LA Wildfires Show How Journalists Can Help While Reporting

Firefighters battle the Eaton Fire on January 8, 2025, in Altadena, California. (David McNew/Getty Images)

The expanse and unpredictability of the wildfires ravaging Los Angeles County have gripped the nation for the past week. But news reports have gone viral for reasons beyond the devastation itself. Journalists’ wardrobe choices and interviews with frightened evacuees have caused a stir online, while other reporters have been applauded for showing humanity during an immense catastrophe.

The night after the fires broke out in Pacific Palisades, NBC Los Angeles reporter Robert Kovacik interviewed an evacuee carrying two large paintings while escaping on his bike and offered to store the paintings for him. In another live shot across town, KTLA reporter John Fenoglio, a former volunteer firefighter, grabbed a hose to extinguish flames at an Altadena house. When interviewing a woman who couldn’t get back into her Pacific Palisades home, NBC News Correspondent Ellison Barber, who would be reporting near the woman’s home later, offered to find the medicines she needed and bring them to her. 

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“People trusting me with their stories is one of the greatest privileges of my life,” Barber said. “I want to focus on facts and being accurate, but I don’t ever want to forget to be a human.”

Freelance journalist Colleen Hagerty said journalists shouldn’t just enter disaster situations seeking quotes or sound bites; they need to consider the safety and well-being of the person they’re talking to. They need to approach such situations with care. 

“It’s important to recognize that your needs as a journalist are not more important than the needs of the person you’re speaking to,” said Hagerty, who covers weather disasters for outlets like The New York Times and her newsletter, My World’s on Fire. “First and foremost, making sure that you aren’t putting someone in a dangerous situation or keeping them from leaving a dangerous situation is definitely the most important.”

I spoke with Hagerty and other journalists on the ground covering the 20-plus fires that have burned nearly 40,000 acres, destroyed over 12,300 structures and killed 24 people in the Los Angeles area. They offer advice for journalists about how to ethically report on natural disasters with humanity and care.

Understand the community and the disaster

As reporters from across the country arrived to cover the California wildfires last week, some national headlines focused on the fire in Pacific Palisades, a scenic coastal neighborhood where many celebrities lived. Meanwhile, residents in  Altadena — a racially diverse community and one of few Southern California neighborhoods where Black families and interracial couples were allowed to buy land in the 1960s — felt overlooked by emergency programs, with California Rep. Maxine Waters calling for the media to bring more attention to their needs.

Allison Agsten, director of the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Center for Climate Communication and Journalism, said being local or having local knowledge helps reporters better understand the area’s nuances and what’s at stake when they’re covering incidents like the wildfires. Agsten suggested reporters flying in read up on the region’s unique histories and climate first. That is especially necessary as misinformation circulates online, like fake videos of the Hollywood sign on fire and speculation that the fire was aggravated by the Los Angeles Fire Department’s budget cuts.

“Local reporters really understand the place they are reporting from and can speak to it from that professional and personal experience,” said Agsten, who was forced to evacuate her home during the Sunset Fire on Thursday. “We’ve never seen anything like this before, and it’s humanizing if somebody else is going through it with you, because they’re in the same place that you are.”

Let people evacuate and officials work first

In covering the California wildfires, Jeremy Lindenfeld, a UC Berkeley local news fellow at the nonprofit California news outlet Capital & Main, has talked to firefighters, but never for too long. He understands they are busy trying to control flames.

“For first responders, the best thing to do is stay out of the way,” he said. “Talk to them when they have a few minutes where they don’t seem to be doing much. If they need to do something and it’s safe, I suggest staying to see what’s going on. Write down what you’re seeing, and if they have some time afterward, talk to them about it.”

The same goes for people who need to evacuate their homes and get out of harm’s way. Lindenfeld and Hagerty both try to be helpful when they’re reporting in the field. Lindenfeld helped people carry items when he could. Hagerty asks her sources what questions they have about the incident, as evacuees are often busy packing and don’t have the time to keep up with news updates like a journalist does.

“Sometimes it’s a question that I can answer right away because I’ve been watching a press conference while they were evacuating,” she said. “It also can tell me if there was an issue. If someone says, ‘Why didn’t I get an alert?’ or ‘Why didn’t the fire hydrant in front of my house have water?’ it can point you in the direction of the reporting that needs to be done, and it’s building trust.”

Barber said in doing her job if she has the opportunity to help someone, she doesn’t hesitate. “I’m not a first responder or anything wildly impressive. I’m just a reporter,” she said. “I don’t have a lot, but what I do have sometimes is two minutes in a news broadcast. I have a platform to help people tell their own stories and, when we do it right, to remind others that we aren’t just talking about stats and numbers. We are talking about real people who are loved and matter.” 

Acknowledge it’s an emotional moment

Lindenfeld, Hagerty and many other reporters have been speaking to survivors at evacuation centers across Los Angeles. Some of those people have lost their homes, and others may not know whether their homes are still standing. Either way, journalists need to understand that survivors are processing a lot of emotions.

Jeremy Lindenfeld reporting from the California wildfires. (Jeremy Lindenfeld)

“Give people space to answer questions the way that they’re able to answer,” Lindenfeld said. “If they need to cry, let them cry. If it’s too hard, you should respect that and don’t keep pushing. We’re talking to people at the likely the worst day of their lives, and we don’t want to make it worse.”

Agsten suggested reporters start interviews with evacuees by acknowledging what they’re going through. “For example, if you are about to interview somebody who has been heavily impacted by these fires,” she said, “it makes sense to say, ‘Extreme events like this fire are tragic for so many families and can cause so much grief. Tell me how you’re holding up today.’”

Lindenfeld noted reporters are generally encouraged to be persistent when they land interviews from sources, but he said he won’t push people who don’t want to talk to him during a disaster. It’s important for journalists not to chase evacuees or victims down for sound bites; instead, reporters should approach survivors with care and ask whether they’re willing to talk on the record. Let them know that what they say may be broadcast on TV or radio or published on the internet.

“You want to be able to give people that opportunity to take a beat, pause and reflect if speaking with you is in their best interest at this time,” she said. “Especially in disasters, when there is this adrenaline and you’re trying to move very quickly, it can just help to slow down and make sure this is a real conversation you’re having and that both of you are comfortable with having it at this time.”

Check in with your own mental health and safety

As a young reporter covering New York’s Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Hagerty grew overwhelmed with what she saw. At one point, she sat alone in her car and cried. Hagerty advises young journalists covering such incidents to check in with their mental health and see how they’re feeling.

“It’s really difficult to mentally prepare for some of the things that you might see or hear,” Hagerty said, “but I think it’s really important to make sure that you are doing those check-ins with yourself and recognize that this is affecting you.”

Now, with over a decade of experience covering disasters, Hagerty suggested reporters cover such tragedies as a team, looking out for one another’s safety and making sure to pack essentials, like masks and water. It’s also important for reporters to keep track of evacuation warnings and air quality indexes — not just for their stories, but also for their own safety. Last, she advocates for taking breaks, even if it’s just to eat or take a breather.

“Take these very basic steps for yourself so you can show up in these situations,” Hagerty said. “Because these situations are long, and they do not end quickly or neatly. A lot of times it’s reporting that you’re going to be in for the long haul.”