Fire disaster in Los Angeles Fires make the gap between rich and poor abundantly clear

dpa

12.1.2025 - 23:24

Based loosely on George Orwell and "Animal Farm": everyone is equal before the fire, but some are more equal. The stark contrasts between rich and poor in LA also play a role in the fire disaster.

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  • Luxury and misery have always existed side by side in California's Los Angeles metropolis. The current fire disaster shows this all the more clearly.
  • On the one hand, Los Angeles is synonymous with Hollywood, glamor, celebrities and ostentation. On the other hand, LA has the second-highest homelessness rate in the country.
  • While wealthy residents want to pay private firefighters to protect their properties, others have to worry about whether their insurance will cover the damage.

City of angels, city of contrasts: Greater Los Angeles is not just a city, but a world of its own. Luxury and misery exist side by side here - even in the face of the current fire disaster.

In everyday life, Los Angeles is the contrast between the luxury shopping mile of Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and the downtown district of Skid Row, where tens of thousands of homeless people live.

On the one hand, Los Angeles is synonymous with Hollywood, glamor, celebrities and ostentation. On the other hand, LA has the second-highest homeless rate in the country. Huge wealth and abject poverty are very close together. In view of the fire disaster, this contrast is now also leading to moral debates.

Search for private firefighters

CNN reported on a real estate manager from LA who was looking for private firefighters via social media. "Pay any amount," the station quoted from the post, which has since been deleted. This triggered strong reactions on social media. "Whose house is saved shouldn't depend on their bank account," CNN quoted a TikTok user as saying.

Thousands of buildings were destroyed or damaged by the fire. According to estimates, the damage and economic losses could run into the hundreds of billions. This is also due to the fact that some of the flames spread through neighborhoods where houses cost several million dollars on average. The particularly affected district of Pacific Palisades is one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in LA.

Many stars have expressed their solidarity with those affected or lent a hand with relief efforts, including actress Jennifer Garner, who distributed food.

Criticism of the complaints of rich stars

Some celebrities have had to leave their homes themselves or have already lost them. Paris Hilton wrote on social media that she had to watch from afar on television as her house in Malibu burned to the ground. She later posted detailed pictures of the remains of the house. Singer Bill Kaulitz documented in an Instagram story how his house in the Hollywood Hills was evacuated. His packed luxury suitcases could be seen in the pictures.

Some users on the internet are bothered by the complaints of rich stars, some of whom have other residences and do not have to fear for their economic existence as a result of such a disaster.

Actress and singer Mandy Moore, who lives in the Altadena suburb that was badly affected by the fire, was particularly criticized. She posted pictures of her completely destroyed neighborhood on Instagram. Miraculously, her house is still largely standing, she wrote. She also shared a donation page for her brother-in-law and his family, which many criticized as hypocritical in view of the actress's presumed wealth.

"The events are devastating, but natural disasters happen all the time, and they usually affect people who don't have millions in the bank," wrote one user on Instagram under a post by Moore. The comment was liked hundreds of times.

Moore reacted to the criticism with a smile. A friend started the fundraiser, she wrote, "and I'm sharing it because people have been asking how they can help. We also just lost most of our lives in a fire. So please pi... yourselves. No one is forcing you to do anything."

The worries of others

At the same time, new stories of ordinary people from the fire zones are becoming known every day. One large family lost several houses in the Eaton Fire. Eight houses belonging to uncles, aunts and cousins of the Williams family, which were within walking distance of each other, burned down completely. Now they are all without a home and have been put up in a hotel in Sherman Oaks, northwest of LA, where there are free rooms for those affected by the fires.

One of the women from the extended family told local station KTLA 5 News about the moment she saw her burnt-down house for the first time: "It was just unbelievable. (...) You can't even imagine it. It felt like war," she said. "That was my house and the only thing left standing is my gate."

In many places where the fire is no longer blazing, disbelieving people like her stand before the rubble of their homes, searching through mountains of ash and scrap metal for remnants of their lives. Some do not lose their homes to the fire, but their jobs or their economic existence, because restaurants, cafés or stores are also destroyed.

Some have to worry about whether their insurance will cover the damage. According to US media reports, some major providers had already restricted insurance cover in the areas now affected last spring due to the high risk of forest fires and had withdrawn it completely for certain new buildings. This could leave some homeowners without adequate insurance cover. Others have no insurance at all.

United in pain

But some have also lost the most precious thing: loved ones. According to the authorities, at least sixteen people have died in the fires so far. The number could rise as soon as destroyed areas are extensively searched.

And here, in front of the fire, everyone is suddenly the same again. The pain of losing someone is the same for everyone - rich and poor alike. As is the grief over lost memories in a home that cannot be compensated for with money.