The NFL Rams and NBA Lakers get back to action Monday night, which perhaps provides some light to the high school sports communities that have suffered unspeakable losses in multiple wildfires that have ravaged Southern California the past week.
The death toll has reached 24, and more than 12,000 structures have been destroyed in wind-fed wildfires that have swept through more than 40,000 acres. At least 180,000 residents are either evacuated from their homes or in warning zones.
Nearly all of the Los Angeles Unified School District, hit hardest by the Palisades Fire, was scheduled to reopen today and athletic competition may start as soon as Wednesday. That may be complicated by Santa Ana winds that are scheduled to return early Tuesday.
The Palisades Fire was 14% contained as of midday Monday.
“Charter schools are clear to play today and rest of the week,” LA City Section Sports Information Director Dick Dornan said. “LAUSD schools hope to return to competition on Wednesday.”
Palisades is one of four larger charter schools in the district along with El Camino, Birmingham and Granada Hills. There are 60 other smaller ones, Dornan said. Eighty-eight of the LA City Section schools are under LAUSD jurisdiction. The rest are charter schools.
Palisades was the only one of the big charters thus far damaged by the fire but as shown here by SBLive’s Tarek Fattal it is still standing strong despite significant loss,
As first reported by Fattal on Sunday, Palisades has received significant support from neighboring schools, extending their facilities to allow the boys and girls basketball teams to practice. The Palisades boys had planned to practice Monday at Memorial Park in Santa Monica and the girls plan to practice Tuesday at Brentwood School.
Former Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa football coach Paul Cronin said getting back to the practice field, or any type of normalcy, was absolutely key during the Tubbs Fire of 2017 when half of its campus was destroyed.
One of three major blazes over the last 10 years in Northern California — more than 400 miles north of the Pacific Palisades — the Tubbs Fire destroyed 53,000 structures and killed 22 people and was considered the most destructive wildfire in state history. It caused the city of 175,000 people damages estimated at $1.2 billion.
Ninety of Newman’s 600 students lost their homes, including five Newman football players from the 44-person roster.
“Frankly, we were all numb for two or three weeks,” Cronin, now the coach at Ukiah, said on Monday. “Getting back to practice was the best thing we could have done for those kids and the community. Nothing was mandatory. Every kid and family had their own set of challenges for sure. Everyone was at a different point in their grief. But I think 95% of the kids showed up for that first day of practice. We had each other. It was wonderful.”
Getting back to any kind of wonderful will be tough in the Pasadena Unified School District, ravaged by the Eaton Fire, which is 33% contained. All schools will remain closed until at least Friday.
A former high school football coach from Muir-Pasadena High School, which is part of the PUSD, shared his tragic story with CNN and CBS over the weekend.
Zaire Calvin lost his sister Evelyn McClendon in the Eaton Fire, as well as his own home, and childhood home where his disabled mother still lived. He described a chaotic scene escaping his mother’s house.
“I knew we (Calvin and his cousin PJ) had to take time to get my mother down the steps,” he told CNN’s Victor Blackwell. “I had my wife, my 1-year-old baby. As we were leaving I glanced and I remember seeing (his sister’s) car parked in front of the house. … It looked like a scene out of a volcano movie. With the wind gushing and fire everywhere. It was rough.”
Zaire Calvin lost his sister and his home to the Eaton fire.
He also wants you to know the history of his Altadena community. pic.twitter.com/IdVLKJw1UF
— Victor Blackwell CNN (@VictorBlackwell) January 11, 2025
Calvin, 47, and his tragic story was also shared on 60 Minutes, telling reporter Bill Whitaker he’s lived on the same Altadena block his entire life. In his only season as head coach, he led the Mustangs to an 11-3 season in 2019. The following season was wiped out by the pandemic.
And now this.
“My mom just (asked) me, ‘Everything is gone? You mean like the books that we had, like nothing?’’ Calvin told Whitaker. “And I’m like ‘mom, it’s all gone. All of it. Every memory, all those things are gone.’ “
Calvin and his family’s story is rampant and just being told throughout the region. That’s why so many are reaching out, including those in the high school sports community.
Cincinnati Reds ace and former Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks standouts is donating free baseball cleats to any college or high school player affected by the Southern California wildfires.
“I’ve got FREE baseball cleats (Value $100 a pair NEW, Metal Spikes ONLY, sizes 9.5-15) for all the travel ball, high school and college baseball players affected by the Palisades, Malibu and Altadena fires,” the post reads. “Must show proof of residency. Reach out to my community service team manager, Melissa here on my direct message. MUST pick up at my Santa Clarita, CA warehouse. Spread the word, while supplies last.”
Greene, a SoCal native, grew up in the Santa Clarita Valley, which is in north Los Angeles County.
There are nearly 1,200 GoFundMe pages set up to donate money to those affected by the recent wildfires in Los Angeles County.
