A disabled Aussie man was killed when his cottage was razed in the LA fires, as his mum bravely tried to stop the blaze with a garden hose.
Rory Callum Sykes, 32, died when his cottage on his mother’s estate in Malibu burned down on Thursday.
Mr Sykes was born blind with cerebral palsy. He had difficulty walking and worked as a motivational speaker.
‘I’m totally heartbroken,’ said his mum Shelley Sykes on social media.
She described Mr Sykes, a British-born Australian citizen, as a ‘wonderful son’ who ‘overcame so much with surgeries and therapies to regain his sight and to be able to learn to walk’.
‘Despite the pain, he still enthused about traveling the world with me from Africa to Antarctica.’
Mr Sykes had his own cottage on his mother’s 17-acre Malibu estate and the fire consumed the cottage on Thursday, she said.
‘I couldn’t put out the cinders on his roof with a hose because the water was switched off by Las Virgenes Municipal Water.
Rory Callum Sykes, 32, died when his cottage on his mother’s estate in Malibu burned down on Thursday
‘Even the 50 brave fire fighters had no water all day!’
Ms Sykes tried to get help as the fire approached but her calls didn’t connect to emergency services.
She was forced to leave Mr Sykes, driving 400 metres through the smoke to the local fire station.
‘He said mum leave me, and no mum can leave their kid,’ she told 10 News.
‘And I’ve got a broken arm – I couldn’t lift him, I couldn’t move him.’
At the fire station she was told crews had no water – and when fire fighters brought her home, her son’s cottage was burnt to the ground.
Mr Sykes had appeared on Aussie television as a child, aiming to inspire others with his story.
At least 11 people have been killed as catastrophic fires rage through Los Angeles into a fifth day and police carry out a series of looting and arson arrests.
‘I couldn’t put out the cinders on his roof with a hose because the water was switched off by Las Virgenes Municipal Water,’ said Mr Sykes’ mother, Shelley Sykes
As of Saturday, over 10,000 structures have been burned down, with a total of 29,053 acres of land scorched in one of Los Angeles’ most horrific disasters to date.
Among the destroyed homes was that of Oscar-winning Aussie director and actor Mel Gibson, who reflected on how it felt to learn that he had lost almost everything when his $23.5million mansion burnt to the ground.
Gibson, 69, discovered his house had been consumed by fire while recording an episode on Joe Rogan’s podcast on Friday.
After learning that his house was about to be destroyed the actor said he rushed back to the Malibu mansion with his son to grab whatever they could before it all turned to ash.
He said the pair only escaped with their passports and a few other important documents while his artworks and books, some of which were from the 16th century and priceless, were destroyed in the flames.
Gibson said he knew his house was a goner after he was warned it was in the direct path of the fire but that it was still shocking to see the wreckage left behind.
‘By and large everything is gone. When I went up there there yesterday it looked like Dresden after Bomber Harris got through with it. There’s nothing left,’ he said.
There are growing questions, including from Gibson himself, about why LA and California officials failed to prepare for the disaster when they had ample warning of encroaching wind.
