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When the Sunset Fire started to bear down on her Hollywood neighborhood on Wednesday evening, and the order to evacuate came, Danielle Lovell reminded herself to breathe.

She'd been through this before. In 2005, she and her family evacuated their home as Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans.

"I think the biggest takeaway (from Katrina) was -- and even last night -- just reminding myself to breathe and to stay calm," Lovell said to The Batavian on Thursday. "You do not want to panic because you are in such a hurry, but breathe and stay calm. Getting out is the most important thing. Everything else is replaceable, and it'll be okay. As long as you're alive, it'll be okay."

 At 21, Leah Wroten was diagnosed with cancer, and life as she knew it changed for the foreseeable future, special education teacher Natalie Keller says.

“She had life-changing surgery," Keller said to The Batavian about her fellow Batavia City Schools colleague. "She had not been working for six months.” 

Wroten, a BHS 2020 graduate, had major surgery, chemotherapy and related treatments since her diagnosis in 2024. School staff members have had football square and Dress Down Day fundraisers, and one coming up in February is expected to be the biggest so far, Keller said. It will be a 26 Shirts for Leah.