A Kiwi caught in the Los Angeles inferno has revealed what the city has been like during the fire, describing the city like a 鈥榞host town鈥.
At least five people have been killed in wildfires rampaging around Los Angeles, officials said today, and firefighters have been overwhelmed by the speed and ferocity of multiple blazes, including in Hollywood.
Isabella Ralston, from Christchurch, has been in Los Angeles on holiday with her boyfriend, exploring the city before the fires broke out. She said since the fire started; the city has changed drastically.
鈥淚t just looks like a ghost town going through downtown LA, there鈥檚 no one out, everything鈥檚 shut because of the fire,鈥 she said.
The Los Angeles wildfires as seen from downtown LA. Photo / Isabella Rolston
The pair are on standby for a flight out of the city. Due to fly out today, they鈥檙e unsure if the plane will operate in the conditions.
鈥淥ne flight yesterday to Auckland was cancelled, so a lot of people on that flight have been pushed to later flights,鈥 said Ralston.
鈥淪o we鈥檙e worried that the flights will oversell and we might end up stuck here.鈥
A Kiwi caught in the Los Angeles wildfires has described the city 'like a ghost town' since the blaze broke out. Photo / Isabella Rolston
Ralston said it feels like 鈥減retty much the whole city is up in smoke鈥.
鈥淚t鈥檚 almost all the mountains surrounding the back of Los Angeles, I think most of them are all up in smoke, and then past that like Malibu all those hills are covered in fire as well,鈥 she said.
The smell of smoke is everywhere, and air quality is quite bad, Ralson revealed.
鈥淭he whole skyline is basically just filled with dark smoke,鈥 she said.
Smoke from the Los Angeles wildfire fills the sky, as seen from the coast. Photo / Isabella Rolston
Los Angeles correspondent Ira Spitzer spoke to 九一星空无限talk ZB about the latest on the wildfires.
鈥淭his has just been a devastating 48 hours for Los Angeles, and it鈥檚 hard to believe it鈥檚 only been that long because everything just seems dramatically different.
Spitzer described the images of the fires on both sides of the city as 鈥渁pocalyptic.鈥
The Los Angeles County sheriff said he expected the death toll to rise, from the current confirmed number of 5 dead, as the 鈥渆xtent of the damage becomes clear.鈥
鈥淭he Palisades fire, which is the largest fire burning, has destroyed more than 2000 structures making it the largest fire in LA history.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very difficult time.鈥
Spitzer said firefighters are working 鈥渁round the clock鈥 but the conditions have been difficult, as the winds spreading the fires have continued.
Up to 1500 buildings have burned in fires that have broken out around America鈥檚 second-biggest city, forcing more than 100,000 people from their homes.
Hurricane-force winds whipped up fireballs that leapt from house to house in the upmarket Pacific Palisades area, incinerating a swathe of California鈥檚 most desirable real estate favoured by Hollywood celebrities.
- NZ Herald
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