Southern California resident Brad Auerbach
has felt the burn of thestate’s wild fires,
but not as bad as most.
The fires forced more than 1,400 people
from their homes but Auerbach, 50, who
lives outside of Santa Monica with his wife
and two daughters, was not one of them.
However, he has been as close as 20 miles
away from the fire and he said he has definitely
felt the effects.
“I was at a Halloween party at a friend’s
house last Sunday,” he explained. “The
winds from the fire were so intense that it
blew the tents completely away and
knocked over all the booze.”
The fires have left 14 dead, more than 100
firefighters and 27 civilians injured, and
more than 2,000 homes destroyed. With
multiple fires burning, California was in
danger.
Former California resident Phil Coles, 25,
has grandparents in San Diego County. They
had to evacuate and move north to Anaheim,
an hour and a half away. In San Diego County,
there were nine fires.
“My grandfather owns a carpet cleaning
business and he had to call many of his customers
to let them know he won’t be making
it because of the fires,” said Coles. “A few
years ago I was there after the fires and [the
state] was like a giant ashtray. The freeways
were shut down and charred.”
The bravest firefighters have helped contain
one of the largest wildfires California
has ever seen.
Auerbach and his family have lived all
over California, first in Los Angeles, then
moving to San Diego, then back to Los Angeles.
Their first home in Los Angeles was
nearly destroyed by the fires.
“I constantly saw the smoke, and my family
and I had a lot of cancellations and postpone
of events,” he said. “I had heard from
our old neighbors that they were forced to
evacuate and stay in hotels.”
Though fires, earthquakes, and other natural
disasters occur from time to time, nothing
will compromise his views on living in California.
“I don’t feel the need to move, these are natural
occurrences, besides the fact that some
of these fires were arsons,” Auerbach said.
“These fires happen every 50 to 100 years,
it’s the documented truth.”
A$250,000 reward was offered for information
on the arsonist linked to starting the
Santiago wildfire. Asmall boy playing with
matches was found to be responsible for the
Buckweed wildfire that destroyed 38,000
acres and 21 homes.