‘I’m Not Leaving You Behind’: Moving Veterans to Safety as LA’s Wildfires Spread

Less than 48 hours earlier, the combat Veteran had begun receiving notifications on his work phone about the Palisades Fire, a deadly and fast-spreading wildfire in the Santa Monica Mountains, just five miles from the West LA VA campus. 

As a Program Manager with VA’s Office of Strategic, Facility, and Master Planning (SFMP), crisis response wasn’t really in Huda’s job description.

But once a Marine, always a Marine. 

Huda told leadership he was ready to help and was quickly looped into incident command as Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System (VAGLAHS) staff members worked around the clock to ensure the safety of Veterans and staff.

Come Friday night, Huda set out on the 90-mile drive from his home to West LA to assist with the precautionary relocation of some at-risk Veterans. While en route, he got a text from his colleague, Navy Veteran Braulio “Lio” Esparza, an Asset Manager with SFMP. 

Esparza, who’s worked at VA for more than 20 years, was also on the way to help. He had spent the previous evening at the hospital, delivering masks and other protective gear. 

On Friday night, he, too, had volunteered to assist with the challenging task of relocating nearly 200 Veterans. VAGLAHS leadership decided to temporarily move them to ensure their safety given the unpredictable and rapidly spreading nature of the fire. 

Together, along with other dedicated VA staff and community partners, Huda and Esparza went above and beyond to ensure the safe relocation – and return – of their fellow Veterans during an unprecedented crisis.    

No One Gets Left Behind

As soon as the decision was made to move Veterans to safety, VA provided bus transportation, and over 100 VA staff members answered the call for volunteers late Friday night. 

The relocation of Veterans began at Care, Treatment and Rehabilitative Services (CTRS), where approximately 135 homeless Veterans live in individual, climate-controlled shelters as they get connected to permanent housing assistance and other services.  

Relocating these Veterans, many of whom have complex medical or mental health needs, was no small feat. Though most of them understood the importance of getting to safety, there were some that questioned why they had to leave.  

It was Huda’s command experience that helped the Veterans trust him, he said. 

“I had an Afghanistan Veteran campaign hat on, and I think they understood that this is an emergency situation,” said Huda. “I used that military mentality of, hey, we’re in a field exercise and we are about to leave the line of departure. It’s game time.”

35 Veterans staying at A Bridge Home (ABH), an emergency shelter on campus, were also relocated. Staff members were diligent about making sure every Veteran was accounted for.  

“It was a tremendous logistical challenge,” said Esparza, explaining that they had to coordinate medications, transportation, and food for each Veteran, as well as ensure their overall wellbeing and safety.

HARP, a service-disabled Veteran-owned small business contractor that provides meal services as well as 24/7 site monitoring to help oversee CTRS, provided invaluable support during the process, said Huda. 

Finding Shelter

Initially the Veterans were moved to Pan Pacific Park Recreation Center. It had the capacity to provide temporary shelter, but when the facility planned to close the following day, Bob Hope Patriotic Hall was identified as a more appropriate and Veteran-centric location.  

Patriotic Hall has a storied history as a haven for Veterans of many different generations. It was built in 1925 to serve Veterans of the American Indian Wars, Spanish–American War, and World War I, and now serves as the headquarters for LA County’s Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (MVA), and Veterans Peer Access Network (VPAN). 

This relocation was made possible through a seamless partnership between VA, MVA, and the American Red Cross, who quickly set up on-site at Patriotic Hall to help Veterans as they arrived. This joint effort, executed within hours, was demonstrative of the One Team approach, where VA and its community partners pool resources and work as a united front to meet each Veteran’s housing and service needs.  

But asking the Veterans to move again wasn’t easy. When it was time to go, one older Army Veteran refused. But Huda channeled his experience as a Company Gunnery Sergeant. 

“I told him, ‘I was in the Marine Corps for 20 years, and Marines don’t leave anybody behind. I am not leaving you behind,’” said Huda. 

The Veteran grabbed his bag, picked up his chair, and started walking towards the bus.

Safe Returns

The Red Cross was instrumental at Patriotic Hall, said Esparza. “They were ready with tables, and were checking in folks arriving from Pan Pacific. They were very helpful.”

Even after all the Veterans arrived and were being assisted by the dedicated Red Cross volunteers and VA and MVA staff members, the mission wasn’t over for Huda and Esparza. 

Some of the Veterans had mobility issues, and Patriotic Hall is a 10-story building with only elevators and stairs. If the elevators failed, there would be no way to evacuate Veterans in wheelchairs. Evacuation chairs, which allow patients to be transported down stairs, were a must to ensure the safety of those Veterans.

Huda worked with the team at VA’s Emergency Management Office to secure the chairs. They also received help and support from the team at VA’s Center for Development and Civic Engagement (CDCE), said Huda. 

Given the situation, Huda and Esparza stayed all night at Patriotic Hall to ensure everything ran smoothly and the Veterans had whatever they needed. 

The two also came back to assist when it was deemed that the campus was safe enough for the Veterans to return home. By the following week, all Veterans were back at West LA VA. 

‘Be a Hero Again’

Ultimately, Huda and Esparza said it felt natural to answer the call to help their fellow Veterans in need. 

“As Veterans we are trained to do whatever is needed at the time,” said Huda. His two combat tours left him well-prepared to handle unpredictable situations. 

Many lessons were learned from the experience, the two agreed, and they and other staff continue to share those lessons in the hopes of helping VAGLAHS be even more prepared for emergency situations in the future. 

“It’s not that often we get to be a hero again,” said Esparza. “Being able to help Veterans in such an extreme situation is a reminder of our mission here: to serve Veterans with care and compassion, as part of our extended family – making sure they’re safe and their needs are met.”