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LA wildfires: 'Our possessions fit into two cars'

Harry Butler Harry Butler is pictured sitting on steps at the front of his destroyed home. Pictured next to him, with her head on his shoulder, is his fiancée Vanessa. Rubble and burned trees can be seen in the background.Harry Butler
Harry Butler, who was born in Devon, said his home was wiped out following the wildfires which began on 7 January

A man from Devon who lives and works in Los Angeles has said everything he owned could now "fit into two cars" after his home was destroyed in the devastating wildfires.

Harry Butler, who was born and grew up in Manaton on the eastern edge of Dartmoor, has lived in California for about 20 years.

Mr Butler told BBC Radio Devon he proposed to his girlfriend Vanessa while in Devon over the Christmas period and only returned to their rented home in Altadena on 4 January, a few days before the LA wildfires began burning around the city on 7 January.

Mr Butler, who works for Disney, said: "Talk of a rollercoaster ride - leaving Devon on a high, newly engaged and then coming back for two days and the world is caving in around us."

Harry Butler A picture of the couple and a pet dog sitting on the front step of their home before it was destroyed. They are both smiling directly at the camera. The house is painted duck egg blue and there is shrubbery on either side of the steps.Harry Butler
Harry Butler said they decided to leave their home before they were told to do so

Mr Butler said it was his fiancée's birthday the day the wildfires began and they had planned to go out for the evening.

"We decided against going out for dinner purely based on the winds which was probably the best decision we ever made because not long after that the fire started four miles east of us," Mr Butler said.

"We were anxiously looking at a map of evacuation zones.

"Ours wasn't in it but we decided it made sense for us to pack up a few things, put our pets in the cars and left to go and stay at my fiancée's parent's house which is about a two-hour drive south.

"It turned out to be the best decision we ever made."

He said all of their possessions now fit into two cars which was "very sobering".

Harry Butler A picture of the devastation caused by the wildfires in LA. There are hills in the distance. In the foreground are the ruined remains of burned-out homes.Harry Butler
Harry Butler said their neighbours sent them a video the following day and they were unable to see their home due to plumes of smoke

On the morning of 8 January Mr Butler said their neighbours sent them a video and the palm trees outside the house were on fire.

Mr Butler said they could not see the house because of the smoke.

"They promptly left and we heard at about 08:00 [local time] that our house had been consumed within that time frame," he said.

"The entire block was wiped out.

"We heard from a neighbour who tragically lost his family members in the house immediately behind ours.

"He informed us that our house was gone and sent us a screengrab from a security camera across the street of our house engulfed."

Harry Butler The couple hugging in the middle of the debris from the wildfires in LA. There is a house still standing in the background. Harry Butler
Harry Butler said communities had been ruined amid the wildfires in LA

Mr Butler said the devastation and the fact that lives had been lost had left given him some perspective.

"It sounds tripe but losing a house doesn't seem too bad in the end," he said.

"We grabbed a few things, we have some trinkets that are sentimental, my fiancée grabbed her entire vinyl collection that belonged to her dad.

"I have some bits and pieces - those will represent everything that we lost."

Harry Butler A woman standing in the middle of debris from the wildfires. In the background are trees and a fence. To the right is what looks like the bricks from a fireplace.Harry Butler
The couple were escorted back to where their home once was and captured the devastation

The couple were able to revisit the remains of their home, with an escort, and they captured the devastation.

Mr Butler said they were staying at an Airbnb which was owned by a friend.

The couple had only been living at the rented property - which was 100 years old - for four months, but they said they had made happy memories there.

"We are very blessed in that sense and I don't think the enormity of this situation has really hit us," Mr Butler added.

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