‘Your refuge … isn’t so safe anymore’: Suburban natives flee California wildfires

Chicago suburban natives now living in the Los Angeles area are among the thousands fleeing their homes due to threat of spreading wildfires.

Jim Schmit, originally from Arlington Heights, received a buzzing emergency alert on his phone just after 6 a.m. Wednesday with orders to evacuate. He and his wife Tinky and their two cats packed up the car with only a few valuables and important documents, and made the short drive from La Crescenta south to her parents’ house in Glendale.

The Schmits’ house is west of the raging Eaton fire, and though no structures are burning in La Crescenta, the winds are picking up in speed and intensity.

Already jet lagged after returning from vacation Monday, Schmit and his wife couldn’t sleep Tuesday night, with wind gusts of 50 mph causing metal roof flashing to clang against the bedroom window and debris to fly into the sides of the house.

“I look at the map, and to me it looks like our house is safe, but I understand from the authorities they’re looking at the direction of winds from the Eaton fire,” Schmit said. “It could very possibly spread in our direction, so I understand their caution.”

While on the road, a Christmas tree put out for garbage collection flew into the Schmits’ car. They say they’ve seen large tree branches on the freeway and lots of other debris.

Schmit, a 1983 Buffalo Grove High School graduate who has lived in California since 1996, said a fire 15 years ago brought heavy smoke and left ash covering every car in La Crescenta. Other wildfires in the past have been as close as 5 to 10 miles away, he said.

“We know there is the possibility. But you never expect this,” said Schmit, who is now retired after a career in trade show management. “The first fire started in the Pacific Palisades area, which is not close to us. It wasn’t until the Eaton fire started that we were threatened.”

Right next to La Crescenta is La Cañada Flintridge, where Barrington native Chris Erskine also got orders to evacuate Wednesday morning.

The retired Los Angeles Times columnist said even 35 years of living in the area doesn’t prepare one for such widespread destruction.

“There was no safety zone,” he said. “When it forces you from your home, it’s kind of devastating psychologically. Your refuge, your safe place, isn’t so safe anymore.”

Erskine said there were a few who refused to leave and he heard from them later in the day that their shared neighborhood was still OK so far.

“I probably won’t believe it until I see the house standing again,” Erskine said. “It’s not over until Mother Nature says it is.”

He did hear from a friend who received confirmation that she’d lost her house in the Palisades. Most recognize that such losses can be replaced, noting they’ve never been to a memorial service for a house, Erskine said.

The presence of his Siberian Husky dog may limit his options for shelter, but Erskine stopped in Playa Vista, between Venice Beach and Los Angeles International Airport, and is content to sleep in his car if necessary.

Though accustomed to Los Angeles, he said the cold and snowy Midwestern winters of his youth didn’t seem so bad Wednesday.

He described La Cañada Flintridge as “Anywhere USA, with a few more Hollywood people.”

“It’s kind of normal and kind of not,” he added of the town of about 20,500 residents. “I think people never really understand a place until they live in it.”

Closer to the Palisades fire on the west coast is Renee Skiera, a Pepperdine University student from Arlington Heights. She returned to the school’s Malibu campus over the weekend and was out practicing with her track teammates under clear, sunny skies Monday.

That changed abruptly Tuesday, she said, when strong winds arrived, driving wildfires into the area. The Palisades fire, which as of Wednesday afternoon had consumed more than 15,800 acres, was about three miles from campus.

But even though she had a somewhat sleepless night Tuesday, the Hersey High School grad said she is not concerned that the fire will spread toward campus and force an evacuation. That’s in part because a wildfire near Pepperdine last month already scorched the surrounding hills.

The biggest issue Wednesday, she said, was smoke.

“My nose has been on fire,” said Skiera, a sophomore at Pepperdine. “Wearing a mask outside is necessary.”

The gas supply to campus has been shut off, meaning cold showers and limited options at the school cafeteria, and some roads to nearby stores are closed. But the power is still on, so Skiera and fellow athletes who returned to school early for practice — classes aren’t scheduled to resume until next week — are waiting out the fires in their dorms.

“Pepperdine really is one of the safest places to be during the fires,” she said.