‘Like a war zone’: Los Angeles wildfire survivors relive night of fear and panic

PASADENA, California - When gas canisters in his neighbours’ homes began exploding under the heat of the flames, Mr Kevin Williams knew it was time to run.

“The wind whipped up, the flames were up about 30 or 40 feet (9m to 12m) high, and you hear ‘pop, pop, pop’. It sounded like a war zone,” Mr Williams told Reuters at an evacuation centre in Pasadena.

At least five people have died since

several fast-growing wildfires erupted on Jan 7 near Los Angeles,

destroying hundreds of buildings, scorching hillsides and prompting more than 100,000 people to evacuate their homes.

The biggest blaze has consumed more than 4,775ha in Pacific Palisades, a wealthy neighbourhood in west Los Angeles.

Another fire started in Eaton Canyon in the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains, north of Los Angeles. It has since spread to 4,290ha, shocking residents like Mr Williams, who lives in the sleepy suburb of Altadena.

“I told my family, we don’t have to worry about this... there’s no way in the world that the fire is going to get down here. Ha! It did,” said Mr Williams, who fled with his wife, son and two dogs as homes around them burst into flames.

“There were two big explosions that actually shifted the ground, and so I knew it was time to get out. You know, there’s a time to be brave, and there is a time to use some common sense.”

Hundreds of people who escaped in the dead of night were hunkered down at Pasadena Convention Centre, some sleeping under Red Cross blankets, others nursing wounds in wheelchairs as volunteers handed out water and bananas.

‘Not something like this’

Residents told Reuters that they had witnessed many fires break out in the dry, dusty hills outside Los Angeles before, but were left aghast as they watched urban homes set ablaze by the fiery embers whisked through suburbs by howling winds.

“We’ve had fires over the years but not something like this,” said Ms Frances Colella, a 71-year-old retiree, resting in a wheelchair alongside dozens of others.

Ms Colella fled with her husband and their three dogs to their 104-year-old mother’s house in the neighbouring suburb of La Canada Flintridge, only to find that the fire had followed them, forcing a second evacuation to Pasadena.

“It’s a really sad occurrence and I can’t remember anything like this,” she said.

Residents described emotions of fear, relief and uncertainty, not sure if their houses would be standing when they are able to return as fires continue to spread across swathes of Los Angeles County.

Mr Thomas Hutchinson, who lives in the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains, said the last thing he remembers was seeing smoke in his house before receiving an alert on his phone from the emergency services to evacuate.

Mr Hutchinson, 66 and disabled, called 911 but was told no one could help him. In a stroke of fortune, an ambulance passed by his road and whisked him to safety.

As he watched houses burning around him, the retiree’s only concern was saving Rusty, his unflappable brown dog.

“I would have stayed up there if they wouldn’t let me take him... I don’t go anywhere without him,” he said.

“I call him Rusty the wonder dog.” REUTERS