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News Last Updated: January 10, 2025

Closures, Homes Destroyed, Schools Burned: LA Area Promo Pros Feel Impact of Wildfires

Powerful Santa Ana winds and extremely dry ground conditions have provided tinder to fast-moving flames that have torched miles of earth, destroyed buildings and caused deaths in Southern California.

By  Christopher Ruvo

Key Takeaways

• Tragedy Unfolding: Wildfires in the Los Angeles area have destroyed homes and schools, causing widespread devastation.

• Ordered To Leave: Thousands of residents are under evacuation orders.

• Industry Impacts: Promo professionals and businesses are being affected, with impacts including business closures, destroyed homes and mandated evacuations.

UPDATE Jan. 10 a.m. 8 a.m. Eastern

This article, originally published Jan. 8, was updated with new information regarding the size of fires, number of people evacuated and the status of certain promo firms.

At least five wildfires raging in the Los Angeles area were prompting mass evacuations, scorching miles of earth, destroying structures and leading to power outages for hundreds of thousands of customers this week. Tragically, at least 10 people were reported dead as of this writing.

Promotional products companies were not immune from the impacts of the blazes, which were spreading rapidly, stoked by powerful Santa Ana winds and extremely dry conditions that had thousands of firefighters working to beat back the flames.

Eddie Blau“I’ve lived in Southern California more than 50 years, within 10 miles of the coast, and I’ve never experienced winds or the resulting devastation like this. It’s absolutely apocalyptic. Our hearts break for all our friends, and community members, who have lost their homes.” Eddie Blau, Innovation Line (asi/62660)

“The whole city is being impacted in some way,” Debbie Abergel, chief strategy officer at Los Angeles-based Counselor Top 40 distributor Nadel (asi/279600), told ASI Media. “We know of at least two employees who have completely lost their homes. Both have young children. Many friends have lost homes. We have team members that have been evacuated. We have another team member who has confirmed that his daughter’s school has been burned, and we’re hearing about other schools as well.”

Abergel, a member of Counselor’s Power 50 list of promo’s most influential people, said other Nadel employees, as well as clients, family members and friends, were on tenterhooks, awaiting potential mandated evacuation.

“The skies look terrible,” Abergel said. “It's unbelievable that this could happen to a city like Los Angeles. It’s very emotional. We can only hope for a quick containment and rebuild.”

If you’d like to alert the industry to impacts to your operations as a result of the fires, please email cruvo@asicentral.com.

Power 50 member Andrew Titus, president of Counselor Top 40 distributor Fully Promoted (asi/384000), told ASI Media Jan. 8 that the firm has several franchisees in the Los Angeles area that are in harm’s way. Fortunately, two of the franchisee locations were confirmed safe on Jan. 9, but the status of the third remained in question. “We’re still evaluating the situation," Titus said.

Power 50 member Jake Himelstein, the president of Los Angeles-headquartered Counselor Top 40 distributor BAMKO (asi/131431), said that some employees were under evacuation. The story was grimmer for some in Himelstein’s personal circle.

“Quite a few friends have lost their homes,” he shared with ASI Media. “Certain areas of the city are just completely gone. I have a lot of friends in Pacific Palisades, which is a community just above Malibu – it’s completely wiped off the map.”

Himelstein noted that not a lot of BAMKO customers are based in Los Angeles, so there hasn’t been material affects on business in that regard. 

Meanwhile, Pinnacle Designs (asi/78140) was among the promo industry firms that had to shut up shop because of the fires. The San Fernando, CA-based supplier had no power as of Wednesday, Jan. 8. Employees were working remotely and responding to clients. 

Monique Nigorizawa-Salvatier, Pinnacle’s director of sales and marketing, told ASI Media on Jan. 9, however, that the situation had turned for the better, as far as the supplier is concerned. Power was back at the business and operations were resuming. 

"The Hurst Fire is still burning but we're hoping with the winds dying down our firefighters can make some headway on land and air," Nigorizawa-Salvatier said. "There is catch up for us to do but overall we’re safe, our employees are safe. We had a few scares with our employees and families along the way but we're very grateful to be able to say that we're safe, especially with some of our community still in evacuation orders, without electricity or already dealing with the loss of their homes. Our hearts go out to all the unknowns and losses."  

As of this early Friday, Jan. 10 writing, there were at least five fires burning. The Palisades Fire was spread over nearly 20,000 acres and was reportedly 6% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The Eaton Fire was burning over nearly 13,700 acres and was 0% contained. The Hurst Fire, reportedly 37% contained, was torching about 771 acres. The Kenneth Fire was reportedly about 35% contained but had already ripped through about 1,000 acres. The Lidia Fire, affecting almost 400 acres, was about 75% under control. 

Promo pros were continuing to monitor developments and urge caution. Eric Simsolo, president of Counselor Top 40 supplier Next Level Apparel (asi/73867), told ASI Media that thankfully so far the firm’s facilities are unaffected and employees are uninjured – and none have lost a home.

Nonetheless, “many of our team members might live in or close to affected areas,” Simsolo said. “Some people have evacuated or are helping family or friends prepare for evacuation if needed.”

Simsolo added: “For anyone reading this that might live in or close to the Los Angeles area, or if you have family friends that live in the area, please be mindful of all resources available, be safe, and take care. There are emergency shelters at Westwood Recreation Center, El Camino Real Charter High School, Ritchie Valens Recreation Center, and the Pasadena Convention Center. There are also animal shelters: Agoura Animal Care Shelter (small) and Pierce College Equestrian Center (large).”

Eddie Blau, CEO of Counselor Top 40 supplier Innovation Line (asi/62660), told ASI Media that the firm’s facility is not currently in danger and that business is proceeding as usual. Still, he noted on Jan. 8 that he and several other company executives live in evacuation warning areas. “Our bags are packed, cars loaded and we’re ready to move if we have to,” Blau said.

He added: “I’ve lived in Southern California more than 50 years, within 10 miles of the coast, and I’ve never experienced winds or the resulting devastation like this. It’s absolutely apocalyptic. Our hearts break for all our friends, and community members, who have lost their homes.”

The 10 fatalities reported so far all occurred in the Los Angeles area, according to The Associated Press. Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone told CNN that there have also been a “high number of significant injuries to residents who did not evacuate in addition to first responders who are on the fire line.”

While exact numbers were hard to tally during the chaos, current estimates indicated upwards of 10,000 structures, including homes and businesses, have been destroyed so far. Approximately 360,000 residents were under evacuation orders, with others facing potential evacuation. The Los Angeles wildfires are on track to be among the costliest in U.S. history; one estimate indicates that losses already sustained are expected to exceed $135 billion.

Hundreds of thousands of customers, at least, were without power. Authorities are implementing strategic electricity shutoffs aimed at helping to check the spread of the flames.

Firefighters are working tirelessly to quell the fires, but efforts have been hampered by the high winds, which prevent the use of fire-battling aircraft.

“We can’t stop this kind of a fire from the ground – it’s not possible,” Margaret Stewart, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, told the Weather Channel. “We’re not able to fly our aircraft [in the high winds]. … We’re working to defend structures and protect lives.”