CHICAGO (WLS) — Concern for California is growing Thursday amid the devastating wildfires.
From various individuals, including former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and a suburban actor from “The Bear,” ABC7 has gathered stories of people with loved ones who have lost everything in the wildfires.
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Lightfoot expressed her gratitude for having a copy of her aunt and uncle’s wedding photo after the couple lost all their possessions in the devastating California wildfires.
“There is literally nothing left of their house,” Lightfoot said. “They have lived there for decades. I was just there in October visiting them.”
The former mayor shared with ABC7 that her elderly relatives had to flee their home of six decades in Altadena hastily, with no belongings other than the clothes they were wearing.
“I’m still processing the enormity of this loss,” Lightfoot said. “My aunt and uncle are in their 90s, they are not going to rebuild.”
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Actor Chris Witaske was born and raised in Saint Charles, Illinois, but he has been in Los Angeles for 10 years. The actor, known for playing Pete on “The Bear,” says he’s prepared to leave if needed.
“I have friends who have lost their homes in Altadena, and people are being evacuated right and left,” Witaske said. “It’s just really scary. It’s devastating”
Cameron Petrusevski from Orland Park shared photos of the fires with ABC7. He is a grad student at UCLA. He said classes are cancelled or online, and he has a bag ready to go if he has to evacuate.
“You could just see all the smoke and the smoke plume that was popping up,” Petrusevski said. “You could see the different colors of it, like it was really dark, but orange and red. It was just really weird to see… Just seeing it in real time you can see the destruction and just how genuinely sad it has been.”
Dan Tarpey is a Chicagoan living in Los Angeles. On Thursday, he’s preparing to host a family who evacuated. Even 25 miles away from the fires in Hermosa Beach, he is feeling the effects.
“It literally felt apocalyptic,” Tarpey said. “I woke up yesterday morning, 1:30 in the morning, coughing. I was surprised my smoke alarm wasn’t going off my master bedroom was filled with smoke there was soot all over my comforters all over my floor.”
In the days ahead, some Chicagoans continue to look for ways to help those most impacted by the fire.
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