Fire is raging in the Los Angeles community and causing citizens to lose homes and belongings. The spread of the fire seems to have been caused by increased winds. It has engulfed over 23,000 acres in total. The fires started a little over a week ago on January 7.
Helicopters and planes are dumping ocean water over the fire that has destroyed much of the land. Fire crews are creating containment lines around the spread of the fire. Citizens have evacuated the area almost completely and Los Angeles sports have been postponed to later dates or moved to different areas. Many evacuated citizens have flooded into apartments, hotels and other temporary homes.
An online video shows somebody watching their home burn to the ground from the doorbell camera. Celebrities such as Mel Gibson and JJ Redick have had their homes burn down along with their belongings. LA Clippers all-star basketball player Kawhi Leonard took time away from the team to help in any way he could.
Investigators are looking into a potential smaller fire that was originally caused by fireworks from New Year’s Eve.
We decided to interview Corry student and local firefighter, Landon Hasbrouck, to get his insight on the tragedy.
As a firefighter, Landon sees this as a very tragic event as he knows personally how devastating fires can be. Since the wildfires are in California, the land is very dry and there has been little rain, making it very difficult to fight, as opposed to a recent fire in Girard that he helped battle being more manageable as it is a wetter area. Landon wishes he was in the LA area to be able to help people get to safety and stop the fires as much as he could.
Hasbrouck recommends being prepared to evacuate if you are in the area if there is not already an evacuation order issued. Landon believes one of the most important aspects of being a firefighter is to be confident but still have fear and awareness of how much damage fires can cause to people and homes.