Otter alumna plays role in L.A. fire recovery

By Mark Muckenfuss

Alora Skustad remembers a woman who came into the Palisades fire disaster recovery center. The woman was using a wheelchair and had been staying at the emergency shelter for those displaced by the fire. 

“She was meeting me a week after the fire [started] and she still smelled like smoke,” Skustad said.

The experience was one of many that impacted Skustad during the two weeks she spent at the center, working 12-hour shifts each day to connect fire victims with the resources they needed. 

A 2024 graduate of CSUMB, with a degree in marine science. she now assists campus emergency manager Ken Folsom through a program funded by AmeriCorps. She is also working on a master’s degree in emergency management from Long Beach State. 

Skustad is one of 50 California Emergency Response Corps volunteers stationed throughout California. She and two others – one from San Francisco and one from Humboldt – traveled together to the recovery center in West Los Angeles. 

Her job, she said, was to work alongside a crisis response team, helping people navigate the more than 80 resources available at the center. One of the things she was careful to do was to learn the names of the people she was helping and to introduce them by name to the other relief volunteers and agents.

“One of the individuals came up and she was crying and saying, ‘You made my day just by listening to me and you remembered my name,’” she said. “It was very impactful for me. You realize the smallest gestures have a big impact. 

“Some of the people I interacted with had lost a loved one,” she added. “We were able to help them with emotional support until they get long-term support, if they were seeking that.”

She got some support of her own during the two-week stretch, not only from family and close friends but also the Otter Raft.

“My CSUMB family was constantly checking in on me, including some of my professors from when I was an undergrad,” she said. “It really meant the world.”

She took the opportunity to spread the word when she met the governor’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who visited the center and spent about an hour with volunteers, Skustad said.

“I got to talk to her about what we were doing and even about CSUMB, how tight the community is here,” she said. “She was the kindest person. You could tell she really cared.”

Skustad said her experience showed her she’s on the right track.

“It was really reassuring for my future,” she said. “This is where my passion lies. I want to have a role in emergency management or disaster response.”

She appreciates that she gets to work with Folsom.

“He’s constantly teaching me things,” she said. 

Folsom said he’s happy that CSUMB is able to offer such an opportunity.

“The AmeriCorps CERC program is a great opportunity for our students to serve their community and to gain an understanding of the importance of emergency preparedness and emergency management,” Folsom said. “We will be recruiting students for next year's program for CSUMB as well as CERC volunteers to assist the cities of Seaside, Marina and Sand City.” 

Skustad said she would be happy to go back to Southern California and do it again. Even though it was emotionally taxing, it was also rewarding working with people who needed her help.

“This one lady lived in a house in the Palisades for 55 years,” she said. “Everything she owned was in that house. I remember when she left, she was so happy because she could see the resources that were available to her. It was awesome to see people get the help they needed.”