“It’s a recipe for an absolute inferno”

Los Angeles is reeling from the effects of wildfires exacerbated by hurricanes, with the flames continuing to burn throughout the area.

Samantha Meltz, a realtor based in California, said: “They were looking at hundred mile an hour winds and more.” 

She has lived with fires for a while, claiming “It wasn’t until 18 years ago we started to live our summers with fires, but its basically going into all year. There is no fire season anymore.” 

However these fires are different because of the combination of hurricanes and severe drought.

Firefighters have been unable to control the raging blaze due to the amount of fuel, like dry sticks and grass, created by the drought.

This is further worsened by the hurricane allowing the fire to spread faster.

Ms Meltz said: “How can you predict hundred mile an hour winds are coming? How do you know how to handle that?” 

Most choose to evacuate, however some people have been trapped or refuse to leave their homes, resulting in the death toll, which currently sits at 25 and continues to rise.

“Theres a lot of people I know that have lost their home down there and a lot of people near where we live we know lost their home a few years ago when we were evacuated up in Northern California.”

Alongside losing their homes, people lose belongings, which Ms Meltz also mentioned.

“Belongings we cannot replace, photo albums that can never be replaced. Those permanently sit in a big plastic totes waiting to be loaded into a vehicle to evacuate all year round, so we don’t even look at them anymore.” 

You can listen to the full interview with reporter Libby Evans here: