Community Update: Palisades Fire & Market Plans

Dear Topanga Farmers Market Community,

We hope this message finds you safe and well during this challenging time. We wanted to take a moment to update you on the impact of the Palisades Fire on our beloved market and canyon.

Our team has been evacuated for the past nine days, focusing on keeping our families safe and ensuring our little ones are comfortable while away from home. Like many of you, we have been navigating this situation day by day, and our hearts are with everyone affected.

We are profoundly grateful to be part of such a connected, resilient community. Witnessing the responsiveness, teamwork, and generosity of our canyon during this incredibly stressful week has been inspiring. We extend our deepest thanks to the thousands of firefighters, first responders, and volunteers working tirelessly to save our canyon and protect our homes, people, and animals.

Thankfully, the past two days have been relatively calm, with significant progress made on containing the fire. Dozer teams are actively cutting fire breaks, and the red flag wind advisory is expected to end today, offering hope for a turning point. We anticipate receiving more information about when canyon residents can return home by Thursday.

Market Update:
Unfortunately, we must cancel this Friday’s Farmers Market (January 17th). With the fire situation still ongoing and many of our vendors and customers in flux, it’s simply not the right time. However, we are already looking forward to welcoming everyone back on Friday, January 24th for what promises to be an epic canyon gathering and reunion.

All of our vendors rely on income from our market and we hope to be able to support them once again in the coming weeks.

Supporting Our Community:
One of our beloved vendors, Hannah Wear of Greener Empowerment Foundation, tragically lost her home. Hannah has been a true steward of our canyon, championing native plant awareness, pollinator projects, and Sustainable Saturday events. We are committed to supporting her, her husband Kevin, and their daughter Pearl as they rebuild their lives. If you’re able to help, please contribute to their GoFundMe campaign here: Support the Parkhurst-Wear Family.

Additionally, many of our loyal customers have lost their homes. Below are the families we are aware of so far. If you know of others, please let us know so we can share their campaigns with our community.

• Grace Flowers and Family: Support Grace’s Family

• Carly, Jay Carson, and Family: Help Carly, Jay, and Their Community

• Gaby, Luke, and Family: Help Gaby and Luke Rebuild

• Wendy and Robert Baruc: Rebuild After the Fire

Looking Ahead:
In the coming weeks, we’ll focus on supporting families impacted by the fire and ensuring everyone in our canyon has the resources they need. We are reserving booth spaces at our January 24th market for nonprofits and community groups offering services or information to assist residents. If you have ideas on how we can contribute to the recovery efforts, please email us at [email protected].

Our community is strong, and together, we will rebuild. Thank you for your kindness, generosity, and support as we navigate this challenging time.

With gratitude and hope,
Kate Kimmel, Freddi Swanson & Sarah Seelinger
Topanga Farmers Market

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