‘Apocalyptic’: Winnipeggers experience impact of devastating California wildfires

A former Winnipegger who has been living in Los Angeles for the past three years said while he's safe from the disaster, it's hitting dangerously close to home.

Wildfires continue to rage in California, with five deaths announced and reports that over 1,000 buildings have been destroyed so far, impacting residents and visitors alike.

A former Winnipegger who has been living in Los Angeles for the past three years told 680 CJOB’s The News that while he’s safe from the disaster, it’s hitting dangerously close to home.

“My friend got an evacuation notice mid-morning — a call at 9:30-10:00 a.m. — and by 2 p.m. his house was gone,” Dave Shore said.

“And now the entire residential area of Pacific Palisades, which is just a bit to the north of Santa Monica, is all gone.

“If I were a Winnipegger, I would imagine that as River Heights burning down. So Grant Park shopping mall is gone, Pizzeria Gusto is gone… that’s how I would imagine it. It’s decimated it.”

Shore said he was only a few miles away from the fires earlier this week, and the impact could not be ignored, even from a safe distance.

“You see it, smell it, it smells like when farmers are burning chaff in the fall. You get that strong sense that you get in the fall after harvest when farmers are burning.

“It’s a panoramic view of the plumes of smoke, you can see it almost all around.”