The nursery was ready the day before the fires broke out in Los Angeles. Samir Chaudry and his pregnant wife had moved into their house in Pacific Palisades a month earlier. Now everything is gone, he tells CNN.
The only thing that keeps Samir from giving up is that their unborn son "doesn't know what's happened".
He will only know the world we show him. So when he comes out, we have the opportunity to show him a world full of joy and kindness.
At least 10,000 buildings have been destroyed in the fires. Among them, eight homes within walking distance of each other belonging to a family of over 20 people. No one in the family was injured, but when they returned to their homes, everything was in ruins.
It was really crushing to see that the place where I grew up no longer exists, says Brayden Williams to local TV station KTLA.
Hundreds of thousands have received an evacuation order – but not everyone has made it. Anthony Mitchell told his eldest son that he was waiting for an ambulance when the fire raged outside the home.
He called everyone and said "I'm okay, I'm just waiting to be evacuated", says the son to LA Times and continues:
He probably knew that no one would come, but he wanted everyone to feel calm.
Anthony Mitchell, who was an amputee and used a wheelchair, had stayed with his bedridden son with a CP disability. Both died in the fire. The relatives were stopped by firefighters from entering the evacuation zone.
He could probably have gotten up and gone, but he would never leave my brother, says the eldest son.
