Jan. 7 was an unforgettable day for the residents of Pacific Palisades, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. Class of ’95 graduate Neal Flesner was among those whose life would be changed forever.
As the fires ravaged southern California, Flesner and his wife, Carmen, scrambled to leave their home for the final time.
High winds were in the forecast, and the fire entered Flesner’s neighborhood around 10:30 a.m.
In an hour and a half, Neal and Carmen tossed their belongings into two cars and barely escaped the flames. The pair and their two dogs spent the night at a friend’s house. While the fire consumed their neighborhood, Flesner said sleep didn’t come easy.
“I woke up at 3 a.m., looked at my wife and told her, ‘I’m going to see the house,’” he said.
After a smoky, two-hour hike from their friend’s house in Santa Monica to the Pacific Palisades, Flesner arrived at the remnants of their home. It was completely destroyed by the fires.
“I saw firsthand the devastation of our community,” he said.
Though currently staying in Newport Beach, this summer Flesner plans to return to the area near his original home. His new house will take around two to three years to build.
“You feel very displaced,” he said. “On top of that, losing the community and the culture and the way you live your life. You lose the normalcy of going home. When someone asks you, ‘hey, are you traveling home?’ It’s like, you don’t have that anymore.”
Flesner’s story has local beginnings. He graduated from LHS in 1995 and has fond memories of his high school experience. At the time, Lafayette only enrolled sophomores to seniors, and had recently moved to its Clayton Road location. As one of the first students on the school’s current campus, Flesner’s class set the bar for what would become Lafayette today.
“It was a brand new school. So they were still working out the kinks,” he said.
Flesner played football and lacrosse. He was also in Mu Alpha Theta, Lafayette’s mathematics honor society. His favorite classes included biology and chemistry.
When reflecting on his high school years, one aspect of Lafayette stands out in Flesner’s memory: the community.
“[The great thing was] all the friendships and great people that I met there. So many friends from Lafayette [have reached] out. . . to see how I’ve been doing and what they can do to help,” he said, noting his longtime friendship with classmate Joe Oldani.
Class of ‘95 graduate Oldani met Flesner in second grade. Serving as the assistant captain on Lafayette’s hockey team, Oldani also enjoyed Lafayette’s sense of community. Class of ’95 was among the last huge graduating classes, which Oldani estimates to have had around 750 students.
“It was a lot of fun to be at school with a lot of different people,” he said.
Lafayette had implemented a historic desegregation program a decade prior, increasing the diversity of its student body. As for his friendship with Flesner, Oldani says their love of having fun has endured since high school.
“Something I’ve always loved about Neal is how social he is,” Oldani said. “He really cares and takes the time to make sure he fosters the connection with people that have been in his life.”
While the two went their separate ways, they reconnected after moving to California over twenty years ago. Oldani lives in Santa Barbara, about an hour and a half north of LA. When he heard about the Palisades fire, he offered Flesner a place to stay.
“The Palisades fire was a complete disaster,” said Oldani. “So I was crushed and really concerned.”
Despite the worry, Oldani believes his friend’s optimism will carry him through the loss.
“He’s got this strength of existence that is really amazing actually,” he said. “He maintains this positivity.”
Oldani said he and Flesner lived through fires before while living in California, but never to the Palisades’ magnitude. Despite the tragedy, Flesner says he’ll never leave LA.
“Los Angeles is my home,” he said. “I think Los Angeles is the greatest city on the planet.”
As his family works to rebuild their lives, Flesner reframes the situation as an opportunity for growth. In his spirit of picking up and moving on, Flesner offers a closing message, advice for the students at Lafayette:
“Take chances. Take big swings. The more you take risks in life, the more you set yourself up for potential failure,” he said. “But if you’re not making the attempt. . . then you’re never going to get to where you want to be.”
