‘Apocalyptic’: Winnipeggers experience impact of California wildfires – Winnipeg
Wildfires continue to rage in California, with five deaths reported and more than 1,000 buildings destroyed so far, affecting residents and visitors.
The former Winnipegger, who has lived in Los Angeles for the past three years, told 680 CJOB. News while it is safe from disaster, it hits dangerously close to home.
“My friend got an evacuation notice in the morning — a 9:30-10 a.m. call — and by 2 p.m. his house was gone,” Dave Shore said.
“Now the entire habitat of the Pacific Palisades, just north of Santa Monica, is gone.
“If I were a Winnipegger, I would picture it as River Heights flashing by. So the Grant Park mall is gone, Pizzeria Gusto is gone…that’s how I would imagine it. He destroyed it.”
Shore said he was only a few miles away from the fires earlier this week, and the impact was impossible to ignore, even from a safe distance.
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“You see, you smell it, it smells when farmers burn hay in autumn. You get that strong feeling you get in the fall after harvest when the farmers are burning.
“It’s a panoramic view of smoke plumes, you can see it almost anywhere.”
A Winnipeg business owner says she’s back from a high-profile gig at the Golden Globes and the chaotic experience of trying to get out of Los Angeles.
Amber Nemeth of HayMad and Co. was on a return trip to Hollywood after the awards show. is invited to the gift set Emmy Awards last fall.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would witness a natural disaster of this magnitude,” Nemeth told 680 CJOB. The beginning.
“It’s hard to put into words – I’m sure everyone sees it on TV, on social networks. It’s apocalyptic, it’s scary… there’s soot in the air, literally ash and debris falling from the sky. It’s crazy to witness it firsthand.”
Although Nemet eventually made it home safely, he said there were countless delays at Los Angeles International Airport, as well as turbulence due to hurricane-force winds after his plane finally took off.
“The turbulence is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. It’s crazy…very, very scary.
“We were literally going through smoke, we were going through black cloud, so there wasn’t much you could see down there.”
Despite the experience, Nemeth has another trip to California planned — while in Los Angeles for the Golden Globes, she was asked to return to the Oscars in March with HayMad & Co.’s popular Be Kind collection, which supports mental health and wellness.
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