Fort Smith, ARK – A harrowing experience unfolded for Dominique Rhone, a recent transplant to Los Angeles, as the Sunset Fire, part of the many wildfires ravaging California, spread dangerously close to her home earlier this week.
Rhone, who moved to Los Angeles in September, found herself in the midst of a terrifying situation as the flames encroached on her apartment. “It was very traumatizing, a little bit, just seeing a fire like right outside my apartment window and not knowing what can happen,” she recounted. “I never imagined anything like this when I moved here.”
Living off Hollywood Boulevard, Rhone’s apartment was near Runyon Canyon, where the fires originated before advancing into the city. The blaze wreaked havoc on local neighborhoods, destroying homes and leaving behind devastation in its wake. Many residents were unable to escape in time, and some lost their lives in the chaos.
Rhone recalled the panic she witnessed as the fire spread. “It was so confusing. There were cars driving in opposite directions, people getting out of their cars and running. It was bumper-to-bumper traffic just trying to get away from the area,” she said. The streets were clogged as residents desperately sought to flee from the approaching fire.
While Rhone considered returning to her family in Little Rock, Arkansas, her plans were thwarted by unexpected weather. “My mom was like actually, I can’t fly you out here because Little Rock just got hit with 10 inches of snow,” Rhone explained. Despite this setback, she decided to stay in Los Angeles, finding refuge in her apartment until the fire subsided.
Now that the danger has passed in her neighborhood, Rhone has shifted her focus to helping others. “I’ve offered my home to people that if they need to evacuate, I’m in a safe spot now, so I can offer my home to people,” she said, showing a spirit of solidarity in the face of disaster.
Rhone also wants to address a misconception that has emerged in the aftermath of the wildfires. Some social media posts have claimed that the fires mainly affect the wealthy or celebrity residents of Los Angeles. Rhone is quick to dispute this claim, emphasizing that the impact is widespread. “I see a lot of people making posts about ‘oh it’s just celebrities; it’s just rich people out there.’ That’s not true at all. Your average American family has been affected—thousands of families,” she said.
Her message is clear: wildfires do not discriminate, and the devastation they cause reaches far beyond the celebrity homes that often dominate the media’s focus. For many in Los Angeles, the fires were a terrifying reminder of the unpredictable nature of natural disasters and the resilience needed to face them.