"We are alive. That's all that matters" -- security guard describes wildfire devastation

Record ID: 1897866

  • Title: "We are alive. That's all that matters" -- security guard describes wildfire devastation
  • Date: 9th January 2025
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 9, 2025) (REUTERS) FIRE VEHICLES ON ROAD IN EARLY MORNING FIRE VEHICLE DRIVING DOWN ROAD PAST BURNING BUILDING VARIOUS OF BURNING BUILDING SIGN READING (English): 'WESTSIDE WALDORF SCHOOL - PREK-8" NEXT TO BURNING BUILDING COLLAPSED BUILDING VARIOUS OF SUNRISE OVER RUBBLE DEBRIS FROM BURNED STRUCTURES FIRE VEHICLE DRIVING DOW
  • Embargoed: 23rd January 2025 23:36
  • Keywords: Pacific Palisades Security Guard Wildfire
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
  • City: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
  • Country: US
  • Topics: Disaster/Accidents,North America,Wildfires/Forest Fires
  • Reuters ID: LVA001212809012025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The only person to be seen amid the destroyed homes and burned-out cars in a corner of the fire-devastated Los Angeles community of Pacific Palisades early on Thursday (January 9) was private security guard Bilal Tukhi.
    Tukhi has stood watch outside his employer's damaged home since Wednesday evening (January 8), seeing nobody else on the streets, only skeletal trees and mangled wreckage.
    Originally from Afghanistan, Tukhi said the scenes of destruction reminded him of his home country. He said he told his employer, for whom he has worked for a year, that there was nothing to be done.
    "It's a natural disaster. So we couldn't do nothing, you know. As long as we are healthy, we are fine. We are alive. That's all that matters," Tukhi told Reuters.
    The Palisades fire consumed 15,832 acres (6,406 hectares) and hundreds of structures in the hills between Santa Monica and Malibu, racing down Topanga Canyon until reaching the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday (January 7)
    A crescent of flame squeezed Los Angeles in a huge pincer visible from space. More than 100,000 people were ordered to evacuate as dry, hurricane-force winds spread flames across parched ground that has seen no rain for months.
    At least five people have died since the fires erupted on Tuesday..
    (Production: Jorge Garcia, Rollo Ross, Jane Ross)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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