California fires: Metro Chicagoans caught in the crossfires of Los Angeles blazes
Los Angeles Fire Department's budget slashed by more than $17.5 million in upcoming fiscal year
CHICAGO (WLS) -- As the wildfires continue to grow across Los Angeles County, many Chicago-natives are finding themselves caught in the chaos.
Chicago area native Kurt Seidensticker, who created the wellness brand Vital Proteins, watched his home in the Pacific Palisades burn on a live security video while he was out of town.
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"I think we're all still feeling the shock. None of us can really get back to our homes to see what the damage is. I think that'll be a few days," he said. "In your mind, you're going, it's going to burn out. It's going to burn out, but it kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger."
He was left to watch helplessly as the flames consumed his house which had been completed just months ago.
Danielle Ryan moved from Riverside, Ill., to Palisades four months ago, and on Tuesday afternoon, she said she was startled awake to a desperate call from family in Chicago.
"My sister was calling, calling, and right when I looked out my window, I could see all the smoke and then all of my neighbors were just evacuating," Ryan said.
Ryan said she had to flee her new home.
"Grab your passport, grab your computer, grab your medication and just get out of there," she said. "I just put everything in my bag and I just got out of there."
READ MORE: 5 fatalities confirmed as Southern California wildfires rage; 1,000+ structures destroyed
The smoke was already moving in, and the famed Sunset Boulevard was already slammed with evacuees who were just as panicked as she was.
The school where Ryan was supposed to begin teaching at next Monday - Pacific Palisades High School - is now gone.
"You're just living in a constant state of trauma," Ryan said.
South of Palisades, west suburban natives Sonali and Ryan Hanson, along with their two young sons, evacuated their home in Santa Monica.
"It's really surreal, and it's really sad. It just feels kind of apocalyptic, honestly," Sonali Hanson said. "Everything that's being impacted right now, that's where we take our family. That's where our traditions and memories have started to be created."
And west suburban native Eric Wall, who lives in West L.A., fears the situation will worsen.
"Everyone is kind of holding their breath in a way in anxious anticipation to hope that, you know, things stop as soon as possible," he said.
"We're seeing just apocalyptic fires and smoke," said Melrose Park-native Frank Mastronuzzi, who now lives in Hollywood. He is relatively safe for now, but is surrounded by flames.
"Where we are is now triangulated," Mastronuzzi said. "With these winds so unpredictable, fires could pop up in places they're not expected."
And with the fires comes a ripple effect on all other city services.
"They've just announced a lot of the water reservoirs are empty already and [they] cannot refill them," Mastronuzzi said. "The city of Los Angeles just mentioned water quality is going to be low... to not drink tap water, so we're all running out to the stores to get water."
But with the fires and Santa Ana winds still raging, officials are begging people to adhere to evacuation orders and stay off the roads if possible.
Will Chehab of Evanston said he moved to the Los Angeles area seven months ago, and for the first time is experiencing the brutality of Southern California's climate.
"When I was walking to the grocery store, which is across the street, it felt like there was ash in my teeth," he said.
Living just a mile away from the evacuation area, Chehab fled for the safety of an aunt's house.
"The winds were super strong. The winds were rattling our windows," Chehab said. "It almost felt like an earthquake, where I work at and I get back to my apartment, and the sky is orange."
In almost every direction of Los Angeles, at least four wildfires are threatening millions.
Veteran ABC7 Chicago anchor Linda Yu is one of them.
"I was just grateful this morning that the go-bag was still sitting there and we didn't have to use it," Yu said.
Safely ensconced miles from each fire, but with family fleeing Santa Monica, she couldn't help but draw a parallel to her second city.
"I think I understand how Chicagoans, back in 1871 with the Great Chicago Fire, how they must have felt," Yu recalled. "Because they must have been saying the whole city is going to burn down. And that's how it felt last night. And I think everybody else felt that way too."
The I-Team pulled city records and found the Los Angeles Fire Department's budget was recently slashed. The city's comptroller recently shared a graphic showing the LAFD's budget was cut by more than $17.5 million in the city's latest budget. In contrast, the Los Angeles Police Department's budget grew by nearly $126 million in the upcoming fiscal year.
The decrease in funding is impacting LAFD staffing vacancies, and Tuesday night, for the first time in at least 19 years, the LAFD had to call on all available off-duty firefighters to report their availability in an effort to get all the hands it can into the fire fight.
