These California students found lessons of hope in the aftermath of the Palisades Fire : NPR

JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:

A year ago, the Palisades Fire disrupted tens of thousands of lives in Los Angeles. Among them was a group of elementary school students from Carlsbad, two hours south of Los Angeles. In interviews and reporting for NPR’s Student Podcast Challenge, fourth and fifth graders from Magnolia Elementary’s podcasting club set out to document the impact on their community, including the hope, kindness and compassion that rose from the ashes of tragedy.

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UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT #1: We begin today’s story with a firefighter who is on the front lines, Shane Lawlor, a local father here in Carlsbad.

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UNIDENTIFIED FIREFIGHTER: Engine 33, are you trying to get your hands on engine 39?

SHANE LAWLOR: So when I first heard about the fires, I wasn’t working on one of our fire engines. We went there just to look around and see. And I thought, you know, there’s not much I can do. But then, when everything was going well, we ended up being put into what’s called a task force, and it all started. It was all hands on deck. So I really didn’t know what to think, and I didn’t really have time to think about it too much. Once it all started, it was just a matter of knowing your job and going to work.

The hardest part for me was the days afterward, going back to those neighborhoods afterwards, after everything was destroyed, when everything was over, in broad daylight and seeing how much devastation there was everywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT #2: Our community and many others in Southern California gained new members because people had no choice but to leave their homes in the path of the fire. That included a little girl named Goldie(ph), who came to Carlsbad. One night, his world changed forever.

GOLDIE: I was a little scared. And I saw the smoke from the sky when I was at school.

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT #2: That’s right.

GOLDIE: We had to skip lunch. They just pulled the fire alarm and we had to evacuate. Dad packed all the things and we went straight to his office. I felt a little sad because my friend Adelia (ph) had to move somewhere else because of the fires.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: A few schools burned, and then our school had no running water and had severe smoke damage. And so Los Angeles and all the volunteers created camps for kids who didn’t have a school to go to. So, Goldie and her brother were able to go to the Mar Vista camp. And Goldie, do you want to tell them what you received every day at the end of the Mar Vista camp?

GOLDIE: Toys like that egg thing. And you open it, and then there’s a stuffy interior.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: They had all these big donation bags that people in Los Angeles had given to kids affected by the fires. So we received things like sheets for our beds because our beds were damaged at home, and Goldie received replacement stuffed animals, toys, replacement sheets and clothes and everything we needed when we couldn’t get into our neighborhood.

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UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT #2: And from everyone we talk to, we learn this. Fires can take away things, but they can’t take away kindness. They can’t burn away hope and they can’t stop people from rising from the ashes together.

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT #3: And to everyone listening, when the world seems heavy, look for helpers, or better yet, be one.

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SUMMERS: These were fourth and fifth graders from the podcasting club at Magnolia Elementary in Carlsbad, California, reporting and reflecting on the Palisades fire.

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