Iowa native living in Los Angeles near evacuation zone shares experience with wildfires
By Kayla James
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LOS ANGELES COUNTY, California (KCCI) — As several fires continue to spread in Southern California, causing firefighters and first responders to help evacuate thousands of people, others who live just outside the evacuation zone are watching what’s going on closely.
Emilee Richardson is an Iowan native who currently lives in Los Angeles. She lives just outside of the evacuation zone and says she’s watching the news closely and making sure to receive any emergency alerts.
“You feel like you’re at a campfire,” said Richardson. “You can feel it in your lungs as you’re breathing, but also your eyes.”
Richardson says that’s why people can be seen wearing masks that cover their mouths and sometimes up above their noses. She says she can’t see the flames from her home, but there is ash and the sky during the day glows orange from the flames.
“This is a different type of weather than I’ve ever experienced. The smoke is wild. I went out last night for a little bit, and it’s filling my apartment,” said Richardson. “If the fire were to get to me, it would be a really big event, but I still do have a “go” bag packed.”
Firefighters from other parts of California and other states have traveled to join in efforts to battle the flames.
“It’s a dangerous situation. Around LA, there are a lot of people,” said Ryan Schlater, a fire specialist with the Iowa DNR.
While the fire management team has not been called out to California this time, Schlater says the fire management team was out in California last summer.
“When we were out there this past summer, we were just east of this area fighting four different fires,” said Schlater. “The Santa Ana winds are really bad out there right now, and that’s kind of a unique local wind.”
Schlater says the days in situations like this are long and physically draining. He also says extreme weather conditions make it a dangerous assignment.
In addition to fighting the flames, Schlater says the crews out there are focused on evacuations and saving lives.
“On Tuesday, they evacuated 30,000 people. I grew up in Carroll, Iowa, and there are 10,000 people there,” said Schlater. “So I think of evacuating three times the amount of people that I grew up in town with and that’s a big undertaking.”
Richardson says she’s safe for now, but unfortunately, she knows people whose homes have burned down.
“People who have been in L.A. their whole lives say this is more intense than they’ve ever seen it,” said Richardson.
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