3 Things That Folks Facing Los Angeles Fires Can Do, From a Fellow California Wildfire Survivor

The devastation brought on by the wildfires blazing through Los Angeles — ash-covered rubble, the air clouded in a smoky haze — is a scene that’s all too familiar to Jeff Okrepkie.

When the 2017 Tubbs Fire first spread into his community of Coffey Park in Santa Rosa, “an ember roughly the size of a golf ball hit the ground and rolled in front of my house, setting off other embers,” Okrepkie said. “And that’s when I was like, ‘All right, time to get out.’”

The Tubbs Fire is considered one of the most destructive wildfires in California history, destroying 5,600 structures, including around 5% of Santa Rosa’s housing stock. (The most destructive fire remains the 2018 Camp Fire that devastated the town of Paradise.)

Where the fires in Los Angeles fit in this grim record will likely take a while to work out. Multiple fires have burned over 35,000 acres, as of Friday morning, and have destroyed thousands of structures across several neighborhoods. At least 10 people have died.

For many caught up in this disaster, they’re beginning to process the reality that they’ve lost their entire homes — an experience Okrepkie shares, too.

“One of the things that I always hated to hear was, ‘Well, it’s just stuff. And you have your lives, right?’” he said.

“Of course, having that is paramount to anything else. But it’s not just the physical object. It’s the memories that come with those — whether it be Christmas ornaments or baby pictures. “It is a long and difficult process and it is extremely emotional.”

For other Bay Area residents, like Crystal Johnson, the fires can serve as a reminder of how vulnerable Californians are to the threat of climate disasters. She’s originally from Redondo Beach and has been checking in with family and friends.

“Don’t wait. Get your important papers together, medications, you know, important contacts, information, all that kind of stuff. Have it ready to go so that if something happens. Have a plan in place,” Johnson said.

In the long term, given the scale of destruction in Los Angeles, the road to recovery could take years. Okrepkie, who started a nonprofit to rebuild his community of Coffey Park in Santa Rosa, offered the following advice:

‘Do not go through it alone’

A wildfire can be a life-threatening event, taking a toll on people’s physical and emotional health.

According to a 2023 study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, “climate trauma” led to increased instances of chronic mental health problems, like post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

If you know someone who needs help coping in the aftermath of the Los Angeles fires, here’s a list of what you can do.

For Okrepkie, he said one of the most helpful approaches was to seek support among others who’ve gone through a similar experience.

“Everyone’s method of going through this and coping with it is going to be different,” he said. “But I will say: Do not go through it alone. Find a group that you can go through this together with.”

Okrepkie said he’s seen the difference that a community working together can have, after seeing his nonprofit help to raise $1 million to rebuild Coffey Park. He said he was inspired to do this after seeing misinformation on social media about rebuilding — a dynamic that he sees similarly playing out with the Los Angeles fires currently.

‘It takes patience’

The long-term financial impacts of major wildfires can take years to resolve.

“The responses that are needed — whether it be more firefighting resources to information to funds for those that have lost everything — never ceases,” said Okrepkie. “So it’s not just helping them in the first couple of days after. It’s going to be an ongoing thing for weeks, months and likely years.”

Damage from the Tubbs Fires is estimated at over $10 billion, according to one consulting group involved in California wildfire response.

Okrepkie, an insurance agent, said the best thing to do is be patient. He moved back into his new rebuilt home in 2020, around three years after Tubbs Fire burned down his home. He said he’s happy his family is cared for and back in their home neighborhood of Coffey Park.

“I know that there is a natural urge to get back into your home and want to do it as quickly as possible. But it’s going to take patience because everybody is going to be learning for the first time — or relearning — things,” he said.

Where to begin with the insurance claims?

Okrepkie himself said he had no fewer than nine insurance adjusters to sort out all his claims.

He has the following advice to get started:

• Document everything. “Do not agree to anything over the phone,” he said.
• Follow up phone conversations over email to confirm the verbal exchange.
• Accept that the process is complex. Disaster adjusters, typically working out of state, may be reassigned throughout the process — and an adjustor is assigned to a specific line of coverage, from property to additional living expenses. “In case adjuster A leaves and an adjuster B comes in and it’s not documented on their end, you can show them ‘This is what was discussed and this is what was agreed to.’”

An additional complication is that in recent years, insurance companies have pulled back from homeowner policies in California. As for the fires in Los Angeles, there are concerns that the damage could overextend the state’s FAIR Plan — the state’s insurer of last resort.

You can find more details on navigating insurance claims and wildfires here.

Farida Jhabvala Romero and Brian Watt contributed to this report.