Fifty students will move into their downtown Los Angeles apartments on Thursday, Jan. 23 for the start of the spring Semester in L.A. program in spite of the ongoing wildfires that have yet to be fully contained in the greater metropolitan area.
Kevin Cooper, associate director semester in L.A., said that, currently, the program will be continuing without any changes.
“We don’t foresee any changes because we don’t see the fires,” Cooper said. “The air is still very clean here, and there’s really not a reason to make any adjustments.”
At least 28 people have died in the fires that have destroyed more than 16,000 structures since the Palisades Fire broke out the morning of Jan. 7. The Eaton Fire, which began hours after the Palisades Fire, has expanded to 14,021 acres and has been 95% contained.
Other fires have followed since the initial two, including the Clay, Hughes, Ventura and Sepulveda, all sprouting up at the beginning of the week.
Senior Film and Television major Mekka Lloyd said that the wildfires made her “increasingly more nervous” than she was for the semester abroad before the fires began, but the location is not something she worries about too much.
“I know that I’m going to be in central downtown, which wasn’t as affected as the Palisades or other areas,” Lloyd said.
Thirteen students in Los Angeles for 300-level theater course “An Actors Guide to Hollywood,” were evacuated to a hostel only two days into the program on Jan. 8. after receiving an evacuation notice amid their day off.
Brian Shaw, professor in the School of Theatre and Dance who taught the course, made arrangements with the hostel before instructing students to Uber there. Some students returned to their families in the surrounding Los Angeles neighborhoods, but Shaw said that nine of the 13 students were flown out of LAX and back in Chicago by five a.m. the following Thursday morning.
Shaw held the remainder of the course online, though Cooper extended an invitation to the students to return for Semester in L.A.
Orientation for the program has always included a sequence on earthquakes, but Cooper said that a sequence on wildfires will now be a part of the preparation for students.
Senior Film and Television major Jorge Cerritos applied to work as a student volunteer for Semester in L.A. to “get into working more with people and leading a team.”
Cerritos, who arrived in Los Angeles on Jan. 13, has been working prior to students arrival setting up apartments with “the essentials” as well as emergency kits including water jugs and fire extinguishers, which are provided for students each semester.
“We have a backpack that’s there to supply four students for three days in case of an emergency in case they have to evacuate and take that with them,” Cerritos said. “Safety is a big concern for us, and we’re just trying to make sure that students have everything to be ready in case of something that happens.”
Cerritos said that he went into the trip with “slight concern” in the back of his mind due to what he had seen on social media, but was reassured upon arrival by the atmosphere and the faculty at SiLA.
“Once I got here on Monday, on Tuesday, I went to the beach and the road was closed, but everything else looked normal, and the rest of the city was just operating as it had before,” Cerritos said. “Once I got here, I didn’t feel worried. I felt at peace.”
The classes and apartments where students will be located are in the Park La Brea area of Los Angeles, which is more than a 30-minute drive from the Los Angeles International Airport.
“Everything’s pretty spread out. From here, we can’t see anything in the air. There’s a few people wearing masks, just for the air quality,” Cerritos said. “So here we’re, like, perfectly fine from the fires and everything. There’s no closures. There’s nothing like that, everything seems pretty safe.”
Troy Takaki, part-time instructor in the School of Film and Television, lives three miles from the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in Los Angeles and said that despite knowing several people who lost their homes in the fires, he never felt “personally in danger.”
Takaki said that the evacuation occurred two and a half miles away from his location and that communication regarding the fires has been “very good.”
“I feel like we have been very well informed this whole time,” Takaki said.
Takaki said that one of the more notable changes in the program planning was receiving an email from faculty advising him to ‘be cognizant’ of the air quality at certain times and to recommend that students wear masks, depending on the wind direction.
Los Angeles-based Columbia alum Cheryl Faux said she has seen peers trying to fulfill GoFundMe’s, donating essential supplies and volunteering their time to those who have been impacted by the fires.
“I mean, it’s been pretty devastating, but I don’t think there’s anything necessarily to fear in terms of coming to Los Angeles,” Faux said. “I would say in terms of movement across the city, people are still driving around and going from place to place, and, you know, restaurants and bars and stuff haven’t shut down.”
AccuWeather reports that damage and economic loss due to the fires are estimated to be between $250 billion and $275 billion.
“So I think a lot of the fear is more so directed for the people who’ve lost everything that they’ve worked for and everything that they’ve built,” Faux said. “A lot of people have lost generational wealth, and, you know, their memories and all of their sentimental items, and people have died, so it is a very sad situation.”
Faux said that she recommends people to continue to wear masks in Los Angeles due to the fumes being released from the fires.
“There’s a lot of the buildings that burnt down were from the 60s and 70s, when they still built things with toxic chemicals and materials,” Faux said.
“The devastation on these two communities is unbelievable, people have lost their lives, their pets are missing, their memories are gone. And so the rest of the city has been working really hard to support them,” Faux said. “Lots of people are working with animal shelters, donating goods, reporting predatory landlords. Above all else, the community of LA is strong and standing together during this horrible time.”

Columbia alum Niena Drake, who has been living in Los Angeles for 14 years, said that the response to the wildfires “amplifies how real community is in Los Angeles.”
“Yes, we are spread out because it’s just so massive here, as far as the geography of the landscape but once you find your circle, your people, whatever it is, it feels like a small town,” Drake said. ”So yes, while we are spread out, community is very strong here.”
Drake has been reposting resources on social media such as a Los Angeles based service provider directory for business owners to sign up to provide pro-bono or discounted services for those struggling.
“This recovery and rebuilding emotionally, financially, physically, mentally, is going to take many, many years,” Drake said.
Drake also shared a Linkedin group that she started dedicated to rebuilding and restoring Los Angeles through volunteer work, donation opportunities and a list of resources to be found in one place.
“It has added weight to what a lot we’re already dealing with, and made it even heavier,” Drake said. “It intensified the regular, you know, ‘oh, I’m looking for a babysitter.’ Now, you’re not looking for a baby sitter, so you’re looking for a home for yourself. You’re looking for somewhere for your baby to sleep.”
While the start of the fires is still being investigated and there is no certain loss estimate at this time, The Associate Press has stated that the wildfires could potentially be “the costliest ever in the U.S.”
“Everyone in the city, whether you were physically living in one of those neighborhoods or not, was impacted emotionally, mentally. All of us are trying to readjust,” Drake said. “Every single type of person at every level, and every economic background, every ethnic background, was impacted and are a part of these communities.”\
Copy edited by Matt Brady
Resumen en Español:
Hasta 50 estudiantes se mudarán a sus apartamentos en el centro de Los Ángeles el jueves 23 de enero para el inicio del programa en Los Ángeles para el semestre de primavera.
Al menos 24 personas han muerto en los incendios que han destruido más de 12.000 estructuras desde que comenzaron el martes 7 de enero. The Associated Press informó que los vientos aumentaron el martes 21 de enero en el sur de California y que “al menos un par de nuevos incendios forestales estallaron” dos semanas después de que comenzaran dos grandes incendios que todavía están ardiendo en el área de Los Ángeles.
13 estudiantes en Los Ángeles para el curso THEA 389 “Guía de actores a Hollywood”, fueron evacuados a un albergue ubicado en Hollywood Blvd., solo dos días después del programa el miércoles 8 de enero y después de recibir un aviso de evacuación en medio de su día libre.
Brian Shaw, profesor de la Escuela de Teatro y Danza que impartió el curso, hizo arreglos con el albergue antes de instruir a los estudiantes para que fueran ahí.
Algunos estudiantes regresaron con sus familias en los vecindarios circundantes de Los Ángeles, pero Shaw dijo que 9 de los 13 estudiantes fueron trasladados fuera del aeropuerto LAX y de regreso a Chicago a las cinco de la mañana siguiente.
Shaw llevó a cabo el resto del curso en línea, aunque Kevin Cooper, director asociado del programa en L.A., extendió una invitación a los estudiantes para que regresaran para el semestre en Los Ángeles.
Resumen en Español por Araceli Ramirez
Resumen en Español editado por Doreen Abril Albuerne Rodriguez