"Never been this scared"
Dröfn Ösp Snorradóttir Rozas lives in Los Angeles. At least ten of her friends have lost their homes in wildfires there. Composite image/AFP/Sent to mbl.is
"This is all so scary that I've never been this scared since I moved to Los Angeles."
This is what Dröfn Ösp Snorradóttir Rozas, who has lived in California for the past twelve years, says about the situation in Los Angeles.
"I'm so lucky now that I don't have anxiety and don't go through life scared, but I've just been in a panic for the last 48 hours and have been shaking like a Chihuahua," Rozas says in an interview with a reporter from mbl.is.
Her home in Highland Park in eastern Los Angeles is not far from the Eaton Fire, but wildfires are raging in four areas of the city in total. She says the fire is getting closer and closer to her home, but the freeway that separates the areas has kept the fire under control so far.
Flames from the wind-driven Eaton Fire engulf a house in Altadena, California, January 8, 2025. AFP/Robyn Beck
Ten friends lost their homes
Nothing is known about the aftermath, however, and Rozas says she received an evacuation warning last night, telling her to prepare to flee her home with little or no notice.
She says at least ten of her close friends have lost their homes and worldly possessions in Altadena in the past two days.
Airbnb has blessedly offered free accommodation to those who had to flee, and Rozas says her group of friends is close; most are staying with friends and family.
She now lives in fear of losing her home of twelve years, no matter what, as fire can actually reach her home from any direction.
"The city is just ablaze," she says, pointing out that between 50-75 percent of the Palisades area has been burned to the ground.
The Santa Ana winds are said to have a great impact on residents and are often attributed to the devil. AFP/Apu Gomes
Little to no safety net
She says the sad reality is facing the United States, where there is little to no safety net to catch people in a situation like this.
Many, including herself, were called to work today despite the city being in a state of emergency and many faced losing their homes and even having to cover most of the costs themselves.
“The insurance companies here are competing to insure fewer people and take our insurance away,” Rozas says.
To add insult to injury, future US President-elect Donald Trump took the opportunity to take a shot at the governor of California and comment on how much of a tragedy the fires are for the country’s most expensive real estate.
“As if it helps people who are displaced here.”
Scorched earth in Palisades. AFP/Apu Gomes
A ray of hope that the devil’s winds are calming down
She says the only ray of hope right now is that the Santa Ana winds, which, along with extreme drought, are the main cause of the rapid spread of the fires, are starting to subside a bit.
“This is of course a result of climate change, it is naturally bone dry here.”
The winds, which are usually named after Saint Anne, the maternal grandmother of Jesus Christ, are called “hnúkatheyr” in Icelandic and are warm and dry winds from the mountains and can be very strong and gusty.
She adds that the winds are often called the devil’s winds in California where they are believed to have a great impact on society and are even linked to increased crime rates and riots in the city. This is evident, for example, that some people have been trying to intentionally start fires after the wildfires started.
"Until the Santa Ana winds start to subside, we really can't move freely."
