A SKIBBEREEN native and former O’Donovan Rossa footballer living in Los Angeles said some of his Irish friends have ‘lost everything’ in the devastating fires which have swept the city, killing at least 25 people.
Brian Carmody, who has been living in LA since 1994, where he runs an international Emmy award-winning production company called Smuggler, said he and his family haven’t been affected by the fires, but some friends were not so lucky.
‘All the West Cork people that I know who live here are fine but I am on a WhatsApp group with about 150 to 200 Irish members and dozens of them have lost everything. We are all rallying around and helping them with GoFundMe fundraising.
‘Everything was fine in our neck of the woods. We live in an area called Hancock Park which is in the flats and away from the hills, but we are about 15 to 20 miles from Malibu and the Palisades and it’s very stressful for everyone who has lost homes – and for those trying to help them,’ Brian told The Southern Star.
He described as ‘frightening’ the destruction that the fires have caused.
‘It’s crazy and it’s going to change LA for a very long time, no doubt about it. It was all in the blink of an eye. This was particularly brutal, and by far and away the worst I’ve seen since I moved to LA.’
Eurovision singer and Macroom native Bambie Thug also found themselves caught up in the wildfires in Los Angeles last week.
The Doomsday Blue singer was in LA enjoying a well-earned break after a hectic year of work and touring. They were staying near Hollywood when the Runyon Canyon fire erupted.
‘I was watching a news bulletin but had it on mute and when I unmuted the sound it said to evacuate now from the Hollywood Hills,’ they told Cork radio station 96fm.
‘I went up to the roof and behind the house by this restaurant called Yamashiro. There was a big fire next to it and there were eight of us on the roof and I was asking should we leave.’
Bambie got an evacuation notice and said they had never experienced a natural disaster before.
‘I was trying to book an Uber and they kept cancelling on me. Then a friend of mine came back into the building and gave me a lift down. So I was lucky,’ they said.
Bambie said there is an amazing community spirit in LA, and they saw someone driving around handing out masks to people because of the toxic smoke in the air.
Brian Carmody said that everyone in the city now needs to keep the momentum and spirit going.
‘It’s more important now than ever that film and TV productions continue to work, or it will make it worse for those affected by the fires, who have already lost almost everything.’
