A woman who previously lived in New Orleans and was forced to evacuate during Hurricane Katrina found herself evacuating again, this time because of the Southern California wildfires.
“People use the saying that it is like an apocalypse, it is like a movie set in Los Angeles,” Danielle Lovell-Walsh told KTLA sister station WGNO.
This isn’t a movie being filmed in Los Angeles, it is real life, and it is a nightmare.
“It’s very frightening, I can’t sleep, I can’t rest and I’m always on high alert,” Lovell-Walsh said.
The blaze that threatened her home was the Sunset Fire, which erupted in Hollywood Hills on Wednesday evening.
“It was just this glow, and I could see the flames. I opened my front door and it was right there, so I started knocking on my neighbor’s doors,” she recounted.
Thousands of residents were forced to evacuate over fears that the fast-moving fire would move into residential areas.
For Lovell-Walsh, who used to live in New Orleans, evacuating felt all too familiar. She was among those forced to evacuate during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. She also expressed concerns over looting, which she was a victim of following Katrina. Authorities in Los Angeles said they have made multiple arrests in connection with alleged looting.
“It can bring back a lot of memories. I was shaking, and I couldn’t believe it was that close. It felt very similar to a hurricane situation, and you know it is coming in and you’re watching it,” she said.
And Lovell-Walsh wants to give New Orleanians a perspective on the magnitude of the fire near her home.
“It’s the size of entire French Quarter and lower Garden District, all leveled, all gone,” she said.
The wildfire ended up charring at least 43 acres with its flames visible across Hollywood before being fully contained on Thursday afternoon; most evacuation orders caused by the blaze were lifted within a few hours, and Lovell-Walsh was able to return home safely.
Still, she tells WGNO she doesn’t feel like she’s in the clear.
“I slept with my shoes on, my car’s still packed, my gas tank is still full, and I’m still ready to go at a moment’s notice,” Lovell-Walsh said. “We’re still nervous about fires and nervous about a lot of the hot spots, I still have to be reminded to take care of myself, and I’m trying.”
As of Sunday, fire officials in SoCal say four fires — the Palisades, Eaton, Kenneth, and Hurst — have consumed roughly 62 square miles, an area larger than San Francisco.
With wind conditions expected to worsen this week, fire crews in the Los Angeles area are at a critical stage in their attempt to contain the largest of the blazes, the Palisades and the Eaton fires.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
