Little did the crew at Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) Fire Station 23 in the Pacific Palisades know that their lives and the lives of their neighbors would change forever on January 7, 2025.

After receiving an initial call for a brush fire at 10:30 am that morning, LAFD Firefighter Jon Shibuya and his fellow members, Firefighter Robert Appleford and Engineer Tim Larson, spent the next 48 consecutive hours doing everything they could to save their community.

The crew was headed back up to their assignment after refilling the engine’s water tank at their station during the grueling two-day firefight when Firefighter Shibuya noticed an unburned house amid flying embers. Engineer Larson recalls him saying, “I think that house is going to take off,” or catch fire. The crew had a unique opportunity to save that home, and the adjacent homes that had not yet caught – but they had to move quickly.

The house was already starting to burn when they stopped the engine. Firefighter Shibuya kicked open the garage door and went inside, tearing open the floor and drywall and attacking the fire before it could spread. Engineer Larson later noted that had they lost this house, the fire would have burned every other home on that block until it got to the end of the street.  

Saving this house and the nearby homes may seem like a win, and it certainly was for the owner of the home who later visited Fire Station 23’s crew. But small successes paled in comparison to the devastation that left a permanent impact on these firefighters and their Palisades community.

Firefighter Darin Hebert remembered following an engine through the thick smoke to get to the station for his Wednesday morning shift on January 8. The initial crew was still high in the canyons with the engine when he arrived at the station to find the power and gas completely out.

Armed only with a brush patrol - a smaller apparatus designed to combat wildfires in remote and rugged areas – Firefighter Hebert and Captain Cesar Garcia went to work in the neighborhood just behind their station.

“These guys were putting their heart and soul into trying to save these houses,” Engineer Larson emphasized.

The Palisades Fire checked every box of a worst-case scenario, from the high winds and lack of air support as a result, to the natural funnels created by the topography. Even the proximity of homes and structures to each other made it easier for the fire to jump quickly and gain more fuel.

The Fire Station 23 members who were part of the initial response average more than two decades of experience as LAFD firefighters. But no one had experienced this level of devastation.

It wasn’t until the fifth day that the crew fully understood the scale of destruction beyond their “first in,” or the specific zone in the Palisades that Fire Station 23 responds to emergencies within. They emphasized that there’s no such thing as the fire being “over” for their community members, many of whom have expressed to their local firefighters that they don’t plan on returning.

They’ve also had their fair share of frustrated neighbors, questioning why their home wasn’t saved. The firefighters empathize with their anger and feel it themselves. The road to recovery is long for those closest to the crisis.

“There’s nothing you can say to ease someone’s pain who lost everything,” Firefighter Appleford said.

Firefighter Shibuya had friends nearby who lost their homes. Firefighter Hebert remembered discovering that 600 units of a local trailer home community had been decimated. “It was devastating for all of us to see our community burn the way it did,” he shared.

“We’ve all had lessons learned, and our responsibility is to pass that knowledge on to the next generation of firefighters,” Captain Garcia emphasized. Part of understanding those lessons is being proud of what they were able to do, something that the crew challenges each other to practice.

“One day at a time,” said Firefighter Appleford of how the team is moving forward. He and the crew at Fire Station 23 have since helped neighbors sift through debris, open safes, and try to salvage and share memories. Their morning routines look like connecting with construction workers, building companies, and hazmat teams to understand how their community is going to change.

“We’ve been here for so many years,” he emphasized. “These people are our neighbors. We want to do everything we can for them.”