Recovery efforts are underway in Los Angeles County after the devastating effects of the Palisades and Eaton Fires in early January — even as more fires rage.  

Twenty-eight people are confirmed dead, tens of thousands of acres have been burned and more than 15,000 structures destroyed, including Pacific Palisades’ Corpus Christi Church.  

Additionally, new blazes have arisen. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is playing a leading role in helping victims to recover from the disaster. And there are many souls in need.

Ruben Corral, 75, had lived in his 2,000-square-foot, 100-year-old Altadena home for 45 years, with his wife and daughter. As the neighborhood backs to the Angeles National Forest, wildfires have been a concern through the years; once before his family was ordered to evacuate.

On the evening of Jan. 7, 100 mph Santa Ana winds and the glow of fire in the distance led his family to evacuate the property; the following day, a friend texted him a picture of his home — it had burned down.  

“It was heartbreaking,” Corral told the Register. “I’m still numb.”

A retiree from the aviation industry, Corral began to wonder how he would pay his bills while waiting for an insurance check to come. His Knights of Columbus council, which meets at St. Elizabeth of Hungary parish in Altadena and of which he is a member, joined with the local chapter of the St. Vincent de Paul Society to provide him with crucial funds.  

“It was a relief,” he recalled. “I knew I could pay the bills.”

Local parishes also provided his family with an ample supply of food, clothing, bedding, toilet paper and other emergency supplies, which he packed into a small house he was able to rent.  

The Knights even bought him a computer after his was lost in the fire. 

“It is wonderful,” he said of the generosity. “People are constantly bringing us stuff. We don’t have any more room.”

Shepherding Hurting Souls

Father Gilbert Guzman is pastor of Sacred Heart parish in Altadena, located just across the street from blocks and blocks of homes which, like the Corrals’ house, were destroyed. The parish itself narrowly escaped the blaze with minimal damage after the parish deacon, Jose Luis Diaz, spent an hour dousing the flames with a garden hose. About 100 Sacred Heart parishioners have lost their homes.

“It has been very difficult, especially when you talk to the children,” Father Guzman told the Register. “They just had the joy of celebrating Christmas, and now their families have lost everything. They’re shell-shocked.” 

Homeless parishioners are living in temporary housing throughout the Los Angeles area, and the parish is distributing $1,000 grants from the archdiocese to help defray expenses. Emergency supplies such as the Corral family received are no longer needed, Father Guzman said, but cash to pay bills very much is.

Sacred Heart is celebrating Mass at nearby St. Andrew’s Church in Pasadena, and, as Sacred Heart must be cleaned and repaired before it can be reoccupied, St. Andrew’s is also offering office space for administrative duties.

The neighborhood opposite Sacred Heart looks like “a war zone,” Father Guzman said. “There are no plants or buildings; all is rubble, ash and debris. It is desolate.”

Even those whose homes survived are surrounded by ruin, he said, and he assumes it will take a year or more to clean up and prepare for building. His parishioners’ emotions run the gamut from hope to despair: “Some people have actually come up to me to say, ‘Now I can build my dream home.’”

It has been a taxing time on him as a priest, with him admitting it was initially hard to look into the faces of those who had lost all, but he added, “I remind myself that I am their father and must remain strong. I remind them that God is with us, we’re alive, and we have one another —  and that love means standing by one another.”

For six days, St. Andrew’s School in Pasadena served as a fire-relief center, offering meals and supplies provided by local businesses. The parish office has been “overwhelmed” with applications for assistance, pastor Father Marcos Gonzalez reported, provided by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the Diocese of Orange Catholic Foundation. The parish’s St. Vincent de Paul Society has also been distributing basic supplies.

St. Andrew’s School, which serves grades pre-K through 8, helped with fire-victim relief by gathering and distributing food, water and clothing.

Students at St. Andrew’s School are among those who have lost homes. One child walked with her mother 2 miles to find their home in ruins; the girl was especially distraught at the loss of her Barbie toyhouse, and a generous St. Andrew’s parishioner replaced it.

Another student left his home after an evacuation order wearing only his foam-padded shoes, leaving his school shoes behind. 

“Adding to his worries, he fretted about his future on the golf team, having left his clubs as well,” Father Gonzalez continued. “Thankfully, we were able to facilitate donations to replace the clubs and shoes he lost.”

The priest told a story of one St. Andrew’s parishioner whose house was destroyed and had a narrow escape. 

“[She] drove through dense smoke so thick it obscured even stop signs,” Father Gonzalez related. “Relying on muscle memory from years of living in Altadena, she navigated her way to safety, ensuring her family was out of harm’s way.”

Another parishioner went to bed the night of Jan. 7 thinking the fire was far away. They awoke at 3:30 a.m. Jan. 8 to find themselves encircled in flames “and literally had to run from the fires in order to escape. It was harrowing.”

Thousands impacted by the Eaton Fire have visited St. Andrew’s for food, clothing toiletries and other essentials, the pastor reported. “Many arrived with only the clothes on their backs and were deeply grateful for a change of clothes. Mothers, in particular, often came to gather items for their families, needing gentle reminders to also take care of themselves.”

Sister Parish Lends a Hand

St. Monica parish in Santa Monica is a “sister parish” to Corpus Christi parish in Pacific Palisades that burned down in the Pacific Palisades Fire earlier this month, explained Merrick Siebenaler, St. Monica’s director of parish life. St. Monica played a leading role in relief efforts for the Corpus Christi community.

The parish school offered emergency relief the day after the fire began; Palisades residents’ biggest immediate needs included items such as furniture and cookware.  

Additionally, as with Altadena residents, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles funneled “no questions asked” grants of $1,000 to those who requested relief — some $120,000 has been distributed so far, with more grants to be offered in the upcoming days.

Additionally, St. Monica’s offered its church to the pastor of Corpus Christi, Msgr. Liam Kidney, to celebrate Mass after his church was destroyed. Some 900 attended that first Mass. Now, Mass is being rotated between nearby parishes at the request of Msgr. Kidney.  

Corpus Christi’s tabernacle, recovered unscathed from the ruins of the parish by a local fire chief, has been prominently displayed in St. Monica’s altar area since its recovery.  

“It brought back many fond memories when Corpus Christi parishioners saw it,” Siebenaler said.

Siebenaler said Pacific Palisades residents are still experiencing shell-shock at the loss of their community; even those whose homes survived have difficulty getting access to the area. Additionally, the burn area is still “toxic,” with basic services such as power, gas and sewer facilities unavailable. Siebenaler added, “I can’t imagine the area will be inhabitable for the next year and a half.”

He told the story of one family he knew who lost their home who, while they have the resources to rebuild, “have lost every memory from the past 25 years: pictures, items from their alma mater, Notre Dame, memorabilia. … They have nothing left. They’re experiencing much sorrow and grief.”

Thomas Aquinas College Builds Helispot

One small, private Catholic institution that may soon be called on to help is Thomas Aquinas College (TAC) in Santa Paula. The school was encircled by the Thomas Fire in 2017 — school administrators trapped at the site resorted to standing in the middle of an athletic field with the sprinklers on as they watched fire crews battle the blaze — and has since made modifications to reduce its risk to fire, reported Mark Kretschmer, director of operations. These include the installation of fire hydrants and a helispot capable of supporting the Ventura County Fire Department’s new Sikorsky Firehawk firefighting helicopters. 

The helispot has access to a waterline and 60,000 gallons of water storage. The college also allows local ranchers to graze cattle on college grounds, reducing the level of vegetation that can dry out and fuel fires.

Installed in 2021, the helispot has been utilized by Firehawks in previous years but not yet in 2025. As of Wednesday afternoon, the Hughes Fire had broken out near Castaic Lake, about 30 miles east of the college, so the helispot may receive use before the present fire season has ended. As Kretschmer told the Register, “We’re not in immediate danger, but it’s headed in our direction.”

Praying Together

Besides material relief, Los Angeles Archbishop José Gómez has celebrated three Masses on behalf of victims. Those Masses were well attended, and the stories participants shared during them were moving, reported Father Juan Ochoa, director of the archdiocesan Office of Divine Worship. 

Father Ochoa underscored the blessing of the Catholic community at this trying time, saying that, “in the midst of tragedy, it’s beautiful to see the goodness in people, donating and volunteering to support their brothers and sisters in need. God’s love is being manifested in these people.”

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Donate in support of Los Angeles-area fire victims: Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

PRAY THE NOVENA

A novena started Jan. 24.