Los Angeles brain surgeon saves street from ‘apocalyptic’ wildfires

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

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

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

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

Griffiths said he finished undergoing brain surgery just 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 had developed a plan of action in case of such a fire and had found hoses they could use.

Connecting four hoses to hydrants, Dr. Griffiths, his son and Mr. Colbert took up positions on nearby rooftops to spray water on the flames and use earth to smother the embers on the ground.

“We had burning coals coming down on us for about 12 o’clock,” Dr Griffiths said.

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

“The fire service believes that not all homes can be saved,” Dr Griffiths said.

He says he “totally understands” why the fire department was 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 your 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 west side of the city, 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 preparation for further destruction as weather forecasts indicate that the winds that are helping to fan the flames may reignite.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said “emergency preparations” were being made ahead of near-hurricane winds expected throughout Tuesday.

President Biden said it would cost tens of billions of dollars to rebuild areas of the city that were burned during nearly a week of wildfires.