Neurosurgeon Chester Griffith, 62, became a hero during the Los Angeles wildfires that threatened Malibu. After completing a brain surgery, he raced to protect his beachfront home. Alongside his son and neighbor Clayton Colbert, they fought fiercely against the flames for five days. Using hoses and shovels, they saved six homes from destruction as hurricane-force winds intensified the danger. Despite the harrowing conditions, Griffith remained focused, relying on his training as a surgeon. Their community’s solidarity and preparedness played a crucial role in their survival, highlighting the importance of knowing one’s neighbors amidst tragedy.
A neurosurgeon has been hailed as a hero for stopping the flames that ravaged the Los Angeles wildfires and ravaged the entire city of Malibu for five nights.
Chester Griffith, 62, had just finished brain surgery when he dashed into his car and drove across Los Angeles to save his beach house from catching fire.
In scenes reminiscent of Hollywood blockbusters, he explains his plan of action to his son and others on the street, then joins forces with two other neighbors to fight tooth and nail to protect their home. .
When hell descends on the sun-drenched cul-de-sac, reducing surrounding houses to ashes and rubble, the trio springs into action.
Over the next five harrowing days and nights, they managed to save six homes from the raging blaze, even as hurricane-force winds threw embers the size of soccer balls into the air.
“At one point I started packing up the car and decided that no matter what, I wasn’t going to burn down the house,” Clayton Colbert, a neighbor of Ms Griffiths, told the Telegraph.
The three men, armed with fire hoses, shovels and N95 masks, contained the blaze in what many would call a miraculous feat of determination.
The stakes couldn’t have been higher.
Chester Griffith, 62, had just finished brain surgery when he dashed into his car and drove around Los Angeles to save his beachfront home from a fire.
Griffiths and his son Chester said their father was “a champion and has a warrior’s spirit.”
The Palisades Fire is seen burning down homes along Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu on Sunday, January 12, 2025.
This aerial view taken from a helicopter shows burned-out homes from above during the Palisades Fire in Malibu, Los Angeles County, California, on January 9.
By midweek, the fire, driven by wind gusts of 130 miles per hour, began burning homes on Topanga Beach Drive, and within minutes two nearby homes were ablaze.
One erupted when a nearby eucalyptus tree exploded. Another was lit “like a Roman candle.”
“Everything was heading towards us. The fire was coming towards us, the smoke, the embers in the air, the wind was unbelievable,” Colbert added, calling the scene “almost apocalyptic.” I called it.
As surrounding houses collapsed, men climbed onto roofs to extinguish the flames with hoses and used shovels to cover hot spots with dirt and sand.
The wind was so strong that they were blown away many times, but they kept going.
In horrifying footage of the men battling the blaze, the surgeon can be heard taking a deep breath as he looks out the window at the orange flames roaring meters away.
A nearby fire chief could be heard pleading for water to be dropped, but the response was catastrophic.
Griffith was told that even the plane was fine and everyone was stranded.
There was no time to waste, and the surgeons called back into the midst of the smoke and had to fight the flames themselves.
Gasoline and electric vehicles undergoing repairs drive past fire-ravaged waterfront property during the Palisades Fire on January 12, 2025, along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California.
A fire broke out near Mandeville Canyon on January 11th.
A fire helicopter releases water as the Palisades Fire grows in the Mandeville Canyon area and near Encino, California, January 11, 2025.
Aerial footage reveals aftermath of devastating Los Angeles wildfires
A determined father of two, he and his 24-year-old son Chester and neighbor Colbert fought tirelessly to save their home.
With the help of hoses, water cannons and the assistance of firefighters on the ground, they managed to stop the blaze from spreading into the neighborhood.
The medical professional claims he did not feel scared during the ordeal because he is a surgeon and is used to having to rely on training and preparedness when faced with difficult situations.
And the group’s exit strategy was well-planned, with the trio having paddleboards ready to take to the water if needed.
Griffith’s son Chester said his father was the driving force behind their survival.
“To be honest, all this was done under the leadership of my father. He has been preparing for this for a long time. He is a champion. He has the spirit of a warrior,” he said. Said.
But for his neighbor Colbert, battling the flames took a toll, both physically and mentally.
The 62-year-old man, unable to sleep, admitted in a newspaper interview that he had lost track of time and only realized that his scheduled kidney surgery was scheduled for that day.
Colbert spent the first 10 hours alone as the fire approached from the east, consuming everything in its path, including the fish shack at the nearby Reel Inn, a local favorite.
However, he soon received an evacuation alert, which he bravely ignored, choosing instead to fight the fire to protect his home.
Two people walk down a street in a fire-ravaged community in the aftermath of the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on Monday, January 13, 2025.
Firefighters watch as water is released on the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon, Saturday, January 11, 2025.
Firefighters and helicopters drop water on a blaze in Mandeville Canyon during the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles, California, USA, on January 10, 2025.
But Colbert’s efforts were not without risks.
At one point, his hair caught fire, but he joked about the result, claiming it looked as if he had hair, even though it was all ash.
Mr Griffiths bought the property in 2005 and moved his family in four years later.
They were trying to make it fireproof at the time by using cement tiles instead of wood and installing sprinklers in the Rude ads.
The neurosurgeon, who is also the LA Kings hockey team doctor, said if there’s anything to take away from this devastating tragedy, it’s for people to know their neighbors.
He argues that the trio was able to pull off this massive operation because they are part of a close-knit community.
“This whole thing is an incredible tragedy, beyond apocalyptic scale. It’s very sad,” he told the newspaper.
While he was grateful that his efforts and those of his neighbors kept his family and their home safe, he stressed that the outcome could have been much different.
“I made a video the first night we came to the house to document our memories in each room,” he said.
