Bookstores and publishers located in the Los Angeles metro area were among those closed or evacuated on January 8 due to uncontained brush fires, power outages, and extreme winds that have devastated the region.

Julia Cowlishaw, CEO of Vroman's in Pasadena and Book Soup in West Hollywood, said, "The situation is very serious for everyone at Book Soup and Vroman's. Most have evacuated or are sheltering in place. Sadly, some have lost homes and other businesses, and the fires are not contained." Cowlishaw continued, "We are taking it day by day and moment by moment with the care and concern for everyone as the top priority."

Hannah Walcher, executive director of the California Independent Booksellers Alliance, told PW, “I’ve heard from a few of our advisory council members in the surrounding Los Angeles areas that they are without power.” She noted that evacuations for the Eaton Fire affected Octavia’s Bookshelf in Pasadena. Nikki High, owner of Octavia's, said on social media that her store is safe, but posted startling footage and invoked Octavia Butler, the store's namesake.

Red Hen Press, also in Pasadena, closed due to the threat of fire and severe weather. "Luckily, the staff of Red Hen are all safe," said Red Hen media director Monica Hernandez. "Our office is on the edge of the evacuation zone, so we’re monitoring that very carefully, though are hoping we’re far enough southwest of the Eaton Fire to avoid any damage. We've heard several community members dear to us have been tragically affected so we are certainly aware of how dangerous the situation is."

Katrina Leno, the manager of Zibby's Bookshop in Santa Monica, told PW that the store owned by Zibby Owens "remains in an evacuation warning zone and we are staying closed for now. The fires are quite close to Santa Monica and the street the bookstore is on but so far they have not reached there yet."

Out of the danger zone

Meanwhile, Southern California booksellers outside the most dangerous areas looked for ways to help and expressed gratitude for first responders. Linda Sherman-Nurick, owner of the Cellar Door Bookstore in Riverside, 50 miles east of L.A., said, "We are OK here, but I am worried about our L.A. bookstore folk."

In Northeast L.A., the offices of Unnamed Press and Rare Bird "are closed, like many businesses in our neighborhood, due to employees monitoring evacuation warnings near their homes, as well as heavy smoke and ash in the area,” said Unnamed publisher Chris Heiser. North Figueroa Bookshop, which is co-owned and -operated by Unnamed and Rare Bird, was closed as well.

Richard Turner, who in July 2024 purchased Diesel, A Bookstore in the upscale neighborhood of Brentwood from John Evans and Alison Reid, is keeping regular hours at the store. Most of Diesel's 10 employees either have evacuated or stayed at a safer distance because “their families were worried about them coming in, closer to the fire" in Pacific Palisades, Turner told PW. Even as a brush fire erupted in an evacuated area of Brentwood on Wednesday morning, Turner said that neither he nor the store “appear to be in any danger.” Not many customers are coming in, he said, but some individuals visiting the store have lost their homes and “are grateful” that they can buy food, books, and games for their children.

Keeping the doors open “is the right thing to do,” Turner said. “Diesel is one of the community stops and we’ll keep doing it as long as we can. I live in the neighborhood, so that is what I do.”

Feeling the impact

Former Diesel co-owners Evans and Reid live in Leucadia, in San Diego’s north county, far removed from the fires, and now operate Camino Books in the Carmel Valley area. Nevertheless, they have been greatly impacted on a personal level by the Palisades Fire raging 100 miles away. The couple had owned a second home in a trailer park in Pacific Palisades since 2021.

“We sadly lost our place (as far as we can tell) in Pacific Palisades last night,” Evans told PW. “This fire is a bad one; it's brutal. All maps and video footage say our home is gone.”

Walcher of CALIBA said, “I have yet to hear of any bookstores being destroyed by fires, but I imagine many staff members have been displaced or are on high alert. My heart goes out to everyone affected.” In an e-blast, she and CALIBA staff reminded members that the Book Industry Charitable Foundation, or Binc, is dedicated to assisting book industry people in times of hardship, adding that “booksellers do not have to be CALIBA members to benefit from Binc.”

Kathy Bartson, development director at Binc, told PW that “Binc is standing ready to help book and comic stores and their employees affected by the fires,” and is in “immediate and close contact with booksellers in the area.” Bartson recommended such resources as the statewide fire map, the Los Angeles emergency system NotifyLA, and Watch Duty, an app that provides real-time wildfire maps and alerts.

Binc can help evacuees find temporary housing, and the foundation may provide financial assistance for booksellers who lose 50% or more of their weekly pay due to fire or another emergency. Binc also assists with temporary rent, utility, and damage expenses, and subsidizes mental health care. The foundation has found itself increasingly called upon for disaster relief in recent years, as in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in September 2024, as extreme weather events become more frequent.