TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — There is a Tucson connection to the fires burning through Los Angeles. A lot of University of Arizona students are from California and they’re watching and worrying as the fires spread.
University of Arizona is an attractive option for many California students. With classes starting next week, many of those students are in Tucson, but looking back towards the trouble back home.
Even for a state with a history of big fires, the fires rushing through Southern California stand out for how suddenly they’ve flashed through neighborhoods thick with houses—and how thoroughly they’ve upended lives.
Jennifer Djavadi says evacuation orders have come close but have not reached her neighborhood yet.
She says she’s evacuated herself and her horses from fires six times before but these fires feel far more frightening.
“There is nowhere in this city that feels safe and it doesn't feel like there's anywhere that's secure, and that is very unusual.”
She knows some people in Tucson are feeling the fires too. Two of her children went to U of A. She says she’s a counselor to California students at U of A now.
“I deal with kids from undergrad to graduates, so they'll call me and say, Hey, Jen, do you happen to know if my house burnt down? I don't want to call my mom and dad. I have a kid from the Palisades whose house did burn down, and he called me first before he called his folks, because he didn't want to freak them out.”
Jennifer says parents tell her they are glad their kids in Tucson are far from the fires and are grateful for the support the students have had from the University.
