Running From the L.A. Fires With Nowhere to Go

Photo: Michelle Groskopf

On Wednesday morning at 11 a.m., photographer Michelle Groskopf arrived at the Pasadena Convention Center, where dozens of evacuees from the nearby Eaton fire had fled to safety. “The majority of the people had nowhere else to go,” Groskopf said. “There were homeless people, seniors, and families who had lost everything, people maybe didn’t have other options. It definitely had the feeling of being very different from all the rich people who are fleeing to hotels and whatnot.”

Run with aid from the Red Cross, the Pasadena Civic Center is one of several sites across Los Angeles where residents who escaped the worst fires in the city’s history have gathered as they wait with uncertainty. “Some people didn’t even know what happened to their homes, they just assumed,” Groskopf said. “They were like, Oh, my neighbor’s house burned down, so mine probably did, too. They weren’t given the opportunity to go back to see.” —Matt Stieb

Photo: Michelle Groskopf

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