California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles County Tuesday night in response to raging wildfires across the Pacific Palisades, Altadena, and the San Fernando Valley. Despite the nearly 26,000 acres of unprecedented damage, 70,000 displaced residents, and 0% containment, not all have deemed the ongoing tragedy “crisis-worthy.”
Airbnb is facing online criticism for reportedly refusing to cancel a woman’s Los Angeles reservation despite the location’s proximity to the Pacific Palisades fire. The largest of the Los Angeles fires has destroyed over 15,800 acres of Southern California and displaced over 30,000 residents.
On Jan. 7, 2025, user @anammostarac posted a two-panel photo collage on X: one of her interaction with an Airbnb representative named Jasmin, and another of a screengrab of the fire’s progress from the wildfire alert app Watch Duty. Mostarac captioned the post, “Thank you Airbnb.”
In the first photo, the Airbnb representative states that Mostarac’s cancellation is not covered under their major disruptive events policy and that a “strict cancellation policy will apply.”
Almost immediately, followers were outraged with the way the Airbnb representative handled Mostarac’s situation. Some users called the treatment “inhumane,” while others shared their own stories of bad interactions with the homeshare platform.
The post received millions of views and over a thousand comments that same day. On Jan. 8, 2024, Mostarac responded to her original post, writing, “As always, their policies failed to account for context. The fires keep getting worse, and unfortunately, many others are probably stuck explaining bushfires to someone in another country right now.”
Mostarac’s response gained another bout of comments, supporting the X user and refuting the policy stated by the Airbnb representative.
Others responded by humorously making light of Mostarac’s situation and the failings of the company.
‘Identifying those in greatest need’
On Jan. 8, 2024, Airbnb posted a community message that their company-founded nonprofit, Airbnb.org, was partnering with 211 LA (a nonprofit organization connecting Los Angeles County residents to health and human services) to provide free, temporary housing for those displaced by the Los Angeles wildfires.
The message emphasized that “Airbnb.org works with local organizations to help identify those in greatest need of temporary housing and may expand support to other areas affected by the wildfires. We will update this page with more information accordingly.”
In a statement to the New York Post regarding the situation, Airbnb explained Mostarac was initially refused a refund because had booked her reservation after the fires had started, adding that the company “contacted the guest to issue a full refund as a goodwill gesture.”
Many responded to Airbnb’s efforts positively, saying “wonderful support!” and “this is great to hear.”
Still others were skeptical, with one user saying “but no refunds to people who booked in the area? Nice.” Others cited other suspicious Airbnb practices that made them distrustful of the company.
‘A devastating loss’
The wildfires are still out of control on the west and east sides of Los Angeles County, with five people dead and more than 1,000 structures damaged. In an interview with The New York Times, Traci Park—a Los Angeles city councilwoman whose district includes Pacific Palisades—said, “This is going to be devastating; a devastating loss, for all of Los Angeles.”
Initially fueled by the Santa Anita winds, the fires began in the early hours of Jan. 7, 2024, quickly ravaging large portions of the city, prompting evacuation orders in Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Santa Clarita, Altadena, La Cañada Flintridge, Glendale, and more. Many online are urging those close to the fires to be safe and prepare for sudden evacuation.
The Daily Dot has reached out to @anammostarac via direct message on X. The creator did not immediately respond to the request for comment.
The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
