California's national guard is being deployed to prevent looting, among other things, in fire-stricken areas. However, many of those who have been evacuated do not trust that enough is being done in their areas.
Nicholas Norman says that he has seen people feeling doors and looking into windows in evacuated houses in the middle of the night. He decided to take matters into his own hands.
I did the classic American thing: I went out and got my shotgun and sat out there and lit a lamp so that they knew people were there, he says.
The destruction is random in the normally peaceful town of Altadena, where he lives. In some places, entire streets have disappeared, while on other streets, some houses remain, and a few blocks away, most houses are still intact.
There are plans to introduce a nighttime curfew to prevent looting of evacuated homes, announces Sheriff Robert Luna.
We're throwing everything we've got at our disposal – including our national guard members – to protect communities in the coming days, he says.
And to those who try to take advantage of evacuated communities, let me be clear: looting will not be tolerated.
According to Luna, people who do not have permission to be in evacuation zones will be arrested. So far, at least 20 people have been arrested, reports the Los Angeles Times.
