Sask. man describes 'terrifying' evacuation from California wildfire

When the alert came on his phone to evacuate from his home in Hollywood, Calif., due to wildfire last week, Samuel Tipewan says he couldn't believe it.

Tipewan, from Witchekan Lake First Nation, Sask., about 180 kilometres north of Saskatoon, is a film student at the New York Film Academy's Los Angeles campus and has been living in Hollywood.

"We're like right in the heart of Hollywood," he said. "It's concrete, the only things that really could get on fire [were] kind of the hills and the brush. So I felt like we were safe." 

"Then to get the word that our hill was on fire, I was in disbelief. So I had to go and look at it myself." 

It was Jan. 8, and the Sunset Fire had just broken out in the Hollywood Hills. Firefighters managed to reach 100 per cent containment on it a day later — but the night when it broke out, Tipewan went up to the roof of his building, where he could see the fire spreading quickly across the hills.

"It was like a really terrifying moment," he said. "You have all these vehicles that were coming down from the hills who were told to evacuate, and they're all congesting the streets of like, Hollywood Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard, all trying to make their way inland, toward the city." 

He said it caused "pandemonium" as people were fleeing, like a scene from a disaster movie.

"There was adrenaline flowing through our blood because there were so many other people trying to get out at the same time," he said. "The streets were full and it was hard to just stay calm because there were people running red lights"

WATCH | Samuel Tipewan describes 'pandemonium' of trying to evacuate:

Sask. man describes 'pandemonium' of trying to evacuate family from Los Angeles wildfires

3 days ago

Duration 2:29

Samuel Tipewan, from Witchekan Lake First Nation, had to quickly evacuate Hollywood with his family once the wildfires hit.

After evacuating, Tipewan and his family reached out for help to the United American Indian Involvement, which got them a hotel in Bellflower, a city south of Los Angeles. 

He and his family decided to return to their home in Hollywood the next day, after the fire was contained. But after a few more days, they decided they didn't feel safe. The air quality was not good and people were being urged to stay indoors because of the smoke and ashes, Tipewan said.

Firefighters are still battling two large fires in the Los Angeles area, which have killed 25 people and destroyed more than 12,000 structures.

"It was almost a pandemic kind of feeling again, you know, when the pandemic hit and everybody was fearful. That was the same fear that we experienced. So it made us just want to be closer to our community and our family," he said. 

He and his family are on their way back to Saskatchewan to be with their family, and he said it feels good. 

"We're just taking it day by day," he said.