During the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, the flames ravaged several neighborhoods of Los Angeles, leaving behind scenes of desolation. Between violent winds that do not abate, a persistent drought and fires that progress at lightning speed, the situation has become critical in certain areas of the Californian metropolis.
Faced with the emergency, thousands of residents have been evacuated, while others, remaining at home, are watching the situation evolve minute by minute. Among them, French people living in the region share with 20 Minutes their experience of a night marked by fear, solidarity and uncertainty.
“It hasn’t rained here since May 5”
Emma Hedgcock is a digital coordinator at a private school in Los Angeles. She will remember this day for a long time. This Tuesday, the Frenchwoman teaches as usual, but at 10 a.m., an alert comes. “I received a text from the electricity company telling me there was an outage in my neighborhood. »
If Emma, who has already experienced spectacular fires in California, is not overly worried, she remains on her guard because “It hasn’t rained here since May 5th. We know that it can happen very quickly. » At that time, the wind was already blowing very strongly. The school, which does not have a canteen, prohibits its students and teachers from having lunch outside as they are accustomed to. “We had to improvise and we ended up having lunch at our offices. »
Prepare for a sudden evacuation
Having lived in California since 2016, Emma is well aware of the risks associated with fires, but this time, the atmosphere is different. Strong winds and drought make the situation even more worrying. To keep track of events, she turns to the app Watch Duty. “It provides maps of the affected areas, indicates the proportion of each fire under control and especially the evacuation zones. »
At noon, tension rises a notch at school. “The management asked the students to prepare their bags in case of sudden evacuation. » The legendary yellow school bus arrives earlier than expected and some students, living in at-risk areas, quickly understand the seriousness of the situation.
“We expect to spend the evening in the dark”
It’s three o’clock and Emma finally leaves school to go home. “We took everything we needed “just in case”. It was the expression of the day. » Once home, she notices that the electricity has returned, but unstable. “It blew up frequently, so my husband and I were expecting to spend the evening in the dark. » The evening takes another turn when a new fire breaks out in Pasadena, just a few kilometers from their house. Stuck between two active households, Emma spends a restless night. “I didn’t sleep very well, but we’re okay. The winds are still violent this morning. »
In addition to the immediate danger of flames, the air becomes unbreathable. “This morning, in one hour, the air quality went from “unhealthy” to “dangerous”. » The pollution index, which reaches 302 on a scale from 0 to 500, illustrates the extent to which the atmosphere has become toxic.
“We can’t hide the fire, the children are worried”
For Paul Tanis, a French-American father of two and resident of Santa Monica, the night was just as trying. On his Instagram accounthe shared every step of this night of uncertainty. “It was so windy last night. I didn’t want to be 100% dependent on the news that was coming in, so I took the car to go check out the state of things up to the Santa Monica Pier. I wanted to be able to decide whether to leave or not. »
After a few hours of monitoring, Paul and his wife go to bed around 1 a.m. and eventually fall asleep an hour later. But the threat remains very present. With his children, Paul must juggle between truth and reassurance. “We can’t hide the fire. We see the flames from our house when we go to pick them up from school. The children are worried. It’s not easy to find the words to reassure them. They were told it was under control, although that’s not entirely true. The goal is for them to sleep and rest. It’s our job to worry, not theirs. »
Read our report on Los Angeles
“Evacuation bags are not always ready”
Faced with the emergency, solidarity is organized. Agnès Chareton is a member of the association of French-speaking entrepreneurs Elles Collective. “Los Angeles is a huge city. I live further south, I’m safe,” she explains. But that doesn’t mean she isn’t concerned. In the association’s WhatsApp group, information is spreading. “Several of us offered accommodation to our friends to avoid evacuation centers. »
Agnès Chareton also notes that, despite the habit of fires, the situation remains particularly frightening this year. “We understood pretty quickly that it was going to be a very destructive fire. Even though people are used to it, it’s happening so quickly that it’s impressive. Evacuation bags are not always ready. »
Source: www.20minutes.fr
