People whose homes were spared in L.A. wildfires contend with survivor’s guilt

Story by NBC News.

People who escape a tragedy like a fire often struggle with feeling survivor’s guilt, said Jennifer Gray Thompson, the founder and CEO of the nonprofit After the Fire.

Now, half remain, including one that is home to Debbie Slavin. The first six houses on her block are gone, she said.

“And then there’s my house that just is standing out there,” she said. “And you just have to ask yourself, why?”

While she is, of course, grateful, Slavin said, she is also overcome with grief and guilt for the many people — friends, neighbors and strangers alike — who are among the tens of thousands who have been displaced.

“I am so, so, so saddened by the loss that everyone is going through and what they have to go through,” she said. “It’s so heartbreaking.”

As of Wednesday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, more than 12,000 structures had been destroyed in the fast-moving Los Angeles-area fires that erupted last week. The blazes, fueled by dry conditions and powerful winds, have upended communities as they’ve turned home after home to rubble and left residents to struggle with what comes next — whether and how to rebuild.