meant no ID, credit cards, cash, and more. He could not go back home to get it. He said the experience was very disorienting, and the only thing he could think about was to take was his Parkinson’s meds with him.

The next morning, Steven and his family moved into a friends home for the duration, not knowing when or if they could get back into their home. He says that they were very fortunate to have friends with a luxurious, comfortable home that was big enough for Steven’s family and another family they were all friends with. The only alternatives were local hotels which were very expensive or community centers.

The evacuation was disorienting, as Steven said, and also crazy and nervewracking. They did not know if they would be out for 2 days or a week. After 2 days, he was allowed to go back to his home with a police escort to retrieve some things. Because they were with very good friends during this ordeal, they had some good laughs, and even some gallows humor. So this trip back to the house to get things they needed was dubbed “the trip to get everything of value before the house burns down!” The winds were expected to shift that night and turn the fire towards his home. But they got lucky, the winds died down and so did the fire. Steven said that an emergency like this makes you realize that you have a lot of junk. You need to save a few photos and things that are valuable or are memories. Most things can be replaced. Two days later, after 4 days with friends, the family was allowed to move back home.

How did all of this affect Steven’s Parkinson’s Disease? He said the whole experience is more difficult for people with health issues because they have much more to deal with. He was more disoriented than usual, as he stated earlier, which was probably a combination of PD and crisis. It did not increase his shaking and because he thought clearly enough to take his meds with him, he never missed a dose. Between taking care of everything with his family and the terrible air quality from the fires, exercise was not possible. Overall, Steven feels that he got though all of it ok.

We are thankful that only a few homes were destroyed in the Getty fire and that Steven and our other friends who had been evacuated have returned home. Let’s hope that this is the last of California’s devastating fires this year.