People in tears over homeowner’s heartbreaking request to reporter amid catastrophic LA wildfires
Thousands of people have fled their homes as wildfires devastate the area
People have been left in tears over a Los Angeles homeowner’s heartbreaking request to a reporter amid the catastrophic wildfires.
There are currently five fires still burning across the Californian area, with about 10,000 structures thought to have been destroyed and tens of thousands impacted by evacuation orders.
Ten people are confirmed dead so far, with a man having been detained on suspicion of starting the latest Kenneth Fire.
One resident was leaving his Pacific Palisades home by bike when NBC reporter Robert Kovacik asked if there was anything they could do to help him. And in the video shared by NBCLA, the man asks if he can take some of the belongings he had rescued from his home. Take a look:
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"You can take these paintings, I guess,” he says, with his arms full of possessions. "I can’t ride with these."
As sparks fly around in the background, the man had been attempting to get on a bicycle with multiple bags strapped around him and framed paintings in his hand.
With his ‘backyard on fire’, Kovacik assured him he would ‘make sure’ he was reunited with the art as he promised to look after them while the resident fled.
Users commented to say the reporter ‘is a freaking hero’ as they praised his kind act and wrote on TikTok: "Poor guy I have to imagine those paintings have some sentimental value for him."
With many leaving crying emojis, another said: "You can hear the trembling in his voice when he asked him to take the paintings."
Others echoed: "The emotion when he asks him to take the paintings! He was probably already grieving them. Poor guy."
"Why am I crying about NBC helping a man save the paintings that he cherishes?" one wrote.
The largest fires causing this devastation are the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire, while there are also three other fires called Kenneth, Hurst and Lidia.
The Kenneth is the newest of the blazes and according to The Independent, the LAPD believe it may have been started intentionally, with a man being arrested yesterday (9 January).
The local fire chief has told the BBC, however, that there is currently no evidence the wildfires across LA have been deliberately sparked.
"Now that the life safety is primarily taken care of, and that we have sufficient resources to assist with that, now they're able to start digging into the investigation and see what they can discover,” chief David Acuna told Radio 4 Today.
Jess Battison