Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Ebuild but some lost everything
ors. Nature is not spared in these quarters. Here, the air is close and filled with ash and a strong burning smell.
Driving to this point involves passing hrough multiple police cordons on the losed Pacific Coast Highway, the flash f a press pass granting immediate ccess to eerily empty roads.
I speak to many people who sneaked nto the cordoned-off areas to help put ut fires and deliver aid to those who have stayed to protect their homes.
One British man, Mark Johnson, 56, ays: “I ended up getting a boat from Marina Del Rey and then swimming
n to the land. I’ve been here for three days putting out small fires.”
Unwavering fire and police services make sure there are no looters in the wealthy city.
But for many residents, famous or not, it is the memories imbedded in blackened walls which feel lost for ever.
Defiant Gerard has vowed to rebuild his ravaged Malibu home. He said: “I love my place, I’ve put a lot into it.” He also hailed the courage of firefighters and urged people to donate to fundraisers for the rescue effort. While pop star Miley Cyrus told fans: “My house no longer stands but the memories shared with families and friends stand strong. I am grateful for all I have left.”
Parts of her rainbow-coloured property can still be seen, but they sit in a sea of ash. Other stars, including Kim Kardashian-west and Lady Gaga, evacuated their homes over the weekend and posted updates to social media.
California recently had a five-year drought, making the dry brush lining forest floors an ideal fuel for wildfires.
High-pressure 70mph winds sweeping down from the mountains and desert-standard levels of humidity have further encouraged the spread of the blazes, picking up embers and making flare-ups harder to contain.
President Donald Trump added another thick layer of despair to the land with an initial shocking statement about the cause of the fires.
He said: “There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor.
“Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests.” The Pasadena Firefighters Association hit back: “Mr President, with all due respect, you are wrong.
“The fires in [Southern California] are urban interface fires and have nothing to do with forest management. Come to Socal [Southern California], learn the facts and help the victims.”
Brian K Rice, president of the California Professional Firefighters union, branded Mr Trump’s assertion “illtimed, ill-informed and demeaning to those who are suffering”.
On the ground, many British expats have been affected, with one uninsured family losing everything. And with the threat of weather worsening, many still fear for their safety.
Though mum-of-two Anna Singleton, 32, who was evacuated, considers herself among the more fortunate. She said: “Malibu is trashed, I can’t believe how bad it is, it is burnt to the ground. We just furnished a four-year house renovation.
“When the fires started I feared we‘d lose the thing, we’re the lucky ones.” If Netflix wants to steal the BBC’S natural history crown with Our Planet, it’ll need to up its game on the environment.
Bodyguard star Richard Madden, above, told how, after he was denied a bottle of Netflix-branded water on a visit because it was for staff only, the firm made it up to him by sending bag upon bag of single-use plastic bottles of water – nearly enough to clog up a whole ocean. Don’t tell Sir David Attenborough...