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News Last Updated: January 08, 2025

Closures, Homes Threatened, 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 closures and some under evacuation orders.

At least three wildfires raging in the Los Angeles area were prompting mass evacuations, scorching miles of earth and leading to power outages for hundreds of thousands of customers on Wednesday, Jan. 8. Tragically, at least two people were reported dead.

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 have several team members that have been evacuated and fear that their homes have been lost. We have a 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 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 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 that the firm has several franchisees in the Los Angeles area that are in harm’s way. “We have three locations that are in danger of losing either a home or their (business) location,” Titus said. “We’re still evaluating the situation.”

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. The firm asked that emails be sent to info@pinnacledesigns.com.

Monique Nigorizawa-Salvatier, Pinnacle’s director of sales and marketing, said late Wednesday, Jan. 8 that employees are safe and that the business is not in an evacuation zone. “Orders will be shipping out and if there is an issue we will reach out on an individual basis,” Nigorizawa-Salvatier said.

She continued: “We are expecting another day of high winds and we have faith in our emergency responders to keep our people and structures safe. Our hearts are going out to everyone affected by the fires and we will get through this with our fellow community.”

According to the Associated Press, as of this Jan. 8 early afternoon Eastern Time writing, there were three main fires: The Palisades fire, west of Los Angeles, had burned about 4.5 square miles. The Eaton fire, north of Pasadena, had burned about 1.6 square miles. Finally, the Hurst fire, in the San Fernando Valley, had burned about 500 acres.

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 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 so far. Still, he noted 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.”

Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone told reporters that at least two people have died, while others have been hurt, by the Eaton fire. As of this writing, the flames had destroyed at least 1,000 structures and more than 70,000 people were under evacuation orders.

Meanwhile, some 300,000 customers in Southern California lacked power, with that number anticipated to rise, possibly by as much as 400,000, as authorities implement 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.”