We’re okay – and thank you
By Stephen Hofer
Founder and President
Aerlex Law Group
I want to extend a special thank you to all of you in the private aviation community who have reached out in the past few days to inquire about our safety. I am relieved to report that I, my family and all of our Aerlex colleagues are safe and well. That being said, our gratitude for our well-being is tempered by the somber awareness of the overwhelming tragedy that has befallen thousands of people in Los Angeles, both rich and poor, whose lives have been inexorably devastated and forever altered by what the forces of nature have wrought in just a matter of hours or even minutes.
It has been a roller coaster week for me. On Monday, our marketing team had just put the finishing touches on an Aerlex e-blast about my having receiving the Sagamore of the Wabash award from Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, a recollection of a happy, feel-good weekend in October, just a couple of months ago. That upbeat story was posted online Tuesday morning, just about the time we could begin to see a huge white cloud rising and billowing just to the west of our Aerlex offices, smoke filling a big chunk of the sky over Santa Monica, the first sign of the fire that had erupted in the Pacific Palisades, a mere eight miles to the northwest of us.
By the end of the day, it was evident that this was no ordinary Santa Ana wildfire, but a destructive event without precedent in the history of Southern California. I advised our staff that they could work remotely the following day but paralegal Jennifer Wright didn’t need that instruction. She could see the flames in the hills from her home and went to spend the night with friends in Manhattan Beach. The Eaton Fire erupted in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, wreaking destruction in the community of Altadena, 25 miles to the east, and when I awoke Wednesday morning, I could see a huge grey/brown/black cloud filling the sky to the south of my home in Coldwater Canyon being blown west across the entire Los Angeles Basin by the relentless winds.
Wednesday evening, a new fire erupted in the Hollywood Hills, just about five miles due east of us. We already had our suitcases packed and sitting by the front door and even though we were in the voluntary evacuation zone and not the mandatory zone, we had seen the televised images of abandoned cars on Palisades streets and decided discretion was the better part of valor. We made a reservation at a hotel near Los Angeles International Airport, loaded the car and left. When we got to the hotel, we were not alone. There were more than 80 people in the check-in line ahead of us and it took 90 minutes to get to the front desk – and the line behind us was just as long as it had been when we arrived. That’s no exaggeration; I have a video to prove it.
That being said, our inconveniences are trivial compared to the devastating, life-altering consequences that are just now being experienced by our friends and neighbors in Pacific Palisades, Altadena and other communities impacted by these catastrophic fires. One of our employees lost his own home to a fire a few years ago and he told me that both fire and the months of seemingly never-ending trials and tribulations that follow are a searing ordeal you never forget. Our Aerlex firm administrator, John Youngman, who many of you have met through the years at aviation industry events, has also doubled as a residential developer and he has built a number of very nice high-end single-family homes on the Westside in the past 20 years. John had a project in development in the Palisades and it was wiped out by the fire, just like all of the homes around it. He now faces the almost unimaginable gamut of issues and questions that have to be confronted on whether and how to restart his development project and if he does, what sort of neighborhood will be reconstructed around him.
I know the Palisades well; I even thought about buying a home there many years ago, and the knowledge of what tens of thousands of residents have lost is heart-breaking to a degree of near incomprehensibility. It will take years to rebuild these communities and much of what has been lost, elements of their unique character and charm, can never be fully restored.
But make no mistake, we will rebuild. Los Angeles is one of the most diverse cities in the world but one thing Angelenos share in common is resilience. We’re a tough lot, we love our metropolis between the mountains and the sea and we will make it even better. It will take time and sacrifice but this is our home and we love it. We’re not going anywhere.
I am reminded, in a small way, of the fire that destroyed much of Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris in 2019. Paris was already scheduled to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games and the severe damage the cathedral sustained was a tremendous blow to the image and essence of the iconic French capital just as the city was gearing up for the years of organizing and work it would take to host the world’s great sporting cavalcade – but the Parisians did not allow Notre Dame’s fiery destruction to crush their indomitable spirit. Instead, they responded with grit and resolve and heart and purpose of mission and Notre Dame was reopened with glorious ceremony just a few months after the 2024 Olympics Game ended.
And so it will be in Los Angeles. We are scheduled to host the 2028 Olympic Games. I worked for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee and I know from personal experience what a huge undertaking hosting the Games is. It will take years to rebuild the communities devasted by the Santa Ana fires of 2025, but they will be rebuilt. I doubt that the reconstruction will be complete even by the time the Olympic torch is lit in 2028, but it will be well underway and it will provide further evidence to the world that hurricane-force winds and searing flames cannot defeat the invincible energy and enthusiasm and joy of Southern California and its residents. Like the immortal phoenix of ancient mythology, Los Angeles will be reborn from these ashes and I believe our unique vitality and charisma will continue to shine through, even brighter than ever.
We extend our heartfelt condolences to the tens of thousands who have lost so much and our deepest gratitude to the firefighters and other first-responders, including the brave aviators who are flying firefighting missions over these fires in extremely dangerous locations and hazardous conditions. And finally, many thanks to all of you for your thoughts, prayers and good wishes. It is a nice feeling to know that I have made so many friends in the private aviation industry through the years. Your outreach is more comforting than you can know in a time of anxiety and distress – everyone at Aerlex is okay and we remain committed to fulfilling our mission of providing the best possible legal and tax services to the aviation community.