SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
The nightmare in Los Angeles continues. One of the wildfires there expanded significantly overnight. Dawn to dusk - dawn - dusk to dawn curfews are now in place in some evacuation zones to curb looting, and Governor Newsom has called for an independent investigation into why some fire hydrants have gone dry. At least 11 people have died. NPR's Liz Baker has been covering the fires. Liz, thanks so much for being with us.
LIZ BAKER, BYLINE: You're welcome, Scott.
SIMON: How do things look right now?
BAKER: Well, we're still in heightened fire weather again today, according to the National Weather Service. They're warning that the risk is a little south of LA, especially today. Parts of Orange and Riverside counties, they're under red flag warnings. For a while here yesterday and Thursday, the winds calmed down a little bit, where the worst fires have been raging here in LA, especially at lower elevations. That wind break has been welcome news. Some evacuation zones were able to be lifted or downgraded. Some people were able to return to their homes, and firefighters did start to make some slight progress for the first time towards containment on the big fires and even more progress on some of the smaller ones.
But Scott, still over 150,000 people are under evacuation orders. And overnight, there was a flare-up of the Palisades fire that led to even more evacuations, this time in the Brentwood area. That fire over there, that's already the worst in Los Angeles history. Overall, these past few days have just been astonishingly destructive. Officials estimate over 10,000 structures destroyed. Here's a clip from Rich Snyder. He's a retired fire marshal who now works for a company that hardens homes. That means he prepares them to survive wildfires. But he told me the fires this week are the worst he's ever seen.
RICH SNYDER: No community, no city, no state could be prepared for what Southern California went through. You know, we all growing up hear about the Great Chicago Fire. This is going to be something that is going to change history.
SIMON: Liz, what's it look like on the ground?
BAKER: Well, to answer that question, I'd actually like to stay with Rich Snyder for a minute because I met up with him last night in Pasadena. He was sitting outside his damaged home, which he personally saved from the Eaton fire using garden hoses and help from his nephews. And he showed me videos on his phone of what it was like. So scary. Just - embers just pouring down, like glowing rain, flames everywhere. And he says that happened so fast. In just 20 minutes, the fire was on top of his house, and he had to run out and start fighting it in his baseball cap and sweats. Scott, there's no doubt that those efforts saved not only his house but at least eight others on the block, although he still says there was nothing he could do for 15 other homes.
And he did actually rescue one of his neighbors across the street. That man is neurodivergent. He couldn't understand what was going on and kept trying to get into his car to leave. But the car was already on fire with 15-foot flames shooting out of it. So a very, very, very dramatic evening for Snyder, and he has 30 years of experience as a firefighter. He said, though, fighting this one at home was a whole different ball game and one he never could have fully prepared for.
SNYDER: You know, you'd get an assignment if it was a street like this, and it would be, oh, 1216's on fire, 1102's on fire. It was like that. The difference being is it was Greg. (Crying) It was Dave. It was Julie. They weren't numbers.
BAKER: Scott, you can hear in his voice. Snyder is really just starting to process what he went through this week. So his wife, his nephews, his neighbors, a lot of people in LA, they haven't been able to take a break. The Snyders, they sat up all night and all day in front of their yard, ready to douse any flare-ups and deter looters. And that's, you know, on top of everything else, it's just a lot to deal with. Angelenos are used to some level of disruption for wildfires, but there's never been anything like this before.
SIMON: NPR's Liz Baker. Thanks so much for being with us.
BAKER: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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