'It's really horrific': Former Ottawa residents in LA evacuated due to fires

Feeling the power of the Santa Ana winds and seeing the massive plumes of smoke off her deck in Topanga Canyon earlier this week, Catherine McClenahan knew it was time to go.

Feeling the power of the Santa Ana winds and seeing the massive plumes of smoke off her deck in Topanga Canyon earlier this week, Catherine McClenahan knew it was time to go.

"One of the times I was out there was a gust of wind, it must have been about 80 miles an hour," she said. "It was so terrifying and that's the moment I said 'I'm out of here. I'm not going to stay here alone.'"

The former Ottawa resident, an actor, singer and writer living in Los Angeles, left before evacuation orders were in place.

"Watching the devastation, not only in Palisades, but in Topanga…I have so many friends whose houses have burnt down. It's very surreal."

Ottawa-born producer Trevor Matthews also left his home in the Brentwood neighbourhood, just days after his movie "The Brutalist" won best picture at the Golden Globes.

"With the level of the winds and everything that was kind of going on and just the scale of the fire, we got ahead of it and we got out a little sooner this time," Matthews said. "With all the smoke in the area and everything and just to kind of be safe we're down here for at least another night or so."

His friends' homes in the Palisades area are among those that have been destroyed.