A Palisades resident broke down in tears after traveling back to his neighborhood amid LA’s raging wildfires, only to find his home left untouched.
Video footage showed architect Farhad Ashofteh cycling down Haverford Avenue in the Pacific Palisades – the hardest-hit area in LA’s devastating wildfires.
It comes as residents have tried to return to their homes, dodging police roadblocks, assessing damage and collecting any remaining belongings.
But when he arrived at his address, Mr Ashofteh was shocked to discover that his house remained intact thanks to the efforts of firefighters who fought to prevent the fire from spreading.
Visibly overwhelmed, Mr Ashofteh told ITV News: ‘I don’t understand how this didn’t burn, that burned, this didn’t burn.’
Mr Ashofteh is then introduced to some of the firefighters who worked to protect his home. He gives them all a hug and thanks them.
“It feels good,” Mr Ashofteh added. ‘But what is a house without a neighborhood. There are no neighbors, there are no friends.’
Farhad Ashofteh breaks down in tears as he hugs one of the firefighters who helped protect his home
Farhad Ashofteh was visibly overwhelmed when he returned to Haverford Avenue to find his home remained intact despite neighboring properties being razed.
Mr Ashofteh stood outside his home, which was unaffected by the LA wildfires
At least 24 people have died and 23 others are missing in the Eaton and Palisades fire zones, while about 150,000 people remain under evacuation warnings.
More than 120,000 structures have been destroyed by the fires, with A-list celebrities including Mel Gibson and Paris Hilton losing their homes.
Despite this heartwarming moment, Farhad’s neighbor, Paul Blyumkin, was not so lucky. His house had burned to ashes along with many other houses on Haverford Avenue.
Standing in the rubble of his home, Paul said that “the real loss” for him was not the belongings in his home, but “connections and community.”
He told ITV News it ‘used to be a paradise’, now it is ‘really a paradise lost’.
It comes as the National Weather Service has issued a fourth “extremely hazardous situation” warning that takes effect at 4 a.m. Tuesday, warning that winds of up to 75 mph will continue until Wednesday afternoon.
Much of the bone-dry city is under Ventura’s new warning in much of the San Fernando Valley, while areas from San Diego to San Bernadino remain under conventional red flag warnings.
Farhad’s neighbor Paul Blyumkin stood in the rubble of his home as he told ITV News it was ‘truly a paradise lost’ – Mr Ashofteh’s home can be seen in the background
Pictured: Farhad Ashofteh stands near his home and looks out over the devastation in the Pacific Palisades
Pictured: A person walking amid the destruction left by the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles
Pictured: A car drives past homes and vehicles destroyed by the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades
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The fourth warning comes after the previous three wreaked havoc in the densely populated area this fire season, including the ongoing Palisades and Eaton fires that have become some of the deadliest in California history.
Much of the area around Malibu and the Pacific Palisades is also under the new warning, where at least 24 people have died and more than 12,000 buildings have been destroyed by multiple fires.
Meteorologists warn that unusual drought-like conditions have turned the city into a potential flashpoint as strong winds pick up.
The last significant rainfall in downtown Los Angeles occurred in May 2024, and only 0.16 inches of rain has fallen since Oct. 1 — compared to a historical average of 5.34 inches by then, the LA Times reports.
Climatologist Bill Patzert told the newspaper that “the past nine months have been among the driest in recorded history dating back to 1900. In my career, I have never seen the severe events in Santa Ana so overwhelming the normal winter rainy season.”
In each of the three previous cases where ‘particularly dangerous situation’ fire warnings were issued this season, the resulting fires wreaked havoc on the area.
The first in November, the Ventura County Mountain Fire, burned nearly 20,000 acres and destroyed more than 240 buildings.
The following month, the Franklin Fire hit Malibu, destroying 20 buildings, before this month’s Palisades and Eaton fires broke out and marked the most dangerous and destructive yet.
According to the LA Times, the “extremely hazardous condition” warning has traditionally only been used by the National Weather Service for particularly destructive tornadoes.