A resident of Altadena, originally from Co Cork, described the Los Angeles wildfires as “more intense than a movie because this is real life,” after he and his partner “lost everything in a mere five hours.”
Andrew Duggan has been residing in Altadena, Los Angeles, for several years, where he owns a home and design studio with his partner, Renata.
The wildfires in Los Angeles have resulted in the deaths of at least ten people and the destruction of nearly 10,000 structures, with five fires still raging into a third night. Dry desert winds have strengthened, exacerbating the flames.
Mr. Duggan recounted leaving his home an hour after his area received a final evacuation notice at around 2 am yesterday morning.
Andrew Duggan mentioned his property is ‘completely reduced to ashes’
According to Mr. Duggan, his property is “completely levelled,” apart from some hedges, a few fruit trees, broken walls, and the chimney stack.
“Everything else is unrecognizable,” he said, noting that the couple’s design studio is “non-existent.”
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In an interview with RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Mr. Duggan described the experience of losing his home to the wildfire as “insane,” emphasizing “how it disintegrates to dust.”
“Our entire neighbourhood and community is just gone,” he stated.
He added that the devastation is “so extensive, reaching from the foot of the hills all the way into downtown.”
The ‘entire neighbourhood and community is just gone,’ Mr. Duggan said
Mr. Duggan mentioned it will take “at least a year or two” before they can return.
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He described his return to the neighborhood post-fire as “sad,” reflecting on the “total devastation” he observed during the journey back.
Mr. Duggan predicted that it will be “at least a year or two” before he and his partner can return to the area and “even begin to rebuild our home and studio.”
In the meantime, he noted, they “have to keep working” and are relying on the support of family and friends.
He mentioned that people have been “offering their studios for us to work out of,” suggesting that this help will aid them in “getting through whatever challenges lie ahead.”
“We’re definitely moving forward because, at the end of the day, we’re alive and healthy, and our dogs made it out, as did all of our neighbors, which gives us a foundation to rebuild from.”
Read more: Los Angeles fire death toll rises to 10 as National Guard is deployed; ‘Crazy town’: Air tankers combat LA fires from above.
