As wildfires set Los Angeles County ablaze, one California resident “fought” to save his home from the deadly flames.
Orly Israel is among thousands of citizens in the greater Los Angeles area facing multiple wildfires this week. As of midday Thursday, the fires claimed at least five lives and burned over 27,000 acres.
“We just fought until we couldn’t fight any longer, until it was so hot that you couldn’t even stand in the backyard without getting your eyes burned,” Israel said Thursday on “Your World.”
CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES DEVASTATE LOS ANGELES COUNTY, KILLING 5 AND THREATENING THOUSANDS OF HOMES
As the flames spread toward his home, Israel and a friend attempted to stave off the fire.
“You’ve got to battle. If the fight’s coming to you, you bring the fight — and we had the hoses. We had the pillows all thrown out. The jacuzzi was ready to be dumped,” he explained.
“We stayed there knowing we had a plan. The second we thought that those trees were going to fall down and block the road, we were out. All the cars were ready to go, so there was no chance that we got stuck in there based on our own opinions.”
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Eventually, the rapidly spreading flames forced Israel and his friend to leave the property.
As officials attempt to quench the wildfires, Israel urges his fellow Californians to “be strong” and “take action again” to help restore the City of Angels.
“Things are only things. We got the people around. Right now, we’re taking action. We’re getting GoFundMes, a ‘clean up the Palisades’ GoFundMe. People are trying to make t-shirts that can raise money. We sat around yesterday, but now it’s time to take action again, and there is things that can still be done,” Israel told Fox News host Trace Gallagher.
“Muhammad Ali, I think he lost a fight — he came back. George Foreman lost a fight — he came back. A house is a house, but the people are strong. Everyone’s texting #PalisadesStrong. Kind of corny to be on the other side of a #strong, but this is where we’ve got to be strong or we’ve got to sit down, and no one’s sitting down. The second we can go out there and start cleaning up, we’re going out there and cleaning up.”
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Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman, Elizabeth Pritchett, Christina Shaw, Bradford Betz, Joshua Comins, Alex Nitzberg, Pilar Arias, Michael Ruiz, Anders Hagstrom, Greg Wehner and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
