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HIT WAS JUST TOTAL PANIC'
YOU South Africa|30 January 2025
Former Egoli actress Christel Smith Durkin managed to flee the flames that have flattened vast swathes of Los Angeles but she and her family are among thousands who've been left homeless
- ROSS MICHAELS and MEGHAN LAWRENCE
HIT WAS JUST TOTAL PANIC'

WHEN she smelled smoke at 10.45 that Tuesday morning her first thought was, “Is someone having a braai?” Then she looked out of her window and saw the flames racing down the hillside – and for Christel Smith Durkin, it was a case of déjà vu.

The former Egoli actress and her American husband, financier Eddie Durkin, had lived in their stunning property in the Los Angeles neighbourhood of Pacific Palisades for years with their 13-year-old son, Edward, and have had to evacuate at least four times in the past when wildfires broke out.

But this time it was different. The wind was raging and the flames were moving at breakneck pace.

“The speed was just incredible,” Christel, who played Tarien in Egoli, tells YOU. “When I looked out the window again the fire was already halfway down the mountain. I went to get the suitcases out of the garage and grabbed whatever I could.”

Eddie was at work and Edward at school, with Christel (54) at home alone with her German shepherd, Duke, and cat, Tiggy. By 1pm the flames were licking the boundaries of her property and a neighbour had grabbed a hose and was dousing her house. “I was totally overwhelmed with panic. I packed one shoe and one sock. It was just total panic.”

With the fire roaring ever closer, she spent five minutes spraying the walls of the house with the hosepipe her neighbour had abandoned, then got Duke and Tiggy in the car and set off into a hellish scene.

“There were flames on both sides of the road and if I’d left 15 minutes later I wouldn’t have been able to move. There was an enormous amount of houses on fire – the flames spread from one to another unbelievably quickly. The smoke was intense, clouds of brown, black and red, and it was so hard to breathe.

“For an hour I was stuck driving on a road that usually takes five minutes to drive down. But at least I got out and at least I had my pets.”

This story is from the 30 January 2025 edition of YOU South Africa.

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This story is from the 30 January 2025 edition of YOU South Africa.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

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