Wildfires continue to rage in California, with five deaths reported and more than 1,000 buildings reportedly destroyed, affecting residents and visitors alike.
A former Winnipegger who has lived in Los Angeles for the past three years told 680 CJOB The News That while he's safe from disaster, it's hitting dangerously close to home.
“My friend got an evacuation notice at 9:30-10:00 a.m. — and was home by 2 p.m.,” Dave Shore said.
“And now the entire residential area of Pacific Palisades, which is a little bit north of Santa Monica, is all gone.
“If I was a Winnipegger, I would imagine River Heights burning. So Grant Park Shopping Mall is gone, Pizzeria Gusto is gone… that's how I would imagine it. It's taken it down.”
Sahil said he was only a few miles away from the fire earlier this week, and even from a safe distance its effects could not be ignored.
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“You see it, you smell it, it smells like when the farmers are burning the straw in the fall. You get that strong feeling you get in the fall after the harvest when the farmers are burning the straw. They are burning.
“It's a beautiful sight of smoke clouds, you can almost see it all around.”
A Winnipeg business owner says she's bounced back from a high-profile gig at the Golden Globes and a chaotic experience trying to get out of Los Angeles.
Haymad and Co. Amber Nemeth was making a return visit to Hollywood for the awards show. Invited to the gift-giving suite. At the Emmys last fall.
“Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that I would witness a natural disaster of this magnitude,” Nemeth told 680 CJOB. The Start.
“It's hard to put into words — I'm sure everyone's watching it on TV, on social. It's apocalyptic, it's terrifying… there's soot in the air, ash and debris literally falling from the sky. It's crazy to witness it yourself.”
Although Nemeth eventually made it home safely, he said there were countless delays at Los Angeles International Airport, as well as turbulence from hurricane-force winds when his plane finally took off.
“The chaos is like nothing I've ever experienced. It's crazy… it's very, very scary.
“We literally went through smoke, we were going through a black cloud, so you couldn't see much down there.”
Despite the experience, Nemeth plans another trip to California — while HayMad and Co. are in LA for the Golden Globes. was asked to return to the Oscars in March with her popular 'Be Kind' collection, which supports mental health and wellbeing.
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