L.A. wildfires 'bizarre, surreal' experience, says actor anxiously watching nearby infernos
Comedian Shaun Majumder says he's considering moving back to Canada
Rapidly expanding wildfires that have put much of Los Angeles in a state of emergency have put two well-known performers with roots in Newfoundland and Labrador on edge.
"It's kind of a bizarre, surreal experience," said actor Mark O'Brien, one of millions of Los Angeles residents who are nervously watching as severe winds move massive wildfires across the city's outskirts.
Four different blazes from the Pacific coast to Pasadena have resulted by early Thursday in the destruction of more than 2,000 properties and at least five deaths. More than 100,000 people were under evacuation orders.
O'Brien said it doesn't seem like the fires will reach his neighbourhood, but he's keeping a constant watch.
"I've never seen anything like this in the, I don't know, dozen years I've been here," said O'Brien, who came to Canadian attention in Republic of Doyle and who has been forging a film and television career in L.A. as a writer, director and producer.
High winds are a normal experience for Newfoundlanders, said O'Brien. "Maybe it's growing up at home, you're kind of used to the house rocking," he told CBC Radio's On The Go.
Outside his home, O'Brien said Wednesday he could see smoke and a red sky, as well as lots of debris.
"The largest fires, we're probably 20 miles from … We see the smoke in the sky here, plain as day, like it's covering the sky."
While certain areas have been told to evacuate or be ready to evacuate, O'Brien says his neighbourhood is safe for now.
"I think people are getting enough notice," he said. "Everyone has go-bags kind of at the ready."
But as someone who isn't from L.A., O'Brien said he isn't sure what to expect.
'This place is all kindling'
As for Newfoundland-born comedian Shaun Majumder, who now lives in the Hollywood Hills, the nearby fires have led him to consider moving back to Canada.
"These fires definitely have put a pin in that and made us kind of rethink where we want to be," Majumder told CBC News Network's Canada Tonight.
"Who knows, getting up there in the 51st state known as Canada," he said, making light of comments that U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has recently made about Canadian sovereignty.
Although his home has not been hit by the fires yet, what's known as the Eaton fire is in the hills behind him.
"I am so much luckier and blessed to not have gone through the terror that a lot of people on the west side have gone through," he said.
Majumder said Wednesday he also felt the high winds the preceding night.
"I went out last night and I was like, wow, this is serious. I've never felt this kind of wind here before."
He is also concerned about how easy it could be for a fire to spark near his home, as conditions are very dry.
"This is the stuff you need desperately to start a fire. I'm from Newfoundland…there's a lot of wet there and you need dry," said Majumder, who grew up in central Newfoundland. "This place is all kindling."
Majumder said the air quality is also not great, adding that his eyes were stinging while he stood outside for an interview with CBC News.
On Wednesday, while bringing his daughter to school, he saw a tree topple over, tearing down wires in its path. His home is among those. that lost power.
"That's all it takes is one spark and this place is up in flames," he said. "So we're going to be very much on guard, waiting, checking, making sure we're OK."
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With files from On The Go and Angie Seth
