A brain surgeon from Los Angeles who spent almost a week fighting to save houses on his street from wildfires told the BBC that he had been preparing for such an event for 15 years.
Malibu resident Dr. Chester Griffiths, 62, ignored evacuation orders to keep the fire out of the Palisades with the help of his son and a neighbor until emergency services were able to reach them.
“We always knew that one day there would be a fire – but we didn’t know when,” said Dr. Griffiths for the BBC’s Today Programme.
“We never imagined it would be this catastrophic and apocalyptic.”
Griffiths said he had completed brain surgery just hours before returning to his Malibu street last week to fight the blaze, joined by his son Chester Jnr and Colbert.
“Houses were falling like dominoes,” he said.
Luckily, he and his neighbor, Clayton Colbert, developed an action plan in case of such a fire and got hoses they could use.
Connecting four hoses to the hydrants, Dr. Griffiths, his son and Mr. The Colberts positioned themselves on nearby rooftops to spray water on the flames and use earth to extinguish the embers on the ground.
“Burning embers fell on us for about 12 hours,” said Dr. Griffiths.
The trio were only joined by firefighters in the last few days of their week-long ordeal as resources were “severely stretched” by the number of fires in the Los Angeles area.
“(Firefighters) believed that it was not possible to save all the homes,” said Dr. Griffiths.
He says he “totally understands” why the fire department was too busy to help, adding, “That’s why it’s so important to be trained ahead of time, have your gear and really have the support of your community.”
Los Angeles fire crews are still battling two large fires and two smaller ones as they prepare for more destruction.
The Palisades Fire, burning between Santa Monica and Malibu on the city’s west side, has destroyed more than 23,000 acres and is among the most destructive in California history.
At least 24 people have died in the fires and 23 are missing in the Eaton and Palisades fire zones, while more than 90,000 are under evacuation orders.
They are residents preparation for further destruction as weather forecasts indicate that the winds fueling the flames could reignite.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said “emergency preparations” were being made ahead of near-hurricane-force winds expected Tuesday.
President Biden said it would cost tens of billions of dollars to rebuild parts of the city that burned during nearly a week of wildfires.
