California fires: Passengers arriving at O'Hare from LAX fear what they might return home to

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The impact of the California wildfires has been felt nationwide, including by many people with Chicago ties.

ABC7 has talked with passengers arrived at O'Hare airport from Los Angeles as well as Chicago-area natives now living in the fire zone.

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"I'm just praying for them quite a bit and hoping for the best and hoping the winds die down," Jeff Korey said.

Jeff Korey lives in the Chicagoland area. He's been on the phone nonstop trying to get updates from his aunt, uncle and cousins who live in Simi Valley just north of LA. He said they haven't had to evacuate yet, but are prepared to do so.

"They're kind of on edge, as I am too about it," Korey said. "She said they're OK but there's no Internet connection, so it's difficult for her to get back to me. I guess her daughters are safe as well, but they're getting a lot of smoke where they're at."

At O'Hare, passengers arrived from LA, fearing what they might return home to.

"We almost didn't come because of the fires, but we're turning around in about four days, and hopefully everything is still there the way we left it," Bill Grant, who lives in Orange County, said.

They describe a harrowing drive just to get to LAX with flames off in the distance and thick smoke all around as their planes took off.

"It was so windy there was no power in some of the spots we were in, it almost felt like an old midwestern movie," Olivia Swindell, who lives in California, said. "Dark and gloomy... There's no life to LA"

People said they are regularly checking in on family and friends in the fire zone, but conditions change by the minute.