Stand with Alex and Maddox in Fire's Aftermath

I am not usually very public about my life, but these are devastating times. My son's dad, Alex Swedelson, and our son, Maddox, were deeply impacted by the Palisades Fire.

Around 10:30 AM on January 7th, Alex called me and asked me to pick Maddox up from school. I looked out my window and saw a small brush fire up the mountain. Alex was heading out with LA County Hand Crews from Camp 8, to photo-document the courageous efforts of the initial strike team responding to the fire.

At the time, I thought it was a little overprotective, but I went to get Maddox from his school, Marquez Elementary. Maddox got stuck at pre-school when he was little because we couldn't get to him due to a fire by our house, since then he's always been really sensative to it. When I arrived at the school, there were a lot of parents already filing into the office to get their kids. We went to my place in town by Gelson's. I went back to work and Maddox was playing, but he was nervous. He wouldn't let me go outside and he locked the front door to keep the fire out. Several friends called asking if we were evacuating and I told them we were fine. We were on the other side of Sunset and the fire would never get to us. We were too far away. I was on a work call when the police came to help an elderly neighbor leave. That spooked me, and I packed an overnight bag for us and we evacuated to a friend's house. Never imaging that we would be out of our place this long. At the time, I didn't consider it a real threat to my home.

After completing what turned out to be a 12-hour outing with crews, Alex returned to his childhood home in the Highlands to stand watch for the threat of fire for the night.

With 80 MPH winds and patches of flames kicking up all night, he was doing his best to defend homes in the neighborhood, successfully beating back the flames time and time again and winning small reprieves with the help and courage of one of his neighbors.

When they lost water pressure and the garden hoses ceased to work, Alex grabbed buckets and kitchen bowls, filling them from the neighborhood pools, and kept fighting back the flames. They succeeded throughout the night.

In the early morning hours, the winds kicked up. The home across the street caught fire, and embers were flying across the street. Alex's bucket couldn't beat down that fire. Shortly before dawn, he realized that the embers got into the attic of his home. Quickly after, the house was engulfed in flames and smoke. He had to crawl out to the street. Then, he watched as his childhood home was reduced to rubble, taking everything Alex owned and everything Maddox had there.

Although he lost everything, the flames didn’t stop and neither did Alex. He continued to help his neighbors and community evacuate, fight the fire, deliver supplies, and share information with those of us who were evacuated and unable to get back to the neighborhood. To this day, Alex continues to work up in the Palisades to help those in need. Maddox and I are evacuated to a friend's and are safe. We are trying to plan what is next, but there is still a lot up in the air and a lot of work ahead.

We are all incredibly moved by the love and support from friends and strangers alike. Since so many are asking how you can help, I wanted to create this website as a place to start helping Alex rebuild for him and Maddox. A lot of people have asked if they could send things, but at the moment, there isn't anywhere to put them. We need time to figure out alternative housing. But, every contribution helps with immediate needs and long-term rebuilding efforts. Thank you for reading this far. We appreciate you.