By Kathryn Diss and Adrian Wilson in Los Angeles
Joel House and his wife Maria lost their home in the LA fires.
Photo: ABC News: Kathryn Diss
When fire tore through the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood in Los Angeles’s affluent west, Australian Joel House had 30 minutes and his pushbike to get his 18-month-old daughter to safety.
The situation on the ground changed so quickly, he and his wife Maria had no time to prepare.
“It wasn’t just a lot of smoke, it was rolling clouds, a tsunami of smoke, it was actually quite terrifying, it looked like it was about to cover the whole street,” Maria told the ABC.
Worried about the smoke, she left to pick up their three-year-old daughter from school.
By the time she got there, there was no going back.
“I just kept driving towards Santa Monica, there’s no way I could get back, honestly, if I’d turned around, we would have lost our car.”
Joel was left with their 18-month-old and a bike to get out.
Joel House and his daughter leave their LA home on a pushbike.
Photo: Supplied / Joel House
“I was on the bike, and we started to head out, I looked up towards the hills there and I could see buildings on fire,” House said.
“So, I rode the bike, knocked on a few neighbours’ doors to make sure they were leaving.
“It was terrifying, there were moments where I felt really good that Maria and our eldest daughter were safe, and then I was like, ‘Wow, the flames are just across the road there.'”
‘It’s the memories that you’ve got to make sure don’t get burnt’
With the Pacific Palisades still declared too dangerous to enter, residents have not been able to go back to their homes – until now.
The couple returned to their property with the ABC to find their home completely gutted by the fire.
Maria House surveys what is left of her burned-out home.
Photo: ABC News: Kathryn Diss
Wiping back tears, Maria said she never imagined their American dream ending up in smoke.
“It started in the highlands. It was such a quick response, we thought, ‘Okay, you’ve got to leave for safety reasons because of the smoke,’ but no way, let alone destroy our neighbourhood … and take over half of LA.
“I’m not sure what the world is trying to tell us honestly, it’s like nature is fighting back,” she said.
They took nothing but the kids, their passports and jewellery, thinking this would blow over.
“We said we’ll come back, we’ll be back in a few hours, maybe a day … all of our kids’ things, our gifts from family in Australia, everything that made it our home.
“Some things can’t be replaced, some things can, but it’s the memories that you’ve got to make sure don’t get burnt down here,” she said.
‘The best word would be despair’
The couple, originally from Queensland, moved to America in 2020 to make a life here.
It had always been Maria’s dream to live in the US.
Originally, they moved to New York but figured out within six months that LA suited them better.
The Houses have vowed to rebuild their home in LA.
Photo: ABC News: Kathryn Diss
They’re now living out of an Airbnb while they work through their insurance claim but are determined to rebuild what they’ve lost.
“I think the best word would be despair, there’s a mixture of anger and sadness, and I don’t think that will ever go away, and I think all we can do is start creating a future that’s exciting enough to overcome how painful this experience is,” Maria said.
“That dream of rebuilding is honestly what keeps us going. We need to have a bigger future to help heal the present.
“We are going to raise our children here just as we planned to.”
The Palisades fire tore through this neighbourhood, and with such ferocity, entire streets were reduced to rubble.
There are a few lucky homes and businesses that somehow managed to dodge the destruction.
But for the most part, this suburb, which hugs the famous Sunset Boulevard, is now in tatters.
The blaze is still the largest of six fires burning across LA County.
With more strong desert winds, known as the Santa Anas, forecast over the next 48 hours, fire crews are on edge.
Authorities are worried those high winds, combined with low humidity and high fuel loads, could see the fires again take off later this week.
– ABC
