Local News

Quincy steps up for native who lost home in Los Angeles wildfires

Bill O’Toole moved in 2006 to Los Angeles, where he lives with his wife and 4-year-old daughter.

The Los Angeles wildfires claimed the O'Tooles' home in the Pacific Palisades. Courtesy Photo / Kerin O'Toole

January 15, 2025

2 minutes to read

After a Quincy native and his family lost everything in the Los Angeles wildfires, his community rallied to raise over $50,000 in just a few days.

HOW TO HELP:

How to help those impacted by the Southern California wildfires

“Bill would literally give you the shirt off his back,” said Bill O’Toole’s sister, Kerin O’Toole. “We want to extend that same kindness to him.”

Born and raised in Quincy, Bill O’Toole moved to Los Angeles almost 20 years ago. He and his wife Lindsay built a company called Lead Education LA that works with parents, teachers, and professionals to provide services for students with learning disabilities. In 2020, Lindsay gave birth to a daughter, Leighton, now 4 years old.

Though they were able to evacuate in time, their home in the Pacific Palisades was reduced to ash.

Leighton in the O’Tooles’ Pacific Palisades home. *Courtesy Photo / Kerin O’Toole*

“They’re safe and they’re healthy, and that’s what matters at the end of the day, but they’ve lost all of their memories, all the things that are so hard to lose,” Kerin said.

When the O’Tooles left their home, they brought only their dogs, Nala and Quinn, and their overnight bags. They thought they’d be back the next day.

“It’s so hard watching from Massachusetts, where we feel helpless,” said Kerin, who still lives and works in Quincy.

She and her sister Kristin started a GoFundMe which has received $55,075 from 1,352 donors as of Wednesday morning.

“Seeing this response is so incredible, especially because of how my brother feels about Quincy,” Kerin said. “He’s so proud to be from here, he still has friends here who he talks to all the time.”

Cal Fire estimates the Palisades Fire, one of four still burning in Los Angeles, has destroyed 2,191 residential and commercial structures and damaged an additional 397. That fire alone has killed eight people, and an additional three people had been injured as of Wednesday morning.

Bill and Leighton outside the O’Tooles’ Pacific Palisades home. *Courtesy Photo / Kerin O’Toole*

It wiped out the O’Tooles’ entire neighborhood, including Leighton’s beloved local library, which Kerin said she visits almost daily.

“Literally all of her friends, every single kid in her class, are in the same boat,” Kerin said. “I think that helped her 4-year-old brain feel like she’s not alone.”

Bill and Lindsay’s top priority is supporting Leighton through the devastation, and with Lead Education LA, they’re trying to help kids all over Los Angeles who have lost their schools.