Ottawa rapper Khalid Omar, who performs under the name TwoTiime, was forced to evacuate his Calabasas condo as wildfires swept through the Los Angeles area this week, leaving the studio where he records in ruins.
The 23-year-old says he woke up Thursday to a nightmarish scene as the Kenneth Fire began to spread across the West Hills, fanned by strong Santa Ana winds.
“It seemed like hell on earth, I’m not going to lie,” he said in a phone call Friday.
“There was smoke in the air. The sky was red and brown. I thought it was doomsday.”
After an evacuation warning was issued, Omar says he fled his home and the thick smoke that covered the area. He currently lives in an Airbnb in downtown Los Angeles.
The rapper says the studio where he records, a small space in the Palisades owned by his sound engineer Jeffrey Wright, was leveled Wednesday when flames swept through the area.
“I’m really sad about it,” says Omar, who moved to Los Angeles last year after signing with ODA Records, owned by Chicago rapper Polo G.
“That’s the main studio I record in. It was like a safe haven for me.”
He said the space was an invaluable resource, especially since studio time in Los Angeles is expensive.
“Things are pretty stressful right now with the city burning. I think this affects everyone.”
Omar is one of several Canadian artists working in Los Angeles who have been displaced by the wildfires that began Tuesday.
Authorities say the rapidly advancing inferno has killed at least 10 people, destroyed more than 10,000 structures and forced thousands to evacuate.
By Friday afternoon, the fierce winds that fanned the fire had calmed, but the two largest fires, the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire, were still largely uncontained.
New Brunswick-born television host Mary Kitchen says her family fled their home in Westwood on Wednesday because the air quality in their neighborhood was unbearable.
“There was so much pollution,” he recalled Friday. “We’re just east of the Palisades and the clouds of smoke hanging over the area really looked like a bomb had gone off. The sky was black and red.”
She described a horrifying sight of “carcasses of cars, parts and wood” as she left the area with her husband and three children.
Kitchen said Palisades is “a special community” that is very close-knit.
“That community is completely gone now. The coffee shops, the churches, the schools are gone. It’s very sad.”
His family has stayed in a hotel in Newport hoping the situation will improve. She wasn’t sure what the status of her house was.
He said he had to suspend several work commitments.
All awards shows are likely to be affected and mostly cancelled. “I don’t think any of that is going to happen over the next few months,” said Kitchen, who moved to Los Angeles in 2007.
Kitchen said she is disappointed to see social media users saying they have no sympathy for those who lost their homes to the wildfires because they live in affluent areas.
It’s not just rich celebrities who are affected. “I think the average worker’s life will completely change because of all the devastation,” he said.
Montreal-born actor Elias Toufexis, known for his role in “Star Trek: Discovery,” was forced to evacuate his Calabasas home with his family on Wednesday when fires broke out at the top of their street.
He emphasized that many actors in Los Angeles are “just working people” who live paycheck to paycheck.
Toufexis, who also does voice-over work in video games, said things have been hectic since he moved to the city in 2019.
A year after I moved here, COVID started. And then there was a strike in Hollywood. And then there was a video game strike. And now there is a giant fire.”
Other Canadian entertainers affected by the fires include Eugene Levy and Cobie Smulders, whose homes were reportedly lost, and soap opera star Cameron Mathison, who posted images of the burned remains of his home.
Canadian-born music producer Greg Wells, who recently worked on the “Wicked” soundtrack, shared a photo on Instagram Thursday of the charred lot where his house used to be.
Kitchen said he has “absolutely” been considering returning to Canada.
“I think a lot of people will leave. I’m just not sure what will happen to our infrastructure. It will take many years to rebuild it here.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 11, 2025.
