From Vegas to LA Fires
“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths.”
Happy new year! Well, sort of.
Last week I was getting ready to send off my first newsletter for 2025. But the fires in Los Angeles had other plans for me.
On January 6th, Rosa and I headed out to Las Vegas for the CES conference. For those of you who don’t know, the Consumer Electronics Show, better known as CES, is one of the most popular and well respected events in the technology industry. This year, they had over 140,000 attendees and 4,500 exhibitors.
Attending CES and experiencing all the upcoming innovations firsthand had always been a dream of mine. I was planning on taking what I learned there and sharing it with you, as well as look for investment opportunities that my clients could benefit from in the AI, robotics, fintech and quantum computing space.
Getting ready to watch the NVIDIA keynote at CES
That evening, Rosa and I got to see NVIDIA Founder and CEO Jensen Huang’s keynote live. Hearing Jensen share how NVIDIA would continue to innovate and be a leader in the AI and computing sector was reassuring. Especially since it’s currently our top holding in the Futurvest portfolio that I manage.
Jensen Huang on stage at CES
The next day, we got to walk around one of the many exhibit halls and chat with a few of the vendors. I don’t think we even saw 10% of what was on display, before we headed over to the Sphere to watch Delta CEO Ed Bastian share the company’s vision for using technology to enrich the human experience.
Front row seats for the Delta keynote at the Sphere
This immersive experience was unlike any other keynote I had ever been a part of. If the keynote was not mind blowing enough, it was followed up with a concert by Lenny Kravitz. The thousands of people in the crowd left the session in awe.
CEO Ed Bastian shows up on a Delta “airplane”
But as Rosa and I started walking back to our hotel after the concert, talking about what an amazing event we just witnessed, both of our phones started to uncontrollably buzz. Several text messages came in along with missed call notifications. One after another. During the event we realized that both of us didn’t have cell phone reception inside the Sphere, but didn’t think much of it. Boy were we wrong!
Rosa quickly got on the phone with our oldest son Jeremiah. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I watched her jaw drop. Jeremiah let her know that because of the 80 mph hour winds in the Los Angeles area, there was a fire near our home and he had been trying to get a hold of us. After several attempts, the poor kid gave up trying to reach us, grabbed whatever he could in a panic and evacuated the house. I can’t imagine what was going through his mind at that moment.
Rosa and I started to quickly feel guilty that we weren’t there with him and he had to experience that all on his own. But we were happy that he (our 2 other boys were not at the house), along with our neighbors, made it out safely before the fire got closer.
The next morning, Rosa and I drove back to Pasadena to assess the situation and see if we even had a home to come back to. The main road leading to our street on the hill was closed, but we were able to find a back road that was still open. The house was still there!!
As we made our way around the property and to the backyard, we noticed that most of our trees had burned and there were some still smoldering. I couldn’t believe how close the fire had come to our home. It was a miracle that it didn’t burn down!
The burnt trees and hillside in our backyard
Our power was out, so I went into the house to grab a flashlight. It smelled like a campfire inside. I went back outside and we walked over to our neighbors house to check on their property. Rosa noticed an area which was smoldering in their backyard, so she pointed it out to me. All of a sudden, it rapidly burst into flames. I quickly jumped the fence and went into my backyard to grab my hose that was nearby. I jumped back to the neighbor's house and connected the hose to his water line.
Some hot spots that were popping up at our neighbor’s home
Rosa called our neighbor to let him know what was going on while I tried putting out the fire. My crappy little garden hose was no match for the fire that was burning 150 feet away. Luckily, the neighbor was nearby and quickly showed up with firemen who were able to extinguish the flames.
More hot spots that kept coming back
Rosa and I were exhausted. After a long road trip, we didn’t realize that we would be actively trying to put out fires when we got back into town. Once the firemen assured us that everything was under control, we went back to our home and unpacked our clothes from our Las Vegas trip only to pack clothes for the foreseeable future. We weren’t sure where we were going to sleep that night, but we knew we should pack for a few days.
We were able to check into a hotel in downtown Los Angeles that evening, not sure if there would be any other flare ups that could pop up on our block. We were thankful that our family was safe, but this experience was an eye opener for the both of us.
The mandatory evacuation in our neighborhood lasted for a week. We were finally able to get back into the house only a few days ago, but we still didn’t have power, gas and we were told that the water was not safe to drink. Even with all of that, we were just happy to be home.
I can’t believe how close the fires got to our home
You’ll be happy to know that our power just came back on only a few hours before I sat down to write this. There is finally some sense of normalcy, until I get the smell of ash in the house or I step outside and see all the burned trees. Still, I have nothing to complain about.
It has been heartbreaking to hear about all the individuals that lost their homes and were left with nothing. Many of them are my friends and clients. I can’t imagine how tough it has to be for someone to come back and find their home burned to the ground. I was mentally preparing for this as I drove to our house that Wednesday. But even with all the preparation, are you ever really ready to face that reality?
For those affected by the fire, several community organizations are coordinating mutual aid relief. Here is a great list of resources:
If there are any positive aspects to this situation, they are twofold. One, it has been amazing to see the community come together and support those who are in need. Rosa spent the day volunteering at the Santa Anita Fire Donation Center and helped a number of people get clothes and other necessities for their families. We can’t take for granted what we have. Some people are sleeping in their cars or at shelters. It’s going to take them years to get back to where they were.
The second silver lining was that the emergency plan that I put in place for my family, worked. Even though Rosa and I weren’t in town, Jeremiah knew what to do. Next week I’ll go into detail on what we did and the best ways to prepare for an emergency. Till then, stay safe!
~Alex
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