'It's just heartbreaking': Philadelphia natives in California react to raging wildfires

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Although California is thousands of miles away, there is still a local connection to the devastation in Los Angeles County, where wildfires are threatening homes, businesses and life.

"I've been through fires when I lived in LA before, but they always seemed to be in the canyons and away from people. These are with people," Dana Olita, of Center City, said.

Olita recently moved back to Philadelphia after living in Los Angeles for eight years.

On Tuesday night, she flew back to California for a two-week work trip.

"When we got to Vegas and started to descend, everything got very turbulent," she explained. "The pilot warned us, 'These winds, this is going to be very turbulent. Stay in your seats.'"

Roxborough man staying in constant contact with California family living in wildfire evacuation zone

As Olita felt the turbulence, she said she could see the Palisades wildfire, which has burned more than 15,000 acres, off in the distance.

"I'm thinking I know so many people who had to leave their houses running and most likely lost their houses," she told Action News. "It's just heartbreaking."

Olita is staying about an hour away from Los Angeles in Orange County, but she said there is still a lot of smoke and the air quality has been diminished.

In the San Fernando Valley, Johnpaul Golaski, who grew up in West Philadelphia, is preparing to possibly evacuate his home.

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The United Methodist Community Church burns in Pacific Palisades, Calif. on Jan. 8, 2025.

Jonathan Alcorn/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

He and his wife moved to Granada Hills, California, in September of 2021.

On Tuesday night, as he and his wife walked around their neighborhood, they could see smoke from the Palisades fire.

By Wednesday morning, they realized another fire, called the Hurst Fire, had broken out much closer to their home.

"We woke up, we could smell the smoke," Golaski said. "And that fire, we're probably about five or six miles from it."

Golaski said they haven't been evacuated yet, but evacuations are taking place in other parts of his town. He and his wife are preparing for the possibility they will have to leave.

"We have bags ready to go for us and the dogs," he said. "We could be out the door in minutes at this point."