Finding strength after destruction: A conversation with Dr. Sion Roy on the Palisades Fire

Dr. Sion Roy, Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees, cardiologist, and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harbor University of California, Los Angeles, speaks at the Santa Monica College (SMC) Board of Trustees meeting at SMC in Santa Monica, Calif., on Tuesday, April 1, 2025.(Jake Crandall | The Corsair)

In a conversation with the Corsair, SMC ​​Board of Trustees Vice-Chair and cardiologist Dr. Sion Roy opened up about his family's experience evacuating the fire, and how his experience became an integral part of his state senate campaign. The process of rebuilding is now of the main goals that Dr. Roy seeks to accomplish if elected to the senate.

In January, while Dr. Roy was working, he received a phone call from his neighbors describing a huge amount of smoke emerging from the canyon and alerting him that they were evacuating the area. He quickly called his family to start packing up to evacuate.

“We live in a fire zone. We had a dry run for the first time we ever… got evacuated in December for the Franklin fire. So that was something that we'd never done before,” he said. “But in some ways, that was a blessing that we kinda had, in terms of taking stuff.”

Dr. Roy’s family was able to pack up important valuables and items swiftly. At the time, the fire hadn’t reached their neighborhood and was still a far distance away. He expressed how they believed, like some, that they would be coming back.

Despite being more than 20 miles apart, Dr. Roy and his family began planning to meet in Santa Monica. While staying at a hotel, the family received an abundant amount of “kindness and love” from their community. However, they also were able to see online what was happening to Malibu and the Palisades.

“We’re getting so much information. And then sometime at night, 6:30 or 7, something like that, say, we got videos of Rosenthal Wines and Cholada, some of the places that we, you know, eat a lot at,” he said. “They had, we saw clearly, the videos of them burning. And then, the winds picked up. We were in Santa Monica, and they were so violent.”

“In Santa Monica, right near the coast…I've never seen anything like that before, like that high. And we, you know, at some time, 7:30-ish or something like that, we got a text from, like, a couple people (saying), like…you need to get out,” Dr. Roy said, regarding the hurricane-level gusts that continued to blow through the area.

Dr. Roy began to receive notifications from their smoke detection system, as it was continuously sending alerts by the minute. “The alarms were going off, and we were hoping that because the alarms were going off, maybe it's just external smoke. And it's a good sign that, you know, that we still get communication, the smoke alarms are working,” Dr. Roy said.

He recalled the notifications stopping, as the battery of the alarm was dying. “And so we're running out of battery, and then we don't know what happened. We didn't know what happened after that… (We) left for work, at eight, 80% sure our house had burned down, or 90% sure,” he said.

“There's just so much desperate information. They were like, you know, I know that this house burnt down, like, a couple houses down from us. This house, we've confirmed, burnt down, and they're very close to us,” he said. “And, like, we knew that it ripped through our neighborhood, and it came to our neighborhood at just the unfortunate time... At 8 p.m. or 9 p.m., the winds were picking up, so they cut off the air support because it was too dangerous for the helicopters and small planes to fly.”

While Dr. Roy was leaving for work, he received information from their friend about another house that was lost on the street, but others had remained intact.

“Apparently, those two houses are still intact, and I remember I just started bawling on my way to work… It's like, oh my gosh. Maybe our house is still there. Maybe our house is still there…” he said.

Then, when Dr. Roy was returning home from work that day, he received the information that his family’s house had burned down in the height of the fire.

Despite the devastation, the Roy family has received an outpour of support from their community. “You know… We had so many people checking on us… We've been so grateful for so much kindness from so many people,” said Dr. Roy. “There's just been so much kindness from community.”

“And then we had…we've just been surrounded by so much love and so much kindness… and it's made it tolerable, you know?” he said.

Since the containment of the fires, Dr. Roy has been able to secure a rental home, return to his family’s property, and begin the process of rebuilding, clearing debris and going back to normal.

“We progressed. You know we just finished our debris removal… which is a big step for us through the Army Corps of Engineers and … focusing on … getting our permits done and looking to rebuild our house so that, hopefully we're able to move back sometime … by the end of next year. (It) would be really wonderful if we could get everything done, and … be home for the holidays next year,” Dr. Roy said in a follow-up interview with the Corsair.

“We've taken many trips back there to our property, you know, for so many different reasons and so some of it is … therapeutic … going up there, and you know, we've dug through our debris, to see if we can find things… We were able to find some meaningful things to us… Definitely an emotional experience every time we've been up. And… time, you know, time is healing,” Dr. Roy said.

As of March 2025, Dr. Roy has announced his declaration to run for California State Senate representing District 24, a decision that took time and consideration.

“I had ran for state assembly three years ago. And when Malibu got split from Santa Monica, I got redistricted out of the race that I was running for. And so we had targeted, running for state senate for, you know, this cycle, and we were actually going to announce in February, and then everything happened,” said Dr. Roy. “We ... took, you know, several weeks to assess everything… Everything was on the table, not doing it, doing it… delaying, announcing, all that stuff.”

“But I think our family feels good about running for state senate, in addition to all the things that I've always cared about… enhancing access to health care, public education, you know, all of those things. I think we feel really good that perhaps the most meaningful role…from our district could be … helping … organize the state support for our rebuilding community over the next decade. Just making sure that the billions of dollars that are going to be coming into our local communities that are rebuilding…the residents, the businesses, the schools, the employees, you know, the workers, everybody who's been affected by all of this, in a meaningful way.”

Dr. Roy also noted challenges on the road ahead that arise with campaigning, such as how the state senate meets in Sacramento. “It involves me being gone a lot, both for campaigning and then if I am elected, in Sacramento. And so, we wanted to make sure that our family was ready for this emotionally, financially, logistically, all of that,” he said.

His campaign is centered on rebuilding communities affected by the wildfires, driven by his personal experience. Along with rebuilding, Roy plans to “fight to protect and expand access to healthcare and reproductive rights, tackle the mental health crisis, and champion environmental protections to safeguard residents from the effects of climate change,” if elected, as stated on his campaign website.

“And I do hope that out of this… as we think forward, as we rebuild these communities, that we do focus on intangible ways for fire protection… climate change, all of those things, and bring in new light to it. But climate change is one thing, but for particularly the fire protection in these areas and stuff like that. And it requires government investment in doing that too,” Dr. Roy said.