Jim Cragg, commander of American Legion Post 283 in the Pacific Palisades has seen unpleasant things around the world over 30 years in Army special operations.
But he said the devastation left in his neighborhood is startling and will be hard to comprehend.
“I’ve seen what the world has to offer in its worst case,” Cragg told NBC Los Angeles on Thursday. “But my neighbors are not ready for this.”
“My family’s not ready for this, my 10-year-old daughter, asking me, ‘where am I going to go to school, dad?’” Cragg said. “At first, she thought, ‘Oh great, the school’s shut down — she has no idea. There’s nothing. Every place where she grew up here, is gone.”
His daughter’s school, other schools, other homes are destroyed.
Cragg’s home was saved: A few years ago, after another nearby fire, he bought sprinklers that wave back and forth, and this time placed those on the roof, sprayed his home with fire retardant, and left.
On Thursday, he returned to find his home and the homes of neighbors below him intact. The street above him and up the hill was less fortunate, he said.
“I was just up — and it’s devastating” Cragg said. “All my neighbors across the top, their houses are gone.”
He and another man, a Marine, returned to the area and used buckets to gather pool water and dump them on the roof of his house and his neighbors’ homes.
“Our house, I’m thrilled that our house is standing, we have something to come back to,” Cragg said. “But this is a devastated neighborhood.”
The American Legion Post 283, which has around 700 members, also survived. Cragg said he wants to use the space to help first responders, and also the community rebuild their neighborhood and lives.
