‘Vaporised’: Aussie visits destroyed LA home

An Australian man was at work when his neighbour sent harrowing footage of the LA fires moment away from engulfing his home.

An Australian man who sent video footage of his now destroyed home to his sister, was left speechless to find it completely “vaporised” in the Palisades Fire that has devastated Los Angeles.

Glen Whelan, 39, from Melbourne, relocated to California 10 years ago where he has been working as a film editor.

In the footage, he’s seen standing in what was once his home, now reduced to ashes and rubble.

“Everything’s vaporised,” he tells his sister Cathy Cruise who is based in Australia. “I thought there’d be something salvageable but yeah, it’s all gone.”

“It’s just really disappointing, I mean all those hard-drives with all the videos [are] gone.

“I mean that whole trip I did – gone. It must have been so bloody hot. Stuff has just vaporised.”

He showed what was left of his motorcycle – only steel belts of the tyres.

Glen Whelan, 39, from Melbourne, shared a video of what is left of his mobile house located opposite Will Rogers Beach in Santa Monica/ the Pacific Palisades. Picture: Cathy Cruise

Glenn recently rode his bike from California to Alaska, documenting his entire trip which he was going to turn it into a short film – however, all the footage has been destroyed.

Ms Cruise shared the video of Glen on a GoFundMe she created to help him and his partner Denise get back on their feet, explaining their insurance won’t cover it all.

“They were only insured for half – Glen said that’s what they do there, they cap it, so it wasn’t them being negligent,” Ms Cruise said.

Glen, a film editor, purchased the ‘tiny, fibro’ house four years ago. Picture: Cathy Cruise

“A lot of their friends had their fire cover removed three months ago. Glen’s fire cover wasn’t removed but it was capped – however he doesn’t think he will get anything back.”

Ms Cruise said her brother bought the “small, mobile house” four years ago.

“It was right on the beach – it was more of a fibro house surrounded by multimillion-dollar mansions – it was a tiny little, house across from Will Rogers Beach and they were so happy there.”

He said everything has vaporised and as he also shared what was left of his motorbike. Picture: Cathy Cruise

The house was reduced to ash and rubble. Picture: Cathy Cruise

Glen was at work in his Burbank office when his neighbour started to send screenshots from their CCTV footage showing the blaze nearing.

“My phone dinging all day and when I finally looked at all the messages in our family chat, I was like ‘s**t’ – it was Glen getting more and more frantic sending us pictures of security shots saying ‘we are screwed’ and ‘there’s no going back’.

He sent text messages in his family WhatsApp chat on what was happening. Picture: Cathy Cruise

He sent them screenshots of his home taken on his neighbour’s CCTV. Picture: Cathy Cruise

“I could feel the intensity and emotion coming through from his messages but there was nothing I could do – I just felt numb.”

He also sent his family a clip from his work building that day showing just how windy it was.

“You couldn’t hear a word he was saying, his hair was going sideways.”

Glen’s family felt helpless. Picture: Cathy Cruise

His partner Denise had five minutes to evacuate, grabbing just a couple of items of clothing and their cat. Picture: Cathy Cruise

Denise, who was working from home, had just five minutes to evacuate and grabbed their cat and just a few items of clothing including three T-shirts, socks and underwear for Glen.

Ms Cruise said America is not like Australia “where our government will step in and give emergency funding. They are on their own”.

In a text to the family, Glen said the house insurance is limited to $US140,000.

He shared footage of what was left of the neighbourhood. Picture: Cathy Cruise

Glen said his insurance was capped at $US140,000 – and he doesn’t believe he will get anything back, adding ‘we are royally screwed’. Picture: Cathy Cruise

“Insurance companies are giving up on California, or gouging $10,00 to $15,000 a year. A lot of people in the park were uninsured because it’s unaffordable.”

Landlords in LA are also reportedly illegally price gouging their properties for profit in the wake of the natural disaster.

So far, thousands of people have been displaced from their homes, and 10,000 hectares of land have been destroyed.

Ms Cruise said her brother and partner were staying at a hotel since the fires engulfed their home last Tuesday but as of yesterday managed to find a rental.

So far, just over $7,000 has been raised on GoFundMe which Ms Cruise will send to her brother to help them buy basic necessities.

“My heart is breaking for him, we can’t replace all the memories he has lost but we can give him a hand up and use any funds raised to pay for emergency accommodation and rebuilding their lives.”