Zaria Herring was not expecting to lose her home on Jan. 8.
“My grandma’s owned that home literally my entire life. I grew up right around the street. Right before we evacuated, my neighbor said, ‘I remember when you were a kid,’” she shared with the Sentinel.
With the home in her family for three generations, it was a place where she made lifelong memories, and it was all lost to the destructive force of the recent Los Angeles wildfires.
Zaria was working a typical day on the evening of the evacuation.
“I work in Culver City off of West Adams. I went into the office that day; it was kind of a normal workday. I came home around 5, and the winds were really bad. I was like, ‘Grandma, I hope the power doesn’t go out,’ and 10 minutes later, the power went out. It was like a movie.”
What followed was a tense night, as the wind shook the house equal to that of a low-magnitude earthquake. Zaria and her friend, who was visiting for one night before moving into her own apartment, fought to keep warm and tried to doze in and out of sleep.
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“We woke up at 2 in the morning, looking outside and could only see smoke.” Zaria woke her grandma, sensing that they needed to leave soon.
“The wind was getting worse. We had this gate at the side of my house that had fallen, and screens were falling. At 4 a.m., evacuation orders came through, and the family scrambled to leave.
“I took a pair of underwear, face wash, thinking I’d just come back the next day and grab my purse.”
The situation escalated quickly, with reports of looters in the area, and Zaria, her friend, and her grandmother rushed to get the car packed. But Zaria faced another life-or-death obstacle: she didn’t have enough gas to drive to safety. Luckily, her friend and her grandma had their own cars, so Zaria decided to leave hers behind.
“I park my car, move my bag in the car with my best friend and go. At this point, the whole street was covered in smoke, the cops are driving up and down the street saying, ‘You have to go!’ Everybody was leaving but thought they’d be back.”
While Zaria’s grandmother went to their late great grandmother’s home, she and her friend drove to Zaria’s parents’ home in the Inland Empire. The journey was far from over.
“We were just chilling on the couch around 9 a.m., and [my friend’s] apartment company calls her and says you need to sign your lease now or we’re going to give your apartment away.’ So, we hop back in the car to get the U-Haul parked in the driveway of my [Altadena] house,” she said. They were met with downed power lines and impassable roads.
When they finally reached the property, nothing was left. “I called my mom and was like, ‘Mom, everything is burned down. I literally only have the clothes on my back.’” Zaria was devastated, unsure how to tell her grandmother that their home was gone.
“I don’t come from a rich family, and I work so hard for everything that I own,” she mourned. Nevertheless, she’s grateful for the support of her family and the outpouring of help she’s received.
“I just feel very blessed that I have a large family to support me. I went to Target today and was able to get my bath and hair products.”
Looking forward, Zaria is hopeful despite the devastation.
“I was talking to my friend [before the New Year], and we were saying, ‘2025 is going to be a brand new year for us.’ And for me, it is… it just looks a little bit different than we thought.”
Despite the destruction, Zaria is determined to rebuild and create a new life for herself and her family.
To donate to Zaria Herring, please visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-zaria-herring-rebuild-after-wildfires
