Over 100,000 residents have been ordered to evacuate their homes as wildfires continued to ravage multiple Los Angeles communities Thursday.
It comes after officials said hurricane-force winds ignited one neighbourhood after another on Wednesday, killing five people in blazes from the Pacific Coast to inland Pasadena, and destroying nearly 2,000 homes, businesses and other structures.
Geoff McFetridge, a visual artist originally from Calgary, has been living in L.A. for 30 years. Though not affected so far by evacuation orders, he spoke with CBC Radio’s the Calgary Eyeopener on Thursday about the dynamic wildfire situation and how the community is grappling with extreme loss.
“As an Angelino, really everybody is affected to some degree,” he said, adding that most residents are on high alert for rapid and dangerous situations.
“What I would like to explain to people [is] that this is unprecedented.”
As a Hollywood Hills resident, McFetridge said his home is located between the two largest fires. His property backs up against Griffith Park — a wilderness space in the middle of the city — and that’s a major concern for many residents as the wildfires grow and spread.
The latest blaze broke out Wednesday evening in the Hollywood Hills, putting the area’s densely populated neighbourhoods on edge during a period of intense winds and ongoing drought conditions.
At this point, he said, most L.A. residents know at least some people who have been affected by the fires, people “who have lost everything.”
“We’re grabbing photos and stuff in case,” said McFetridge.
“But I think now we’re stepping into the really important time where you can’t evacuate in entirety. You have to come back. You have to be here for your community.”
WATCH | Palisades fire spreads across L.A. amid high winds:
Aerial footage gathered by KNBC early Thursday shows the sprawling Palisades fire, one of five major fires in the Los Angeles area.
On Thursday, the Alberta government announced it was preparing to send water bombers, night-vision helicopters and incident command team support to help battle the wildfires.
As fire crews work to fight the flames, a number of events have been cancelled or postponed, including Wednesday night’s hockey game between the Calgary Flames and the Los Angeles Kings.
Ash blankets streets of downtown L.A.
Calgary’s Eric Francis, a senior hockey analyst with Sportsnet, called in to CBC Radio’s The Homestretch from downtown L.A. on Wednesday to share more details.
“I drove in from Anaheim last night around midnight and you could just kind of see the glow of the fires from various places as you were coming in. And you certainly could smell the smoke,” he said.
“It hits you like a wall, and there’s ash falling in downtown L.A. all day long to the point where if you walk for about 20 minutes, your hair would be covered in it.… It’s a testament to just how windy it’s been, which is the whole reason why they’re having this problem.”
Francis said he’s seen chunks of ash over an inch long blanketing the streets, and people walking around the streets outside are wearing medical masks.
“For ash to blow 25 miles away that size, I mean, it just kind of blows a lot of our minds.”
When chatting with Homestretch host Chris dela Torre on Wednesday, Francis said Calgary’s hockey team was in the middle of packing up their equipment and getting out of the city.
On Wednesday, the NHL said a makeup date would be scheduled as soon as possible.
“Every single television in this city, as I walk down the street or come into the hotel, every single TV is on local [news] programming, which has been live non-stop for the last 48 hours as the story has developed,” said Francis.
“It’s a bizarre time to be in L.A.”
