In Los Angeles, many families saw their homes devoured by the flames, a blaze which engulfed 15,000 hectares and killed at least eleven people. In this desolate landscape, RTS met a woman and her daughter, now homeless.
In five days of fires, more than 12,000 buildings were destroyed despite the massive mobilization of firefighters. The villas have given way to landscapes of desolation for miles. “It made me think of a war scene, with bombings,” commented President Joe Biden.
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Carole Descombes and her children, who had lived in California for more than ten years, were among the victims. When the fires arrived, they had to evacuate their home in Pacific Palisades, a neighborhood at the heart of the largest blaze, thinking it was only temporary.
The family, who only took a small suitcase with them, are now staying in two hotel rooms. “I didn’t even take my passport, I just took my bag,” said the mother on Saturday in the 7:30 p.m. broadcast of RTS. “I thought I would be home that evening,” she admits.
“It’s apocalyptic”
Equipped with masks to protect themselves from the smoke, Carole and Lorraine, her daughter, returned to their neighborhood with an RTS team. They discovered a nightmarish vision.
Along the roads, “the cars are charred, there is nothing left. We have the impression that there has been a bomb. It’s apocalyptic”, declares the mother, distraught. All the landmarks of their daily life have been reduced to ashes.
A house that no longer exists
The house in which the Descombes family had lived for seven years no longer exists. The mother and daughter can only see the extent of the damage. “We try to find photos, objects that remain, but there is nothing left,” explains Lorraine.
In addition to personal items and memories going up in smoke, Carole also has to say goodbye to her work, because this house housed her art gallery. None of its unique pieces resisted the flames.
“The shock is enormous,” relates the artist, but she refuses to complain about her situation. “I have my children who are there, alive,” she puts things into perspective. Faced with the scale of the disaster, Carole plans to return to Europe.
>> See the explanations of our correspondent::
Reportage TV: Aviva Fried
Adaptation web: Mérande Gutfreund
