Content warning: natural disaster, displacement, unfair labor practices
2025 jolted Southern Californians with the catastrophic force of the Santa Ana winds — exacerbated by climate change and colonialism — and the wildfires that razed the Pacific Palisades, Altadena, and Pasadena communities in their wake.
Plumes of smoke emerging from the Palisades Fire could be seen from Dickinson Court early Tuesday, Jan. 7, around 6 miles from UCLA. The following day, students awoke to an orange-tinged sky blotted by dim clouds, warning onlookers to remain indoors.
California administration endangers students and Angelinos
Burned structures and vehicles released dangerous particles such as asbestos, lead, and arsenic — invisible to the naked eye and generally unmeasured by the Air Quality Index (AQI). According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), an AQI primarily measures carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ground-level ozone, and particulate matter such as PM2.5 and PM10. Lisa Martin, director of UCLA’s Office of Emergency Management, stated in a campuswide email that “air quality levels in Westwood remain within normal levels” that morning, citing UCLA’s AQI.
Without urgent campus directives, many students attended lectures without proper respirators. The EPA recommends wearing an N95 or P100 mask to protect against wildfire smoke and ash particles in exposed areas. Many who sought masks were unaware of distribution locations due to limited campuswide communication.
Last August, UC President Michael V. Drake directed UC Chancellors to prohibit “[m]asking to conceal identity … with the intent of intimidating any person or group, or for the purpose of evading or escaping discovery, recognition, or identification in the commission of violations of law or policy” — a mandate that endangers the well-being of marginalized students. It also could disproportionately impact students wearing Palestinian keffiyehs, which are typically worn as a neck wrap with a respirator or a headdress that could cover one’s face.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced that city officials considered banning masks at protests two months prior, following the pro-Palestinian protests and university encampments erected in 2024. The UC’s vague ban and municipal-level anti-mask sentiments have rippled into a larger-scale health risk against the ongoing spread of COVID-19 and harmful air quality.
Chancellor Julio Frenk announced the cancellation of undergraduate courses and remote instruction for graduate students for the remainder of Week 1 after an entire day of in-person classes, which caused commuting students, faculty, and staff to seek accommodations on their own.
That Saturday, students received an email stating that all courses would be conducted remotely the following week. Tens of thousands had voluntarily evacuated Westwood as UCLA had been adjacent to evacuation warning and mandatory evacuation zones, the threat of the Palisades Fire proving uncertain.
UCLA’s Student Labor Advocacy Project (SLAP) and the UC Divest Coalition at UCLA (UCLA Divest) held a remote town hall meeting on Thursday, Jan. 16. SLAP and UCLA Divest representatives informed attending community members that ASUCLA workplaces, including the Kerckhoff Coffee House, UCLA Store, and Hill Top Shop, remained open with reduced hours during Week 2. UCLA Residential Life initially required resident assistants to remain onsite if they could not find coverage. Some faced disciplinary action for prioritizing their safety by voluntarily evacuating.
“We keep us safe” amid the LA fires
Student grassroots organizations have advocated for workers and provided resources to the Westwood community amid UCLA’s inadequate responses. SLAP established a petition to “immediately and retroactively” enforce hazard pay rates for returning workers, distribute essential personal protective equipment (PPE) for staff, grant paid time off for staff who voluntarily evacuated, and provide protection against retaliation for those unable to work.
The Disabled Student Union’s (DSU) advocacy for the Health Promotional Initiative ensured that PPE was available at 25 locations on campus. Throughout January, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at UCLA supplied free masks, hot meals, hygiene care items, clothes, and harm reduction resources to local unhoused individuals, workers, and students via their Westwood Mutual Aid project.
Undergraduate Student Association Council (USAC) External Vice President Javier Nuñez-Verdugo and USAC President Adam Tfayli have compiled and shared information about evacuation protocols for areas adjacent to UCLA, mutual aid resources, and on-campus mask distribution.
When Chancellor Frenk announced the return to in-person courses on Tuesday, Jan. 21, DSU led a petition demanding a hybrid format to support the needs of students with health risks and those displaced by the wildfires. In less than three days DSU acquired more than 450 signatures, 20 representing campus organizations.
Despite students’ concerns, the Academic Senate refused to offer hybrid classes. As before, it instructed DSU and allied petitioners to seek personal accommodations by deferring to the Center for Accessible Education (CAE). Often, only directives from the administration prompt faculty to accommodate students. DSU nonetheless remained steadfast in advocating for ongoing mask access on campus and organizing an email campaign to pressure the Academic Senate.
UCLA Divest also distributed masks on Bruin Walk and by the Hill across Week 3. On Instagram, the coalition drew importance to mutual aid amid the wildfire crisis and institutional neglect: “As the LA fires continue to burn, UCLA would rather continue operations at the expense of workers, students, and community members than evacuate or move to remote learning. It’s more important now than ever to take care of each other and ourselves. We keep us safe!”
Across the 405 freeway, Filipino-led grassroots organizations gathered to provide resources to San Fernando Valley (SFV) community members affected by the Hurst fire, including Migrante SFV, the Philippines US Solidarity Organization (PUSO) SFV, local Anakbayan branches (SFV, Northridge, and UCLA), and Aetna Street Solidarity.
Aetna Street Solidarity hosted a free market in Van Nuys on Saturday, Jan. 18, distributing winter clothing, hot food, gallons of water, hygiene supplies, books, board games, and sleeping materials to impacted community members and unhoused individuals.
Volunteers and activists, moreover, provided proper respirators and flashlights door-to-door in Panorama City. During these visits, they discovered that entire neighborhoods and 300-unit apartment buildings lost electricity for multiple days. The loss of electricity burdened numerous families, especially as food supplies expired and households hosted evacuated relatives. Many members of the Panorama community also worked as caregivers for households in Pasadena and the Pacific Palisades, becoming unemployed as a result of the January fires.
Although the fires are mostly contained today, Angelenos struggle to rebuild, whether they were directly or indirectly impacted by the crisis. It’s dehumanizing to attempt to resume business as usual because entire communities were leveled and livelihoods were lost. Supporting local mutual aid efforts and collectively pressuring administrative bodies remain crucial in serving the needs of our communities.
To learn more, the Mutual Aid LA Network, a team dedicated to fostering abolition and community solidarity, compiled a database of resources for impacted communities and locations accepting donations and volunteers.