All Brentwood football coach Jake Ford can do is offer support and be a sounding board as players who lost homes in the Palisades fire try to deal with the life-changing event.
More than 50 families at the K-12 school have lost homes, including five football players.
“One player never got back to his house,” Ford said Monday.
It was Tuesday morning when the Palisades fire began and students at Brentwood started receiving texts to return home.
“One of the students was in my class,” Ford said. “He said, ‘I’m going home.’ He never got back to his house before it burned. He lost everything.”
Ford said he has been texting and emailing players.
“I told them we are definitely here for them and if they need any help or want to talk, I’m here and we’re not going anywhere,” he said. “As a community, we will be here when they are ready to come back.”
Ford said among his players’ concerns: “They say, ‘I can’t believe everything I had was gone and how quickly it happened.’ The things they’re missing are the memories, my yearbooks, my pictures, my clothes. They’re kind of freaked out and mostly worried where they are going to live.”
Brentwood’s football banquet on Saturday had to be canceled. The school will be holding a clothing drive Thursday to help families. Classes have been canceled this week and are scheduled to resume Jan. 21. The fall semester has yet to be completed.
The school was not in the evacuation zone, which ended across the street. Ford promises he will be ready to provide support.
“We’re going to move on,” he said. “We’re a resilient group.”
La Canada High has been closed since Wednesday. Basketball coach Tom Hofman said nearby St. Francis allowed the team to practice on Monday in its gym but Rio Hondo League games have been canceled this week. The team hasn’t played since Dec. 28 because of the fire disruptions.
Hofman said 12 teachers lost their homes in the Eaton fire.
