BRENTWOOD — Thick smoke streaked the late-evening sky, a red glow flickered ominously on the horizon, and the hurried shuffle of evacuees filled the air. Last Friday, more than 200 veterans living on the West Los Angeles VA campus joined a grim exodus, fleeing the approaching Palisades Fire in a precautionary evacuation ordered by officials concerned about shifting winds.
The blaze never reached VA property, but its unpredictable path prompted authorities to act swiftly. Buses and vans carried the veterans off the sprawling campus under the cover of darkness. Some clutched duffel bags or backpacks, while others held tightly to pets, leaving behind what had become a temporary sanctuary.
For many, the campus offered a fragile foothold on the path to stability, a small reprieve from the turmoil of homelessness. But the evacuation, and the upheaval that followed, threatens to erode that progress.
“They wanted to get ahead of the fire,” said Rob Reynolds, a veterans’ advocate closely following the situation. The buses ferried the veterans to a congregate shelter at Pan Pacific Park in West Hollywood, where some found themselves disoriented in a new, uncertain setting.
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