Los Angeles man saves street from ‘apocalyptic’ wildfires

A Los Angeles neurosurgeon who fought for almost a week to save the houses on his street from wildfires told the BBC that he spent 15 years preparing for such an event.

Malibu resident Dr. Chester Griffiths, 62, ignored evacuation orders to keep the flames of the Palisades Fire at bay with the help of his son and a neighbor until emergency responders could reach them.

“We always knew there would be a fire one day, but we didn’t know when,” Dr Griffiths told the BBC’s Today programme.

“We never imagined it would be so catastrophic and apocalyptic.”

Griffiths said he had finished performing brain surgery just hours before returning to his Malibu street last week to fight the fire, accompanied by his son Chester Jnr and Colbert.

“Houses were collapsing like dominoes,” he said.

Fortunately, he and his neighbor, Clayton Colbert, had developed an action plan in case of such a fire and had obtained hoses they could use.

Connecting four hoses to hydrants, Dr. Griffiths, his son and Mr. Colbert positioned themselves on nearby rooftops to spray water on the flames and use dirt to douse embers on the ground.

“There were burning embers falling on us for about 12 hours,” Dr Griffiths said.

Firefighters only joined the trio in the final days of their week-long ordeal because resources were “very stretched” due to the number of fires in the Los Angeles area.

“(The fire department) felt that not all the houses could be saved,” Dr. Griffiths said.

He says he “completely understands” why the fire service was too busy to help, adding: “That’s why it’s so important to be trained in advance, have the equipment and really have the support of the community.”

Los Angeles fire crews are still battling two large fires and two smaller ones as they prepare for more possible destruction.

The Palisades Fire burning between Santa Monica and Malibu on the city’s western 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 another 23 are missing in the Eaton and Palisades fire zones, while more than 90,000 are under evacuation orders.

The residents are preparing for further destruction as weather forecasts indicate that the winds fueling the flames could increase again.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said “urgent preparations” are being made ahead of near-hurricane force winds, which are expected throughout Tuesday.

President Biden has said rebuilding areas of the city that were burned during nearly a week of wildfires will cost tens of billions of dollars.