Westchester resident Courtney Paulson and her mother Sue Kohl are known in the local real estate market as the Kohl Team and have been helping people find the perfect Westside home for the last three decades. On January 7, a wildfire engulfed the Pacific Palisades destroying thousands of businesses and residences, including the one Sue had lived in for over 30 years, and one that Courtney calls her second home.
The Palisades is a special community for Courtney and Sue, not only because it is the center of their thriving business, but because it’s where Sue raised Courtney and her four siblings. Both formed long lasting memories and relationships there. Sadly, the area has been devastated.
“Our entire neighborhood went. There’s a random single house here and there but it looks like an atomic bomb just hit and wiped out the whole place,” says Sue, who is also the President of the Pacific Palisades Community Council.
Though shaken by the events, Courtney steadfastly shares her experience of how the tragic events started. The night before, a red flag warning had been issued, signaling high winds. She had planned an early morning hike with a friend but, after waking up to strong gusts, decided it wasn’t safe to go outside.
Instead, she went about her usual Tuesday routine, attending her 9:30 a.m. office meeting at the Berkshire Hathaway office on Alma Real Dr. in Pacific Palisades. Around 10:20 a.m., she heard sirens. Moments later, she received a text from her friend she had planned to hike with. It said, “Fire.”
“I got chills,” Courtney says. “I asked her, ‘Where?’ and she sent me a photo of the smoke.”
At first, the fire seemed far away, in the Highlands neighborhood, a hillside area where previous fires have started. Often, when there’s a fire, it starts up in the Highlands, says Sue, adding, “For whatever reason, whether it’s an unhoused person lighting a fire in the canyons or something else, that’s always the spot. But our fire stations in the Palisades—Stations 69 and 23—usually jump on it right away, and it’s out before it spreads.”
But this time was different.
As Courtney walked to Starbucks on the corner of Swarthmore and Sunset, she turned the corner and saw not just smoke, but flames on the hillside. Panic struck her.
“That’s not the Highlands, that’s Temescal, where I go hiking,” Courtney says.
Realizing how close the fire was to their neighborhood, Courtney immediately called her friend in the Highlands.
“Get in your car. Get your daughter, her friend, the cats–just leave,” Courtney recalls saying. “Come to our house in the Alphabet Streets. You’ll be safe here.”
The Alphabet Streets have always been considered one of the safest areas in the Palisades. Located in the center of town, the streets are flat and have minimal brush.
“It’s been evacuated before,” Courtney says. “But my mom’s neighborhood has always been the place where people evacuate to–not from.”
Something in her gut told Courtney to leave. She ran back to the office, shaking, and told Sue, “We need to go now.”
They canceled their appointments, rushed to Sue’s home and started packing the car. Courtney grabbed personal belongings, while Sue focused on photo albums and her dogs.
During this time, Courtney was still trying to reach her friend, who was supposed to be driving down Palisades Drive. But every call went straight to voicemail.
“I knew she was stuck,” says Courtney.
The local TV news has shown the haunting footage of all the cars stranded on Palisades Drive as bulldozers tried to clear a path for firefighters. The images are chilling.
“That’s where my friend was and there’s no cell service on that road. So, I just had to wait,” said Courtney.
Desperate to get out, Courtney sent a final message: “We have to leave. When you get to the bottom, meet us in Westchester.”
Safety in Westchester
They drove straight to Courtney’s stepbrother’s home in Kentwood.
“He was out of town. We just got the gate code and moved in,” Courtney says.
Hours later, her friend and her daughter finally made it out–one of the last cars to escape before the fire overtook the road.
“People behind her had to abandon their cars because the flames were catching onto them,” Courtney says.
For the next five days, they all stayed together in Westchester, glued to their phones, exchanging texts with neighbors, and watching the news. For two days, Courtney hoped her mother’s home might be spared.
That hope was shattered when Courtney’s father, who lived a block away from Sue, sent a photo of Sue’s burned-out house. It was a gut punch.
“The fire took a house a minute, there was nothing anyone could do,” says Sue, explaining that despite the courageous efforts of firefighters, they were largely helpless against the Palisades Fire due to a combination of intense winds and dry conditions that fueled its spread. Firefighters also faced a severe water shortage because the reservoir at the top of the Highlands has been sitting empty for at least a year due to delayed repairs.
“They were supposed to put a cover on it, like a pool cover,” Sue says in frustration. “There was no excuse for it to be empty.”
For Courtney, one of the most surreal aspects of this tragedy has been reconnecting with childhood friends, only now, under devastating circumstances. She describes sitting at a table with five of her closest friends from childhood, realizing that every single one of them had lost their homes in the fire.
“It’s such a unique situation. There’s an unspoken understanding between us,” says Courtney. “We don’t even have to explain how we’re feeling, we just know.”
Luckily for Courtney these friendships have become a source of strength.
“There’s something powerful about going through this together, it reminds us that we’re not alone, and that our community will rise again,” says Courtney.
Westchester steps up
Both Sue and Courtney admit feeling overwhelmed. Generations of family memories like photos, children’s artwork and heirlooms were gone in an instant. But they felt so grateful to find shelter in Westchester, where Sue is now leasing a home, thanks to a friend of Courtney’s. Once they heard the news, they quickly reached out to Courtney to offer her the family’s rental home that just happened to be vacant.
Within hours after the fire, the Westchester community stepped up in big ways to help–not just Sue and Courtney–but all those displaced by the disaster.
“The kindness we’ve been shown has been incredible,” Courtney says. “From the YMCA setting up donation centers to Rotary Club members making sure families had what they needed–the support has been overwhelming.”
The Westchester YMCA quickly became a hub for relief efforts, setting up a spot where fire victims could pick up clothes, food, and essential items. Community members flooded in with donations, and when the initial two-week effort ended, organizers found another space to continue their work.
“People should know this is still happening,” Courtney says. “There are still resources available, and the generosity of this community hasn’t stopped.”
Adds Sue, “They didn’t miss a minute. The response has been incredible.”
Finding Hope in Rebuilding
Despite the immense loss, both women are optimistic about the future.
“The vast majority of us will rebuild. The Palisades is a special place, and the sense of community is too strong for this to tear us apart,” says Sue.
Neighbors are already making plans to return. Local contractor Chuck Hart, a childhood friend of Courtney’s, immediately mobilized his construction company, Hart Built, to start clearing debris and removing downed trees. His GoFundMe campaign has raised over $200,000 to support recovery efforts.
“Seeing people step up like this, using their resources and skills to help however they can, it’s proof that our community never left,” Courtney says. “We’re still here, and we’re rebuilding.”
A New Chapter
For now, Sue is settling into her temporary home in Westchester, just around the corner from Courtney’s house. She’s already met her neighbors and is finding comfort in this community.
“We’re incredibly lucky,” says Courtney, “Many families have had to move far away, but we get to be close to each other. My kids can walk over to my mom’s after school. That means everything.”
As they unpack donations and slowly replace the everyday items lost in the fire, Sue and Courtney remain grateful.
“This has been the worst experience of our lives,” Sue admits. “But the outpouring of support, the people who have stepped up, it’s shown us the very best in humanity. And that’s what gives us hope.”
As the Palisades community rises from the ashes, it’s clear they are not alone. Thanks to the kindness of neighbors in Westchester and other communities across Los Angeles, they are finding strength.
Story by Shanee Edwards. Main photo by Zsuzsi Steiner. Fire photos courtesy the Kohls.
