Closure on a home lost in the Pacific Palisades fire

Geoff sees his Pacific Palisades home for the first time since fleeing the fire. Photo by Bo Bridges (BoBridgesgallery.com)

Photographs by Bo Bridges (bobridgesgallery.com)

Editor’s note: Bo Bridges is a photographer specializing in extreme sports, and owner of Bo Bridges Gallery in Manhattan Beach. The following is excerpted from an interview with Bridges about photographing a friend’s and her children’s return to the site of their Pacific Palisades home, which was lost in last week’s fire.

“Thursday morning, Rebo and I loaded up his SUV with water and snacks. A friend, and her son and daughter had been evacuated from the Palisades and wanted to go back to their home and get some stuff. They didn’t know if their house had made it or not.

“As we drove into the town, my jaw dropped. There was nothing but rubble. Burnt cars. Metal dripping into the streets. 

“I was at the World Trade Center on September 12. I thought of the ash and rubble there. This was bigger. It was decimation all the way from the mountains to the edge of the ocean.

“Eventually we got to their house, just past Pacific Palisades High. 

“They got out of the car, and then I got out. That’s when I photographed the son, Geoff, with his hands on top of his head. I imagined myself and my family in their situation. They seemed really grounded, really strong.

“There was nothing left of the house. They found a safe and were really happy. I helped them pull it from the rubble and carry it back to the car. They didn’t want to put it in the car because it was covered in ash. So they opened it there. It was empty, except for ashes. They left with a ceramic doll the daughter had made in ceramics class, a doorknob and a license plate. 

“We drove down Sunset to Pacific Coast Highway. Cars that had been bulldozed to the side of the road to make way for the fire engines were melted into the ground.

“I photographed a fire truck racing by and when I looked at the picture back in my studio I saw it was a Manhattan Beach fire truck.”

“The family asked me over to the Manhattan Beach home they were staying at to watch the Notre Dame vs Penn State football game. There were three other families who had been evacuated at the house. About 15 people. I said no. I thought they would want time alone. 

“My son who is friends with some of their sons kept calling saying they wanted me to come over and bring the photos. I thought, no, bad idea, too soon. But he kept calling, so I put some photos on my laptop and watched the last quarter of the game with them. I still thought showing the photos was a bad idea. But when the game ended, they had me hook up my laptop to their big screen TV.

“Afterwards, they thanked me. They said it helped them find closure.” 

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