Couple Learns L.A. Fires Burned Their Apartment While On Vacation (Exclusive) [Video]

Sara Smith had just boarded her plane to Mexico with her boyfriend on Tuesday morning when she learned about the fires in Pacific Palisades, where they live.

The 26-year-old social media content creator recalls her boyfriend turning to her and asking, “Should we get off the plane?” In that moment, Smith, who grew up in Orange County, didn’t know how to respond. As a Southern California local, she was accustomed to fires happening frequently and didn’t immediately feel alarmed.

However, the next morning, Jan. 8, while looking at maps and watching videos of the area, she learned that the Palisades Village had been destroyed by the fires. “Our grocery stores are gone,” she tells PEOPLE exclusively. “My boyfriend’s friend had managed to return to the Palisades and reported that from the bottom of Sunset at [the Pacific Coast Highway] to the village, the area was unrecognizable.”

It wasn’t until an hour later, …