A firefighter from Winnipeg, visiting friends in California, pitched in to help battle the wildfires ravaging the state.
Romeo Petit and others were told to evacuate the home they were staying in Tuesday, on the outskirts of Pasadena.
Petit says after grabbing items from the home and making it to safety, he, his girlfriend and a friend went back to help the effort to save the neighbourhood houses from burning.
He says there was a wall of flame as they headed back up into the foothills, but they got back and started dousing lawns and houses with water from hoses, sprinkler systems and more.
A firefighter from Costa Mesa works to extinguish a fire burning a home on Valleylights Drive during the Eaton fire in the Hastings Ranch community of Pasadena, Calif., early Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025.
Will Lester/The Orange County Register via AP
He says strong winds were whipping embers everywhere, but he knew from his training that whatever could be doused with water might be saved.
Some houses had sprinklers on their roofs and the group managed to turn them on.
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In the end, many of the homes were spared and Petit and his friends got out after about four hours, before the only road out could be cut off.
He says the wildfire was very different from blazes in the city that’s he used to, but instinct kicked in.
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