Altadena residents return home to survey 'apocalypse' after fire

A blackened swimming pool and a chimney were all that remained when Oren Waters returned home Thursday to assess what remained of his home of 50 years on the outskirts of Los Angeles.

"This looks like the apocalypse, to be honest with you, it just doesn't feel like the normal things that happen in your life," the 74-year-old singer, whose voice appears in Michael Jackson's album "Thriller," told AFP.

"It's unimaginable," he said through a protective mask, as a few embers burned on the ground.

Waters returned to where his house once stood after the fierce winds that have been spreading fires across the Los Angeles area since Tuesday calmed.

The blazes remained totally uncontained on Thursday, and the mountain overlooking Altadena, a suburban community of 42,000 people, was still in flames.

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The blaze dubbed the "Eaton Fire" has killed several people in the Altadena area.

One man was found dead in front of his house with a hose in his hand.

Waters said he also tried to fight the fire with a hose and buckets of water, working desperately to salvage items from his house until the last possible minute on Tuesday evening, as "fireballs" soared overhead.

He said he didn't know the man who died, but can understand the urge to fight back, despite the risks.

"When you have the fighting spirit in you, you don't think about what you can't do, you think about what you need to do, what you can do," Waters said.

'Extremely underprepared'

Under the ashes of his house, the carcass of a vintage car was visible.

Waters said it was a 1935 Chevrolet Standard, which has cost him upwards of $150,000.

"I'm going to miss it," added Waters, whose voice also appears in the Disney film "The Lion King."

In this neighborhood, there were homes that remained randomly intact next to those that were torched.

Kalen Astoor, a 36-year-old paralegal, said her mother's home was among those spared. A neighbor saved it by shovelling dirt on flames once the city cut off the water.

The aftermath of the fire left some homes randomly intact next to those that were completely torched

The panorama in the area now "looks wrong," she said, surveying what she described as a view "of death and of destruction and of black."

The biggest blaze ripped through nearly 20,000 acres (8,100 hectares) of the upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood, while the fire in Altadena torched 13,000 acres (5,300 hectares).

Astoor said it feels like the authorities were "extremely underprepared."

"California is a state that burns, we should not be overwhelmed when it comes to firefighters. That's like the thing we need to put money into: earthquake and fire."

'Glad to be alive'

A few hundred yards (meters) away, standing in front of the house where he lived with his parents, 41-year-old Adam Clingmon admitted to feeling "numb."

"I don't hold any grudges, there's nothing that no one could do," said the special education teacher, whose firefighter brother has been battling the Pacific Palisades blaze.

"They were just stretched too thin, by the time firefighters from different counties got here, it was just too late for us," he told AFP.

"I'm just glad to be alive," he said, recounting his narrow escape with his parents, which involved clearing a tree trunk that was obstructing the only road out.

His concern was also focused on Altadena's future, especially after insurance companies cancelled coverage for some in the area, citing the risk of extreme weather disasters linked to climate change.

"I hope the insurance companies don't screw us," he said. "We definitely want to rebuild and bring this community back."