A Malibu surgeon who, hours before, had just finished performing brain surgery ignored evacuation orders and worked to save his home from the raging wildfires that have since burned more than 40,300 acres throughout Los Angeles County, California and is now sharing his story.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Chester Griffiths (pictured above) said he and his family moved into their beachfront Malibu home in 2009 and had “prepared” for a wildfire scenario “for years” by souring fire hoses, training to put out flames, and having a plan of action.
“I’m a surgeon…You train and you prepare, and then when you’re in the thick of it, you rely on your training and your preparedness,” Griffiths told the outlet.
Griffiths, Chief of Endoscopic Sinonasal and Skull Base Surgery at Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Los Angeles, said he worked with his neighbor and son last week to defend their homes from the blaze as it made its way down their street and destroyed their other neighbors’ homes in its path.
While the men were assisted by a team of firefighters while defending their homes from the blaze, Griffiths said their request for a water drop from above was denied as all flights were “grounded.”
“We just got to do it ourselves,” Griffiths told the outlet he thought at the time.
Noting how his home was in the direct path of the blaze and under an evacuation order, Griffiths said his exit strategy was to paddleboard out into the ocean.
“Our exit strategy was paddle boards out into the ocean…There was no time to be scared,” Griffiths said.
Griffiths described the scene while fighting the blaze “almost apocalyptic,” saying, “Softball-sized pieces on fire were landing around us…We didn’t know when it was gonna end. That was probably the scariest thing.”
In addition to their fight against the wildfire, the men told The Telegraph that they also encountered looters who were looking to raid empty homes in the area.
Griffiths’ neighbor, Clayton Colbert, said he began to see looters in his neighborhood on Thursday.
“I started screaming at them, and then they ran. Then I went down to my car, and I turned on my car and the lights, and I set my alarm off so they know that we’re here,” Colbert said.
– – –
Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Image “Chester Griffiths” by Pacific Neuroscience Institute and “Pacific Palisades Fire” by Nevada County.
