A storm chaser from Minnesota who found himself in a burning house in Los Angeles during California wildfires this week he described how his faith was “instinct” as he prayed on a street full of fervor as he fled.
Tanner Charles Schaaf, who was flying to Los Angeles to spend time with friends over the holidays, said God told him to extend his trip by a few days.
“I prayed for it [and] I just felt like I had to extend it,” Schaaf told Fox News Digital. “The next day there were fires.”
Tanner Charles Schaaf shared photos of the house he escaped from with his friend during the California wildfires. (Tanner Charles Schaaf)
Although Schaaf has been tracking natural disasters for more than 16 years, he said he has never seen a wildfire as large as this one Palisades Fire.
He met up with a friend who lived in the LA area and helped him collect his belongings, knowing there would be heavy losses.
“We went [to his house] and I started dousing all the plants, because I noticed that a lot of the vegetation would catch fire first, before the houses would catch fire,” Schaaf said. “We doused the trees and the house itself, really try[ing] we tried to make it as fireproof as possible.”
He and his friend stationed themselves in front and behind the house, each armed with hoses. They met inside to check on each other and saw hot embers engulf a nearby tree and fence in flames.
“The entire fence was on fire within 10 to 20 seconds,” Schaaf said. “I’m looking outside [saying]’It’s time to go. We can’t do that.’ It was horrible.”
Tanner Charles Schaaf shared photos of the house he escaped from with his friend during the California wildfires. (Tanner Charles Schaaf)
A video posted by Schaaf of the couple fleeing the house has garnered millions of views on social media platform X.
“We tried, bro. I’m sorry,” Schaaf yells to his friend in the video. – We did our best.
He described hearing random explosions, likening it to a war zone.
Tanner Charles Schaaf shared photos of the house he escaped from with his friend during the California wildfires. (Tanner Charles Schaaf)
“You’ve got embers falling, winds whipping, you’ve got smoke, you hear these explosions,” Schaaf said. “When the embers lit things really close to us, you could hear the sound it would make – it’s just really loud… It felt like I was in a huge oven.”
In another viral video, the two rush out onto a burning street, and Schaaf can be heard praying over the neighborhood.
“God, protect this house in the name of Jesus,” he said with his hands raised towards the homes. “Protect this neighborhood, God, in Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”
PALISADES RESIDENT DESCRIBES LOSS OF HOMES IN FIRE
His friend in the distance replies, “This tree will kill us.”
Tanner Charles Schaaf shared photos of the house he escaped from with his friend during the California wildfires. (Tanner Charles Schaaf)
Instilling faith in everything he does, especially in a situation where he knows lives will be changed forever, is important, Schaaf said.
He remembered a conversation with an elderly man who had hunkered down with his young nephews, refusing to evacuate.
“He says, ‘Oh, we’ll be fine. My house is fireproof,'” Schaaf said. “There’s just things like that in the back of my mind where I’m like, ‘Did they really get away with it?’ .. Setting aside time for prayer is very important. [it] can change so many things in the world.”
A few years ago, Schaaf said, he asked God to show him His power while chasing storms. He said God responded by telling him to start praying when he found himself in dangerous situations.
Tanner Charles Schaaf shared photos of the house he escaped from with his friend during the California wildfires. It burned to the ground in the fire, Schaaf said. (Tanner Charles Schaaf)
“[I started saying]’I pray that this tornado dissipates immediately in the name of Jesus,’ and then I would see the tornado dissipate in front of me,” Schaaf said. “You can look on the Internet, and you can totally see where it’s just spinning [me] just as I was begging. So let me stop to pray [during the California wildfires]it was instinct.”
While having viral videos is exciting, he said his focus was helping his friend get out of the fire.
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“I like to document the real things that people go through and what that looks like,” he said. “It just happened that millions of people saw it. Hopefully people watch it and can understand the seriousness of the situation and what’s really going on… The rise to fame, if you will, is humbling. [I’m] exactly what I’m trying to do here [my] best, trying to love people well.”
