Annie Hsu returned to her home in Diamond Bar this weekend only
to discover her car covered with thick ash and the afternoon sky
consumed by darkness.
Hsu, a fourth-year business student, is just one of many UCLA
students affected by the fires spreading across Southern
California. The fires began this weekend and have spread from San
Bernadino, affecting surrounding areas, including Diamond Bar,
Claremont and Simi Valley.
Many students who were able to return home over the weekend
noticed how seriously the nearby fires affected the area.
However, Hsu was optimistic of her house’s chances of
surviving because of its distance from the fires.
“I don’t think it’s going to get here.
Hopefully not,” she said.
Other students have not been so lucky.
Law student Christopher Baker’s family had to evacuate
their home in Ramona after the flames got too close. The house lost
power and the family’s phone lines went out three hours
before the evacuation order from firefighters.
Flames were visible from Baker’s home home, but his family
members were confident the fires would not reach their
neighborhood. However, shifts in the wind could bring the fire
closer, Baker said.
Baker was going to drive to his house but was unable to do so
because of the evacuation.
“We’ll see how it goes. If they need help,
I’ll definitely skip school,” Baker said.
Some students, like David Smith, are stuck at school. Smith, who
commutes between school and his home in Simi Valley, had to stay
with friends this week until Highway 118, the only route to Simi
Valley, reopens. The freeway closed at 1 p.m. Sunday because of the
raging fires.
“People are trapped in and trapped out,” Smith
said.
Smith, whose home is no more than 10-15 miles from the fires,
left Simi Valley early Sunday morning after he visited his parents
and grandparents who live near the affected areas.
Smith said he could see the flames from outside their home and
worried about waking up to sirens.
Ben Brown, husband of UCLA alumna Rebecca Tomlinson-Brown and a
teacher at Cal State San Bernadino and Etiwanda Middle School, said
he did not go in to work because the schools were forced to close
Friday and Monday.
The Browns live four miles from the fires.
“It’s really weird to walk outside and not be able
to breathe,” Brown said of the thick smoke in the air around
their home. “It’s just scary.”
With reports from Menaka Fernando, Bruin Senior
Staff.