L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 2025 www.italoamericano.org 4 T h e S a n t a A n a w i n d s c o n t i n u e to blow, terrible a n d m e r c i l e s s , transforming the serene landscapes of Pal- isades, Altadena, Pasadena, Hollywood, and Santa Moni- ca into scenes of devastation. A crimson sky looms over- head, with ash falling like snow. Entire sections of Los Angeles have been leveled, made unrecognizable. Hun- dreds of thousands of people have been evacuated, and the damage is incalculable— beyond what even the most c a t a s t r o p h i c f i l m s c o u l d imagine—leaving a wound in the collective soul that only time might heal. It is difficult to capture the emotions of those living t h r o u g h a t r a g e d y t h a t i s both collective and deeply p e r s o n a l . W h e n t h e f i r e s erase your world, your mem- ories, and your daily life in just a matter of hours, even finding a new place to call home becomes an immense challenge. "I have nothing left but my life," says one survivor—everything and nothing at once. His white hair and tired, disoriented gaze reflect the despair of starting over without the strength or age to rebuild. Sitting in a wheelchair, he surveys the remnants of his h o m e i n a n e i g h b o r h o o d r e d u c e d t o a s h e s . W h e r e peaceful suburban streets once stood, now lies a war zone. He is just one of many survivors captured in the r e p o r t s o f P i e r g i o r g i o G i a c o v a z z o , w h o d o c u - mented the devastating Los Angeles fires for Italian tele- v i s i o n . G i a c o v a z z o ' s p e r- s p e c t i v e i s t h a t o f a s e a - soned journalist. A foreign correspondent for TG2, he was the last RAI reporter to remain in Kyiv when Russia launched its surprise attack on the Ukrainian capital in the winter of 2022. Born in Rome, Giacovazzo has been a f a m i l i a r f a c e t o I t a l i a n public television viewers for nearly 30 years. L'Italo- Americano thanks him for agreeing to be the voice nar- rating this tragedy. For RAI, he interviewed r e s c u e r s a n d v o l u n t e e r s , walked through the devas- tated neighborhoods, and joined ordinary people and celebrities as they searched for what remained of their lives. Among them was Ital- ian-American actor Sebast- i a n H a r r i s o n , w h o s p e n t hours trapped by the flames that consumed his ocean- front villa. H o w w o u l d y o u d e s c r i b e L o s A n g e l e s today? Deeply wounded and in shock. The confirmed death toll is around thirty, but the s e a r c h c o n t i n u e s i n t h e c h a r r e d r u b b l e f o r a n unknown number of miss- i n g p e r s o n s . A n d t h i s i m m e n s e t r a g e d y i s o n l y b e g i n n i n g . T h o u s a n d s o f families are still trying to figure out how to move for- ward without their homes, which for many also served as their workplaces. T a k e G l e n d a A l v a r a d o from Altadena, for exam- p l e — a m o t h e r o f t h r e e , including an autistic son, who now faces the daunting prospect of paying both her mortgage and an additional rent, as her insurance will c o v e r o n l y a t h i r d o f h e r home's value. It all falls on h e r s h o u l d e r s , w h i l e h e r autistic son cries, heartbro- ken that he couldn't save his b e l o v e d t o y t r a i n s . H e s o l e m n l y p r o m i s e s h i s mother that one day he'll invent a time machine to go back and rescue their home. The scale of the disas- t e r i s u n i m a g i n a b l e . W h a t s t r u c k y o u t h e most? That this happened in the most powerful country in the world. That the forces of n a t u r e a r e m i g h t i e r t h a n wealth. That much of this could have been avoided. One thing I've always found astonishing as an Italian is the presence of power poles in the United States. Yes, in 2025, power lines are still not buried underground as they are in Italy; instead, they rest on wooden poles! When the Santa Ana winds blow at speeds of up to 160 k i l o m e t e r s p e r h o u r , i t ' s almost inevitable that some o f t h e s e m a s s i v e w o o d e n structures will collapse onto the dry, arid land of South- ern California, with sparks from the high-voltage wires igniting perfect conditions for fires. In a region that regularly faces devastating wildfires, you wouldn't expect budget cuts to affect the very fire- fighters who are essential in such crises. During the first 2 4 h o u r s , t h e i r n u m b e r s were woefully insufficient until reinforcements arrived from across the U.S., as well as from Canada and Mexico. T h e m a l f u n c t i o n i n g f i r e hydrants, likely due to poor maintenance, were another R e s i l i e n c e a m i d t h e fl a m e s : s t o r i e s o f survival and loss in Los Angeles BARBARA MINAFRA NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS CONTINUED TO PAGE 6 Firefighters have been fighting relentlessly against the flames that have been engulfing Los Angeles (Photo: Ringo Chiu/Shutterstock)

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