69-year-old Eileen Lopez had stepped out for a walk from the sanctuary of her home at a senior living facility in Pacific Palisades last Tuesday morning.
"And also another neighbor went for a walk," explains Lopez. "And he was up ahead of me and he shouted out, 'There's a fire'. He said, 'You better head back to the facility'. So I went and he told everyone and I went to my room a little bit. After that they gave us these green bags and said, 'Pack enough stuff for three days. We're we're going to evacuate. So I did'.
The resident of the Atria facility was one of the 39 residents who were all evacuated out as the Palisades Fire raged through the area.
"First time for me and my dog. I packed my dog stuff first and I packed my stuff after and we waited till they told us to leave. I was like kind of like, what should I take? I'll take this and this and this and that and this and that," said Lopez.
She explained that the second of two buses to evacuate residents became stuck in traffic and was unable to reach them. So the employees stepped up to move them to safety in their own vehicles.
"God bless all these employees. They put us in their cars and they drove us all the way to Tarzana Atria, and they had us wait there for the chartered bus.
She’s now here at a Conejo Valley Sheraton Hotel alongside the other residents and staff - like Joe Saldana, the executive director of Atria Park Pacific Palisades.
Moving 39 residents—15 of whom are in memory care—during a fast-moving wildfire and winds sounds like a Herculean task, and Saldana says that being prepared helped them to keep themselves and the residents calm, despite the perilous situation.
"I'm very glad that we trained for this because that morning when it happened, we knew what to do. My team knew what to do. And that makes a huge difference. It really does. The stress level was nowhere near what it could have been," said Saldana.
Saldana says they know the building is still standing but has sustained damage in the Palisades fire.
And the residents – like Lopez – seem to be rolling with the punches even in their new temporary home at the hotel.
"Even a few of our residents have said, I feel like I'm still Atria. They're seeing the same faces, staff in uniform," he said.
And Eileen and her 96-year-old best friend are excited to be moving to a new spot in Palm Desert later today.
