'Everything I knew burned down around me': A journalist's harrowing account of LA's devastating 2025 wildfires In the summer of 2025, a series of catastrophic wildfires swept through Southern California, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. At the heart of the crisis was the Pacific Palisades, a picturesque coastal community in Los Angeles that journalist Jacob Soboroff had called home for his entire life. Soboroff, who had reported extensively on the growing threat of wildfires in the region, found himself at the center of the unfolding disaster, bearing witness to the harrowing scenes that unfolded as the flames advanced. In his newly released book, "Firestorm," Soboroff offers a gripping, minute-by-minute account of the ordeal, providing a powerful and personal perspective on one of the most devastating natural disasters to ever hit the City of Angels. The fires first ignited on a hot, dry day in early September, fueled by strong winds and tinder-dry vegetation. Within hours, the flames had spread rapidly, consuming homes and businesses and forcing thousands of residents to flee. For Soboroff and his family, the decision to evacuate was a gut-wrenching one, as they watched helplessly as the place they had called home for generations was engulfed by the relentless blaze. "Everything I knew, everything I had ever known, was burning down around me," Soboroff writes. "The house I grew up in, the streets I had walked a thousand times, the schools and parks and stores that were the fabric of my life – all of it was being reduced to ash and ember." As Soboroff and his family raced to safety, he couldn't help but feel a deep sense of loss and uncertainty. "I had always thought of the Palisades as this oasis, this refuge from the chaos and danger of the outside world," he reflects. "And now, in the blink of an eye, it had been transformed into a war zone, a place of fear and devastation." In the days and weeks that followed, Soboroff found himself grappling with the aftermath of the fires, both as a journalist and as a member of the community. He reported on the heroic efforts of first responders and the struggles of displaced residents, while also coming to terms with the personal toll of the disaster. "It wasn't just the physical destruction that was so overwhelming," Soboroff writes. "It was the emotional toll, the sense of having lost something that could never be replaced. The Palisades was more than just a place to me – it was a part of my identity, a reflection of who I was and where I came from." The 2025 wildfires in Los Angeles were part of a broader trend of increasingly severe and frequent natural disasters driven by climate change. In the years leading up to the crisis, scientists had repeatedly warned of the growing risk of such events, as rising temperatures, prolonged droughts, and other environmental factors created the perfect conditions for devastating wildfires. Despite these warnings, however, the scale and intensity of the 2025 fires caught many by surprise. The blazes ultimately consumed tens of thousands of acres, destroyed thousands of homes and businesses, and claimed the lives of dozens of people. The economic and social impact on the region was staggering, with many communities struggling to recover in the aftermath. For Soboroff, the experience of covering the fires and their aftermath was both deeply personal and professionally challenging. "As a journalist, I felt a responsibility to tell the story, to give voice to the people who were suffering," he writes. "But at the same time, I was grieving the loss of my own home, my own community, and it was difficult to separate those emotions from the work I was doing." In the years since the 2025 fires, Soboroff has continued to report on the ongoing challenges and efforts to rebuild and resilience in the region. He has also become a vocal advocate for greater investment in wildfire prevention and mitigation efforts, as well as for policies and initiatives aimed at addressing the root causes of climate change. "The fires of 2025 were a wake-up call, a stark reminder of the very real and devastating consequences of our failure to address the environmental crises we're facing," Soboroff writes. "But they also showed the incredible resilience and strength of the human spirit – the way communities can come together in the face of adversity and work to rebuild and recover." As Soboroff reflects on his experiences during that fateful summer, he hopes that his book will not only serve as a powerful and moving account of the disaster, but also as a call to action for policymakers, community leaders, and individuals to take urgent steps to mitigate the growing threat of climate-related disasters. "The fires may have burned down everything I knew," he writes, "but they also ignited a fire within me – a determination to do everything in my power to ensure that no one else has to endure the kind of loss and suffering that my community went through."