Alesandra Dubin writes:
I live in Los Angeles, and 2025 started out just plain awful for us here. January’s fires came on fast and were utterly unrelenting until thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed. Although that conflagration was on a historic scale, huge Southern California wildfires now arrive with numbing regularity amid the climate emergency.
At one point in January, flames came within feet of destroying my parents’ house while they were evacuated. Fire incinerated all the foliage along their fence, and for thousands of acres behind that. Their home was saved only by the intense, round-the-clock efforts of firefighters working both in the air and on the ground.
That’s why Prince Harry’s surprise pre-Christmas visit gave me — and many of us around here — a special pride and joy. According to Instagram, Harry spent time at the Ventura Training Center of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition in Camarillo, meeting formerly incarcerated firefighters who protected California communities during wildfire season and are now building long-term careers in fire service.
Beyond just his affinity for surfing the Pacific waves, this visit showed Harry is really participating in the community in which he now lives with Meghan Markle and their children.
The Anti-Recidivism Coalition shared photos from the visit with a caption that emphasized service, healing, and reentry support, writing that the firefighters’ “pride, leadership, and commitment are a testament to what’s possible when opportunity meets purpose.” The replies filled with gratitude:
“The best day,” one commenter wrote. Another added, “This is so dope,” using the proper Southern California parlance.
A third wrote, “Thank you for continuing to advocate for mental health & reentry support, Prince Harry! #ShowUpDoGood,” using the motto of the Prince’s Archewell organization.
Close to 30 percent of California’s wildfire force has included incarcerated firefighters — people doing some of the most dangerous, physically grueling work imaginable for cents an hour. Programs like ARC help make sure that service on the fire line can translate into stability, dignity, and real opportunity after release.
For those of us living in California, where fire season shapes everything from housing anxiety to holiday plans, Harry’s attention is meaningful. If becoming a Californian means understanding that wildfires are personal, that firefighters are sacred, and that second chances matter — then yes, he’s one of us now. And I, for one, am happy to have him.
