Brit, 37, sifts through charred remains of her LA home torched by wildfires – and why her heartbreak has only just begun
A DEVASTATED British expat has told how she lost her home and most cherished possessions in the Los Angeles wildfires.
The Sun on Sunday took Saphia Hall, 37, past a National Guard checkpoint into the mandatory fire evacuation zone in Malibu on Friday.
It was the first time she had returned to find the oceanfront studio apartment she rented for a year and a half had been obliterated by the flames.
Saphia, her American husband Stuart, also 37, and their two poodles fled on Tuesday after the wildfires that have brought LA to its knees began near their home.
Since then they have been hunkering down with her brother-in-law in nearby Santa Monica.
The couple had already seen video and pictures which showed that they had lost their home.
But after confirming with her own eyes that their building on the legendary Pacific Coast Highway was gone, Saphia cried her first tears since the nightmare began.
The video producer, who is originally from Manchester but has lived in LA for a decade, told the Sun on Sunday: “It’s actually the first time I’ve cried.
“I think that we were just in shock before.
“For the first two days I didn’t cry but my body was shaking and it was the strangest feeling.
“Even though people had sent us pictures and videos, it’s not really real until you see it. It’s just crazy.
“This was the first place that I’ve lived in in LA that really felt like home.
“We put everything into it.”
Wearing a N-95 face mask and skiing goggles to protect herself from the smoke and ash still coming from the blazes, Saphia went through the rubble in search of her belongings using tongs.
She pointed to a Christmas tree stand and the buckle of her Birkenstock sandals as among the few items that were still recognisable.
In among the rubble there was also a fragment of a British bulldog statuette with the Union Jack painted on it which Saphia’s mother-in-law had gifted her.
Saphia tried in vain to find a box containing items of sentimental value left to her by her late mum.
“It’s not just about losing your home, it’s all of the memories,” she explained.
“I’ve lost my jewellery box with so many sentimental things that I had from my mum.
“She died when I was 17 and had bought the box for me.
“It had two rings in it, some of her earrings, some lace she was wearing when she passed away and a watch that she got me when I was 11.
“I also had a huge chest with photos and cards and diaries and things like that that I’d kept and all that is gone.
“It’s really frustrating too because we tried to get renters’ insurance and they weren’t offering it in this area.”
Saphia also explained how she and her husband have been trying for a baby using IVF and lost expensive medication, supplements and equipment in the fire.
“For the past five years I’ve been doing IVF and we thought that before we have a family we don’t need much space.
“We thought we could make this place somewhere we could de-stress while we’re going through all of that.
“We sacrificed having more space to live somewhere where we could relax and we wanted to be doing our IVF right now,” Saphia said.
Explaining the horror of realising they would have to flee on Tuesday afternoon, Saphia said that at first she and her husband saw smoke coming from the mountains behind their home.
Two hours later they saw flames and the smoke began to get thicker.
“We thought ‘We can’t inhale all of this smoke’ and decided to leave but we never imagined the fire would reach down to our property,” Saphia said.
“There is something about living by the water, you just don’t expect it.
“We jumped in our two cars and I drove for the first time in three years to get away.
“There were rocks falling down onto the road and I was just out of it.”
Saphia and her husband are now waiting for the dust to settle before deciding where they go from here.
“I started from scratch in LA almost exactly ten years ago and a decade later I’m having to start all over again,” she added.
“But I cannot believe how amazing people have been with wanting to help.
“We started a GoFundMe and we’re already up to $20,000 (£16,000), it’s amazing.”
You can donate to the fundraiser by clicking here.
What caused the LA wildfires?
by Juliana Cruz Lima, Foreign News Reporter
THE devastating Palisades Fire, which has ravaged Los Angeles and claimed at least eight lives, is believed to have been reignited from scorch marks left by an earlier blaze that may have been sparked by New Year’s Eve fireworks.
According to an investigation by The Washington Post, remnants of the earlier fire, which burned in the Temescal Ridge area of the Santa Monica Mountains, could have been rekindled by strong winds six days later, setting the stage for one of California’s most destructive wildfires.
Satellite imagery and other data suggest the Palisades Fire began in the same area as the New Year’s Eve fire, which had been contained after burning four acres.
While the initial blaze was controlled in a few hours, the high winds and severe drought conditions leading up to the second fire created a perfect storm for reignition.
Michael Gollner, a fire scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, explained: “We know that fires rekindle and transition from smoldering to flaming.
“It’s certainly possible that something from that previous fire, within a week, had rekindled and caused the ignition.”
Nearby residents expressed frustration over what they described as a slower response time to the second fire.
Michael Valentine, who witnessed the start of both blazes, noted a stark difference.
“The first time around, the response was swift and impressive. The second, though, was slower and hindered by the high winds,” he said.
Valentine reported that when he and his wife called the Los Angeles Fire Department to report the Palisades Fire, the line was busy, and resources were delayed as crews responded to emergencies elsewhere in the city.
A helicopter attempting to deliver water early on was unable to operate due to the dangerous winds.
Valentine estimated it took 45 minutes before he saw any firefighting efforts, by which time the fire was spreading rapidly.
The delay led Valentine to take matters into his own hands, wetting down homes in his neighborhood and sustaining burns and injuries in the process.
Adding to the tragedy, local residents have pointed to the dangers of fireworks during drought conditions.
A nearby hiker, Darrin Hurrwitz, reported smelling smoke near the origin point an hour before the fire broke out but dismissed it when the scent disappeared.
Another resident blamed the New Year’s Eve revelers, saying: “You got to know better. It’s dry. There’s no precipitation… Then the Santa Anas came on Monday, and that’s what reignited the fire.”
While it remains uncertain whether the New Year’s Eve fire directly caused the Palisades Fire, both state and federal investigators continue to examine the burn scar area for clues.