Belizeans Affected as Hollywood Hills Fire Spreads

A fast-moving fire that erupted in the Hollywood Hills on Wednesday night has raved through iconic Los Angeles landmarks as firefighters battled three other major blazes that have killed five, displaced 130,000 people, and devastated communities from the Pacific Coast to Pasadena.

Belizeans in the area have also been affected by this devastating fire that officials now call “the state’s largest wildfire” in its history.

This morning’s episode of Open Your Eyes featured a virtual call with two Belizeans residing in Los Angeles, California. Mirna Reneau, a member of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), stated that the fire has led to the temporary closure of UCLA.

“UCLA cancelled undergraduate classes due to the fire. Graduate students are remote. It’s moving fast and very devastating. 7,500 firefighters are working to contain it.” Reneau said. “The Belizean community is a huge population in the Los Angeles area; every Belizean at home or abroad knows of someone, either a relative, a friend, a colleague, an associate, or someone that is being affected by this fire. We have a lot of Belizeans that are care-givers and they work in these areas,” she added.

DJ Easy stated that he’s closer to Hollywood in the subcentral area and that the heavy smoke has blanketed over the outskirts of the fire. “When you wake up here, it’s like still nighttime. Still dark because of the smoke. You can smell it and feel it in your eyes.” He said that everybody is being advised to wear a mask as the fire continues to burn its way through many structures.

The Hollywood Hills fire has spread to major areas, including Pacific Palisades, with 1,000 homes destroyed. “The destruction is massive. The fires moved so fast, people had little time to escape,” said Fire Chief Chad Augustin from Pasadena.

Authorities are saying that the wildfires, worsened by high winds and dry conditions, have been exacerbated by climate change, extending California’s fire season. Wind gusts have been recorded to be as much as 80 mph, which has made the fire spread even faster.