When Nelson Mandela Bay expat Dr St Claire Adriaan received a warning to evacuate his home in California as wildfires raged nearby, he did not wait for an official order.
Instead, the school principal made the difficult decision to leave Highland Park, seeking refuge in Palm Springs, while the flames continued to devastate US communities, claiming lives and reducing homes to rubble.
The wildfires raging across California began in early January, fuelled by dry conditions, strong winds and unseasonably warm temperatures.
The widening disaster in the greater Los Angeles area has left at least 16 people dead, burned 157.83km² of land and forced at least 153,000 people to leave their homes, while hundreds of animals have been killed or injured.
Celebrities’ homes were not spared in the fires, as several high-profile properties were damaged or destroyed, including those of media personality Paris Hilton and comedian Billy Crystal.
A Gqeberha businessman, whose company, Moladi, builds homes in short order from lightweight materials, has also been asked to help provide emergency housing.
“I have been asked to draw up a programme with regard to implementing Moladi to immediately construct as many starter homes that can be extended in time,” Moladi building system chief executive Hennie Botes said.
“So our focus will be casting a unit consisting of a bathroom, kitchen and two bedrooms in a day with one mould.
“We would be looking at airfreighting the moulds to cast as many homes per day as we can produce in a 24-hour shift.
“The [Los Angeles] mayor does not want people to become homeless and living on the streets.
“Mayor Karen Bass asked Moladi to assist in constructing emergency shelter for the thousands of people whose homes were burned to the ground.”
Adriaan, meanwhile, described the ordeal as scary.
“We were alerted by the weather service that we would be experiencing high Santa Ana winds on Monday [last week],” he said.
“It is believed that this strong windstorm is the worst in decades.
“The Palisades Fire broke out, fuelled by the high wind and news and social media posts showed how it ravaged and consumed the neighbourhood.”
He said on Tuesday night, while working on his computer just after 7pm, he heard the wind howling outside and then his electricity went out.
“I looked out and saw the strength of the wind in the way the trees were moving from side to side.
“The sound of the wind, the complete darkness with the electricity out was scary, but I was glad to find three candles.”
He said when he woke up on the [Wednesday] morning, the smell of smoke was strong and walking outside, it looked like ash was raining down from the sky.
“There was debris all over. Now we have started to hear about more cities being evacuated.
“I did go to check on our school and saw the destruction caused by the wind to the outside lunch area, the canopy broken, tarp ripped and trees and plants uprooted.
“I thought we were relatively safe in the Highland Park area where I live, until I got the evacuation warning.
“I had to decide if I wanted to wait for the evacuation order or leave right there and then.
“I knew that neighbouring areas were evacuating and that it would be hard to get out when the official order came, so I decided to evacuate immediately to Palm Springs.
“The air quality and visibility were also extremely poor.”
The former Bethelsdorp resident, who still has strong ties to his community, said he packed a small bag, gathered important documents such as his passport, medical records, tax information and his medication, and hopped into his car.
“At this point, I am not sure if my apartment is affected,” he said of his Highland Park home, next to South Pasadena where the fires continue to rage.
Adriaan moved to the US in 1999 to pursue a mathematics teaching position at a middle school in North Carolina.
“The most challenging thing is not being home and worrying about our students and their families,” he said.
“The school was [temporarily] closed. There is a lot of support being offered to affected families.
“I am touched by the people all over the US reaching out and offering me a place to stay.”
Gqeberha-born Britni Jones, who lives in Burbank, Los Angeles County, with her husband, American cellist Caleb Vaughn-Jones, said they also had to evacuate their home.
Jones, 39, said it was their choice to evacuate as a precaution.
“Our area is on the alert but hasn’t been affected as badly yet.
“We didn’t want to wait and have to evacuate when the roads are congested and so on.
“We have friends, colleagues and members from church who have lost homes and who had to evacuate. It’s devastating.
“The sky was grey and there was a hint of smoke.
“We evacuated at 4pm on Wednesday to San Diego. It’s two hours away and we are staying in rented accommodation.”
She said her parents, who have been visiting from Gqeberha, evacuated with them, as well as their children aged seven, 19 months and one month.
“My parents arrived at the end of November. We are doing OK; we are just praying that the fire is contained.”
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