When the Palisades fire broke out Jan. 7, resident assistants in university housing considered their next steps.

Syed Tamim Ahmad, the Undergraduate Students Association Council’s international student representative and an RA for Rieber Vista, said there was confusion among RAs about whether they could leave campus. Ultimately, RAs did not have to stay during the week classes went online and RAs who decided to stay were compensated, he said, adding that the decision was made after discussions with UCLA Residential Life staff.

“Given the amount of time and the situation which they were in, I think they communicated pretty well,” said Ahmad, a third-year physiological science student.

However, Adam Tfayli, the USAC president and an RA for Hedrick Hall, said RAs scheduled to work were expected to stay on duty unless they had a circumstance where they had to leave or they could find people to cover their shifts. In the latter case, they could talk to their supervisor and would be allowed to leave, added Tfayli, a third-year human biology and society student.

“There was some slight miscommunication from some supervisors,” Tfayli said. “Some people thought they could just leave whenever they want, but also I think we have to acknowledge there was a state of an emergency, and no one really knew what was happening, so I don’t think I’d blame anyone – it’s just a hard situation to be in.”

Ahmad – who is from India and has lived in multiple countries – said even though he felt it was a difficult decision, administrators should communicate better in future emergency situations.

“Sometimes what happens is, administrators think that it would cause mass hysteria if we share information,” he said. “But withholding information creates more paranoia than if information was given in a timely manner.”

Tfayli, who is from Lebanon, said he decided to stay on campus to support the community by advocating for flexibility for RAs who wanted to leave and accessibility accommodations for people who would need assistance evacuating if an order was issued.

While some RAs decided to stay on campus, others decided to leave as evacuation zones moved closer to campus and classes were moved online.

Reina Cooper, a fourth-year anthropology student and an RA for Gayley Court – a university apartment complex – said she left campus shortly before classes went remote, adding that she communicated with other RAs to pass on resources.

“We are a front line of support, and we want to support people, and we care about our communities, and we care about the job,” said Cooper, an out-of-state student. “But also, sometimes you have to prioritize yourself first.”

Ahmad said he left campus Jan. 9 for a few days because his parents were worried about him. He added that as an international student who had never experienced wildfires before, he did not know what to expect.

Ahmad said he remained in communication with his residents by reaching out to them, providing resources and checking in with students affected by the wildfires.

“It’s important as a RA to make sure they feel seen and they feel supported,” Ahmad said.

Ahmad said students who stayed during the week of online classes felt lonely since there were so few residents, but Residential Life held events in the Learning Centers to boost student morale.

Adam Grossman, a first-year economics and statistics and data science student who remained on the Hill while the fires were happening, said his RA helped him by sending out information and resources in their floor’s GroupMe.

“They handled it very well at an individual level,” Grossman said. “They were communicating with us constantly. They were giving us all the emergency resources.”

Tfayli said he also believes RAs should receive information before the general public because their jobs depend on it.

“It’s important for us to know what’s going on, especially in the case of an emergency,” he said. “I understand why it didn’t happen, but I think in the future, there should be a more direct line of communication to ResLife.”