10 dead and 180,000 told to evacuate amid scenes of unprecedented destruction

Jim Cragg, commander of American Legion Post 283 in Pacific Palisades, has seen unpleasant things around the world during 30 years in Army special operations.

But he said the devastation left in his neighborhood is shocking and will be difficult to comprehend.

“I’ve seen what the world has to offer in the worst-case scenario,” Cragg told NBC Los Angeles on Thursday. “But my neighbors are not prepared for this.”

“My family is not prepared for this, my 10-year-old daughter asks me, ‘Where am I going to school, Dad?’” Cragg said. “At first he thought, ‘Oh, great, the school has closed; He has no idea.’ There is nothing. “All the places she grew up here are gone.”

Her daughter’s school, other schools and other homes are destroyed.

Cragg’s house was saved: A few years ago, after another nearby fire, he bought sprinklers that move back and forth, and this time he put them on the roof, sprayed his house with fire retardant, and left.

On Thursday, he returned to find his house and the neighbors’ houses below him intact. The street above him and up the hill was less fortunate, he said.

“I was awake and it’s devastating,” Cragg said. “All my neighbors upstairs, their houses are gone.”

He and another man, a Marine, returned to the area and used buckets to collect water from the pool and dump it on the roof of his and his neighbors’ homes.

“Our house, I’m delighted our house is standing, we have something to come back to,” Cragg said. “But this is a devastated neighborhood.”

Also surviving was the American Legion Post 283, which has about 700 members. Cragg said he wants to use the space to help first responders and also the community rebuild their neighborhood and their lives.



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