Wildfires

‘I saw it coming': Tufts student recalls wildfire burning near her Malibu home

Her home was spared, but when she finally got news of how destructive the flames were, she was stunned

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A Tufts University student made it back to the Massachusetts campus after a harrowing end to winter break at her home in Southern California.

Malibu native Kylie McNulty and her family were prepared to evacuate their home if the raging fires came too close.

“I saw the fire. I saw it coming from the mountains right when I was on PCH [Pacific Coast Highway]. But in the moment, I didn't think it was anything … because fires are just kind of part of our life over there,” she said.

But McNulty soon realized, as she drove back to her family’s Malibu home, this wasn’t just any wildfire.

She found the Pacific Coast Highway closed because of the Palisades Fire, then spent days in her home without power or much communication from the outside, with a fire bag packed ready to evacuate.

Tom Nicholson lost almost all of his possessions, but a few mementos from Massachusetts he was able to save from the ashes are giving him hope, he says.

“I think any photo album that I have come across in my house, I put in my fire bag. You know, it's just, like, things that you can't replace,” said McNulty. “It's not a lot of clothes. It's like my childhood stuffed animals and photo albums and little trinkets that I've picked up in my life.”

Her home was spared, but when she finally got news of how destructive the flames were, she was stunned: “I was at the Palisades Village three days before the fires broke out, going to the ice cream store. And I would have just, you know– it felt like the Palisades was sort of impenetrable in some way. Like I just would have never, I would not believe you if you told me that this had happened there.”

But it did, and she fears life in that part of California will never be the same.

“The thought of driving down PCH and not seeing like the landmarks of like, there's that friend's house and, like, that's the house that I went to for that birthday party. Like, it's just like that feeling is kind of insane. There's a lot of mobilization and like efforts to unite everyone and help us recover, even though the fire is still burning. It's just like that's the crazy part too, is like, this isn't over yet.”

She said she hopes people who see her story look for ways to donate to those affected or spread the word on ways to help.

James Michael Cummings, who is from Massachusetts and lives in Los Angeles, drove through the night to stay with family in Las Vegas as the fires raged in southern California.
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