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: