Ottawa rapper Khalid Omar, who performs underneath the title TwoTiime, was pressured to evacuate his Calabasas apartment as wildfires tore via the Los Angeles space this week, leaving the studio the place he information in ruins.
The 23-year-old says he awakened Thursday to a nightmarish scene because the Kenneth fireplace started spreading via the West Hills, fanned by sturdy Santa Ana winds.
“It was wanting like hell on earth, I’m not gonna misinform you,” he stated Friday in a cellphone name.
“There was smoke all up within the air. The sky was crimson and brown. I assumed it was judgment day.”
After an evacuation warning was issued, Omar says he fled his residence and the thick smoke blanketing the world. He’s at the moment dwelling in an Airbnb in downtown L.A.
The rapper says the studio he information at, a small area within the Palisades belonging to his sound engineer Jeffrey Wright, was razed Wednesday as flames ravaged the world.
“I’m tremendous unhappy about that,” says Omar, who moved to L.A. final yr after signing with ODA Information, owned by Chicago rapper Polo G.
“That’s the principle studio I report at. That was like a protected haven for me.”
He stated the area was a useful useful resource, particularly since studio time in L.A. is expensive.
Get day by day Nationwide information
Get the day’s prime information, political, financial, and present affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox as soon as a day.
“Issues are fairly tense proper now with the town burning down. I believe everybody’s being affected by it.”
Omar is certainly one of a number of Canadian artists working in L.A. who’ve been displaced by the wildfires, which started Tuesday.
Officers say the fast-moving inferno has killed at the very least 10 folks, destroyed greater than 10,000 buildings and compelled 1000’s to evacuate.
By Friday afternoon, the ferocious fire-stoking winds had calmed down, however the two largest blazes – the Palisades fireplace and Eaton fireplace have been nonetheless largely uncontained.
New Brunswick-born tv presenter Mary Kitchen says her household fled their Westwood residence on Wednesday as a result of the air high quality of their neighbourhood was insufferable.
“It was simply so smoggy,” she recalled Friday. “We’re simply east of the Palisades and the smoke clouds hanging over the world actually appeared like a bomb had gone off. The sky was black and crimson.”
She described an eerie view of “carcasses of vehicles and elements and timber” as she drove out of the world together with her partner and three kids.
Kitchen stated the Palisades is “a particular group” that’s very tightknit.
“That group is totally gone now. The espresso retailers, the church buildings, the colleges are all now gone. It’s so unhappy.”
Her household has been staying at a lodge in Newport ready for the state of affairs to enhance. She wasn’t positive what the state of their residence was.
She stated she’s needed to put a number of work engagements on maintain.
“All the award reveals are in all probability going to be affected and principally canceled. I don’t suppose any of that’s going to be taking place for the subsequent few months,” stated Kitchen, who moved to L.A. in 2007.
Kitchen stated she’s disillusioned to see social media customers saying they haven’t any sympathy for individuals who misplaced residence to the wildfires as a result of they stay in prosperous areas.
“It’s not simply wealthy celebrities which can be affected. I believe the common working individual’s lives are going to be fully modified from all of the devastation,” she stated.
Montreal-born actor Elias Toufexis, identified for his position on “Star Trek: Discovery,” was pressured to evacuate his Calabasas residence along with his household on Wednesday as spot fires ignited on the prime of his avenue.
He harassed that many actors in L.A. are “simply working folks” dwelling paycheque to paycheque.
Toufexis, who additionally does online game voiceover work, stated issues have been hectic since he moved to the town in 2019.
“A yr after I moved right here, COVID began. After which there was a Hollywood strike. After which there was a online game strike. And now there’s an enormous fireplace.”
Amongst different Canadian entertainers impacted by the fires are Eugene Levy and Cobie Smulders, whose houses have been reportedly misplaced, and cleaning soap star Cameron Mathison, who posted footage of the scorched stays of his residence.
Canada-born music producer Greg Wells, who most lately labored on the “Depraved” soundtrack, shared an Instagram photograph Thursday of the charred lot the place his residence used to face.
Kitchen stated she’s “completely” been contemplating a transfer again to Canada.
“I believe lots of people will go away. I’m simply unsure what’s going to occur to our infrastructure. It’s simply going to take so a few years to rebuild right here.”
© 2025 The Canadian Press
Source link