SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
The National Weather Service says Los Angeles and Ventura Counties are under high wildfire risk through Wednesday. That’s because the dry, gusty winds that have fueled the fires are expected to pick back up and could exacerbate the already devastating fires. One of the hardest hit areas is a neighborhood called Altadena. Many of the people have learned that the homes they left behind were burned to the ground. Joan Nguyen is one of them. When I spoke with her, she began by describing what her neighborhood looked like when she returned briefly after evacuating.
JOAN NGUYEN: Oh, gosh. It just was unrecognizable. I mean, it just looked like nuclear warfare, really. I mean, it was buildings burned down, things that were unrecognizable, and it just felt just so sad to see this, like, beautiful community just turn into rubble and ash.
DETROW: Yeah. When you connect with neighbors and friends, how do you even begin the conversations?
NGUYEN: Well, we check in with them. You know, a lot of it is we’re talking about logistics right now. And it’s so hard, right? We’re in this emotional state, but you also have to be proactive about things. We’re trying to remind each other of next steps and things to do with insurance and debunking myths that are floating around on the internet about what to do. And then there’s moments of – how are you doing? – of course, and checking in on them.
DETROW: One thing – I’m curious how you and your family are thinking about this because on one hand, in a situation like this, a lot of people will say, my family is OK, we’re OK. Physical items are replaceable. But on the other hand, a home is a home, and you’ve built your life there. And I’m wondering how you’re thinking about what this means going forward and what you’ve lost in this moment personally.
NGUYEN: I’ve tried to talk to my kids about – we’ve always said, even before this happened, that things are just things.
DETROW: Yeah.
NGUYEN: And we tried to emphasize that to them. Yesterday, I was driving with my husband, taking the kids from visiting a friend and going back to my mother-in-law’s house. And I said, OK, come on, guys, it’s time to go home. And then my son – he’s 6 – and he’s like, we don’t have a home. And that just really broke me. So it’s really…
DETROW: Yeah.
NGUYEN: …Trying to hold on to those mantras and adages. And sometimes I go back on that, too. I would always say things are just things. But then now I think about it, and some things are special. I mean, we glorify the trophies that they got for swim meets or the drawing that they’ve made. So we’ve – also have given value to those things too. And then now to say and to reduce it down to this mantra that things are just things also feels not right. I think for my husband and I, you know, losing the home has been really hard because we’ve come from not a lot. We’re both children of Vietnamese refugees. So, you know, this is really, like, the – like, as corny as it sounds, right? – the quintessential, like, American dream.
DETROW: Yeah.
NGUYEN: You go, you know, work hard. You build a house. And we’ve been there for 10 years, and it felt so prideful for us to be able to have that home. And to see that all being kind of reduced to nothing has been really tough for us.
DETROW: That is Joan Nguyen. Thank you so much and good luck with sorting through all of this over the next few weeks and months.
NGUYEN: Thank you so much.
Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
