Los Angeles man saves street from ‘apocalyptic’ wildfires

A brain surgeon from Los Angeles, who spent almost a week fighting to save the houses on his street from wildfires, told the BBC that he had been preparing for such an event for 15 years.

Dr. Chester Griffiths, 62, of Malibu, ignored an evacuation order to contain the flames of the Palisades fire with the help of his son and a neighbor until emergency services could get to them.

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

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

Griffiths said he finished brain surgery hours before returning to his Malibu street last week to fight the fire, joined by his son Chester Jr. and Colbert.

“Houses were falling like dominoes,” he said.

Fortunately, he and his neighbor, Clayton Colbert, developed a plan of action for such a fire and found hoses they could use.

After 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 mud to extinguish embers on the ground.

“At about 12 o’clock we had embers coming down on us,” said Dr. Griffiths.

The trio were only joined by firefighters in the last few days of their week-long ordeal because resources were “so stretched” due to the number of fires in the Los Angeles area.

“(The fire service) felt that not all the houses had been saved,” Dr Griffiths said.

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

Fire crews in Los Angeles are still battling two large fires and two smaller ones, bracing for more possible destruction.

The Palisades Fire, burning between Santa Monica and Malibu on the city’s west side, has burned 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.

There are residents preparation for further destruction as weather forecasts indicate that the winds that fueled the flames could rekindle.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said “urgent preparations” are underway for near-hurricane-force winds expected on 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.