PERSONAL: 'It doesn't feel real' - Palisades family returns to home reduced to ash and rubble

Record ID: 1898393

  • Title: PERSONAL: 'It doesn't feel real' - Palisades family returns to home reduced to ash and rubble
  • Date: 10th January 2025
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 9, 2025) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MOTHER KELLY FOSTER AND HER 11-YEAR-OLD SON COMBING THROUGH RUBBLE OF WHAT WAS THEIR FAMILY HOME IN THE PACIFIC PALISADES AFTER IT WAS DESTROYED IN THE WILDFIRES RUBBLE OF DESTROYED HOME WITH FATHER ERIC FOSTER COMBING THROUGH RUBBLE VARIOUS OF FAMILY COMBING THROUGH THE RUBBLE (SOUNDBITE) (English) KELLY FOSTER, 44-YEAR-OLD PSYCHIATRIST WHOSE PACIFIC PALISADES HOME WAS DESTROYED IN THE WILDFIRES, SAYING: "We go to Santa Monica. The winds are high. I'm starting to get really terrified there. Also thinking, you know, is this all going to spread? We're watching these plumes of smoke in the sky. And yes, we were glued to the TV. We were glued to the TV for hours. And I'm a psychiatrist, so I'm sitting there and I'm both thinking, this is not healthy. This is not good. We shouldn't be just watching this, like this isn't helpful. At the same time, it felt dangerous to not watch. It felt like this is where we're getting our information. We have to watch. We have to watch how it's progressing. Stayed up till about 3 or 4 in the morning. Forced ourselves to go to sleep, you know? Yeah, it's been, it's been a tough, a tough time." VARIOUS OF KELLY AND HER SON, SAM, WALKING THROUGH RUBBLE OF DESTROYED HOUSE (SOUNDBITE) (English) KELLY FOSTER, 44-YEAR-OLD PSYCHIATRIST WHOSE PACIFIC PALISADES HOME WAS DESTROYED IN THE WILDFIRES, SAYING: "We found out through word of mouth yesterday, confirmed from our neighbors who hiked in that our house was gone. I know that all of our neighbors had access to videos and photos, but when my husband left for work, he asked that none of us look at any of the photos and none of us come here until all five of us could be together for the first time. So I have not looked at any of the photos of our street or of our house." SMOKE RISING FROM NEIGHBORING HOMES DESTROYED IN FIRE WATER DROPPING FLYING OVERHEAD VARIOUS OF KELLY FOSTER AND HER SON, SAM, WALKING TOWARDS THEIR HOUSE THROUGH A DESTROYED NEIGHBORHOOD AND TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) KELLY FOSTER, 44-YEAR-OLD PSYCHIATRIST WHOSE PACIFIC PALISADES HOME WAS DESTROYED IN THE WILDFIRES, SAYING: "I can't describe it. What was it like? I really have, I have no words. I don't have any words for what it's like." KELLY AND HER SON, SAM WALKING APPROACHING THEIR HOUSE KELLY AND SAM LOOKING AT BOX OF BOOKS OUTSIDE THEIR HOUSE THAT SURVIVED THE FLAMES VIEW OF BURNT PAGES FROM A BOOK WITH A ROCK SHAPED LIKE A BIRD AND A CUP ON TOP VARIOUS OF KELLY AND SAM LOOKING AT AND READING PAGES FROM BOOKS THAT SURVIVED THE FLAMES (SOUNDBITE) (English) KELLY FOSTER, 44-YEAR-OLD PSYCHIATRIST WHOSE PACIFIC PALISADES HOME WAS DESTROYED IN THE WILDFIRES, SAYING: "Yes. I mean, this was a house that was loved. And I think that that's when I first came to the house today, I just started bawling. And it's almost like I personified my house. And I'm like, I hope you didn't hurt. I hope this didn't hurt. I hope this, you know, I hope this didn't hurt."
  • Embargoed: 24th January 2025 06:52
  • Keywords: California Los Angeles Pacific Palisades Palisades Wildfires
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
  • City: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
  • Country: US
  • Topics: North America
  • Reuters ID: LVA001219010012025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The Foster family returned to their dream home in the Pacific Palisades on Thursday (January 9) to find their idyllic Los Angeles retreat reduced to ash and rubble.
    "I can't describe it... I have no words. I don't have any words for what it's like," said mother, Kelly Foster, a 44-year-old psychiatrist, after she combed through the rubble with her husband Eric, and their three kids, Sam, Ada and Wyatt.
    Looking for a safe and quiet place to raise their growing family, the Fosters bought their Palisades home in 2011. They had experienced evacuations orders before, but said they always felt certain that their home was safe from wildfires.
    All of that changed on Tuesday (January 7) when the Palisades fire broke out.
    The Foster's 16-year-old daughter, Ada, was home alone when the evacuation order was issued. Her mother rushed home with their youngest, 11-year-old Sam, they grabbed their most treasured possessions - family photo albums -- and fled to their grandmother's house in Santa Monica.
    "It's been a tough, a tough time... watching these plumes of smoke in the sky. And yeah, we were glued to the TV. We were glued to the TV for hours," recalled Kelly, as the dread of what was taking place began to sink in.
    "We found out through word of mouth yesterday, confirmed from our neighbors who hiked in that our house was gone," she added.
    The destruction of the family home and the entire neighborhood has not been easy for the family.
    "It's just all the memories here. So, walking in, it was extremely hard. I walked around the side, tried to just get in there a little bit more and just felt, I just became sick. I just couldn't even... Yes, it's hard," said 16-year-old Ada, whose school was also damaged in the fire.
    "I mean, driving through, you've seen all the videos on social media. It's hard for me to even go on my phone because I'm just like, I don't want to see anything. It just makes me so sad. But then you come through here and you see it all and it's like, it is a nightmare. This is just. This isn't real. You never think it's going to happen to you. And then it does," she added.
    In spite of the devastation around them, the family plan to rebuild their house and say they are hopeful that the Palisades will make a comeback.
    (Production: Sandra Stojanovic, Omar Younis)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register