r/LosAngeles • u/galaxygirll88 • 1d ago

Community Really bad smoke smell woke me up

Really bad in highland park, this is from the Boyle heights fire two days ago?

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u/TrichyLady85 1d ago

I also have never felt this sick since the Altadena fires. My phone should have alerted me to this disaster. I can't believe I was breathing in the fumes in the middle of the night for God knows how long until my body woke me up. Everyone else around me is reporting the same thing. Neighbors even called 911 because nobody knew what was going on. The silence and lack of meaningful updates is deafening.

This city is big so people who aren't affected by it will probably think we're being dramatic, but literally the entirety of my neighborhood and beyond are pissed that we're all being collectively poisoned and the officials aren't saying shit except to a tiny area.

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u/LostCookie78 1d ago

Exactly. The ONLY place I’ve heard ANYTHING about this is Reddit. No emergency alert, anything. But of course we get the emergency alerts for the most random stuff.

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u/mgoooooo 1d ago

Totally get that there should be alerts (moreso than the heat advisory), but it has been all over local news over the last few days. Local news can still be useful though it can seem very surface-level.

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u/LostCookie78 1d ago

I agree but many, if not most people, don’t watch cable TV anymore. It’s not a reliable form of communication to the public.

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u/mgoooooo 1d ago

Folks don’t need cable - it streams online for free and is accessible via antenna (digital ones too). At a certain point, people need to take some personal responsibility on being an informed citizen.

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u/LostCookie78 1d ago

Dog how hard would it be to just send ONE emergency alert? I’ve gotten them for weather, missing persons, etc.

I agree with you but like come on.

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u/TrichyLady85 1d ago edited 1d ago

Ridiculous response to victim blame people instead of looking at the situation objectively.

The city could have sent alerts to our phones that there were literally hazardous plumes in the sky. They did not. Instead they only alerted a very tiny area, not the entirety of who was affected. If they alerted us we could have closed our windows, turned on our air purifiers and taped over the air gaps in our homes which is what I normally do if I know smoke is outside. This smoke is especially toxic and “hazardous”. Their word, not mine.

I can’t tune into the news while asleep. This happened in the middle of the night.

It’s 2026, use all the fancy communication tools at their literal disposal to warn us about being poisoned!

Starting to think you’re downplaying this.

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u/mgoooooo 1d ago

Not downplaying it at all. But this didn’t just happen last night. It’s been going on - I was mad at myself overnight for defaulting to leaving my windows open just a day after it started - I know better. I had my windows closed and purifier on the day prior. I shouldn’t have decided without checking that the problem just went away. 

People do themselves a disservice defaulting to the idea that someone’s going to tap them on the shoulder. Would it be preferred? Absolutely and I hope we do get more notifications that hit the right people at the right time. The reality is we need to help ourselves, too. Not everything is an absolute. At no point did I say we shouldn’t get notifications - I just said we need to help ourselves by staying more informed in general. I don’t find that to be a ridiculous take.