Mia Ammer, a seasoned Hollywood publicist, has navigated numerous fire drills throughout her life. Having raised her children in the Pacific Palisades for over a decade, she was familiar with the looming threat of wildfires from the hills to the north. However, she noted that historically, “fire had never jumped Sunset Boulevard and threatened our town,” indicating a level of security that was about to be shattered.

This sense of security changed dramatically on January 7, when an intense wildfire swept through her picturesque neighborhood, located just north of Santa Monica at the western edge of Los Angeles. The fire, along with the devastating Eaton Fire to the east, wreaked havoc in Altadena and parts of northern Pasadena, creating a heart-wrenching display of wildfire destruction that captivated audiences through relentless news coverage.

After the devastation, only two door frames and a small section of Ammer’s fireplace remained standing in her home on Bienveneda Avenue, which she purchased in 2015. The home was near the now-destroyed Palisades Charter High School, famously featured in the 1976 film “Carrie.” In a cruel twist of fate, the house housed precious scrapbooks and the ashes of her late husband, Geoff Ammer, a respected film marketing executive who passed away unexpectedly 13 years ago. This was not the first time Ammer had to reconstruct her life from scratch.

“It’s truly the only thing I cared about. There were memory books created by friends filled with photographs and heartfelt letters expressing what Geoff meant to them. It was everything I wanted for my children, and now it’s gone,” Ammer shared with Variety. “His ashes were there too. That was his resting place.”

A family friend returned an old sweater belonging to Geoff, who died in 2012 at the age of 62, to Mia’s 19-year-old son, Geoff Ammer Jr. He made a special trip home from UC Santa Barbara to be with his mother and younger sister, Annie, 17. Since then, he has worn the sweater continuously, finding comfort in its familiarity amid the chaos.

Ammer’s experience resonates with countless others in the area who faced similar disasters during that harrowing week. She described feelings of “panic,” “numbness,” and “complete shock” as she witnessed her home being consumed by flames, captured in snippets of cellphone footage.

“We’ve endured numerous fire warnings, and it’s hard to gauge how seriously to take them. My house had never truly been in danger, and my neighbors felt the same way — we all thought we would return. That’s why so many people left with nothing but the clothes on their back,” she recounted. The Palisades fire represents not just an environmental crisis, but primarily a profound housing crisis for many, unless one is exceedingly wealthy.

On the day the fires ignited, Ammer was fulfilling her role as a VP of corporate entertainment at the PR agency Sunshine Sachs, where she has established a reputation as an effective and well-liked corporate communications executive. Her impressive career includes work with major studios like Sony Pictures Entertainment, 20th Century Fox, and Paramount Pictures. At home, her daughter Annie was the only one present when the fire alerts escalated to critical levels.

“The alerts woke her up after I called about 27 times. I listed a few essentials for her to take, and she managed to escape the house with just one hoodie and our passports,” Ammer recounted. Annie, a student at Palisades High, found herself stuck in traffic as she tried to evacuate. Fortunately, she was familiar with a shortcut through her school, allowing her to navigate around abandoned cars and the overwhelming chaos of the evacuation, where people were driving on the wrong side of the road.

Ammer’s home managed to survive the first night, but by January 8, it caught fire along with the entire block. The following day, Ammer, her partner Erik Logan—former CEO of the World Surf League and co-president of Oprah Winfrey’s OWN network—and her children returned to the site of their home.

“We lived next to a townhome, and there was so much debris everywhere. The safe in my bedroom closet had exploded. Everything was gone. We found a ceramic bear that Annie had made in school, and the doorknob to her bedroom,” she said, reflecting on the remnants of their once cherished home.

Currently, Ammer and her daughter have moved to Logan’s residence in Manhattan Beach. She expressed her gratitude as tears often fill her eyes, inspired by the remarkable way her community has rallied together. “Sunshine Sachs has been incredibly supportive. My client, Constance Schwartz-Morini from SMAC, had a box of clothes delivered for my daughter in less than two seconds. The generosity has been overwhelming. I’m truly humbled, and it gives me hope,” she shared.

As a widow and single mother, Ammer reflected on how she wouldn’t have been able to cope with the loss of her husband without the support of friends and neighbors in the Palisades who acted as her village. Those same neighbors have banded together to create a relief fund for her family.

“It was unique in that there was no better place to raise a family,” she remarked. “I couldn’t have made it through this without the Palisades community. From driving my children to school — I honestly don’t know what I would have done without their support.”

Although finding silver linings feels challenging at the moment, Ammer is encouraged by the neighbors and friends relocating to L.A.’s South Bay area and choosing to stick together.

“There are many families who’ve moved down to the South Bay between Hermosa and Manhattan Beach. We’re essentially rebuilding here,” she shared. “I know not everyone is as fortunate as we are.”

(Pictured above: Erik Logan, Mia Ammer, Geoff Ammer Jr., and Annie Ammer surveying the remains of their home in Pacific Palisades. Photo courtesy of Bo Bridges)