A meteorologist who warned local residents about the Los Angeles wildfires has revealed what he’s concerned about next.
The fires in Los Angeles continue to blaze, with over 40,000 acres scorched and 25 people dead at the time of writing, per the Independent.
Many have lost their homes, including some A-list celebrities, as officials continue to tackle the fire.
Edgar McGregor, a 24-year-old climate scientist, is being celebrated as a local hero after his early warnings helped save lives last week.
McGregor, known for his hyper-local weather updates on the Facebook page Altadena Weather and Climate, had urged residents to prepare for evacuation before the fires began.
On the evening of January 7, McGregor warned residents to remain alert and ready to evacuate as high-risk conditions approached.
His timely advice prompted many locals to act, and now McGregor is credited with helping to save hundreds of lives.
“I haven’t even been able to process that mentally,” McGregor told PEOPLE. “I didn’t run into a burning building and get third-degree burns trying to save someone’s life. So people are sending me all these comments, and I’m thinking to myself, I just did my job.”
McGregor says he identified the potential for disaster as early as December 30, noting that incoming Santa Ana winds would create conditions similar to those that led to catastrophic fires in Lahaina, Hawaii, and Paradise, California.
“I knew on Dec. 30th that when this windstorm hit, the conditions would be carbon copies of the conditions that were on the ground in Lahaina, Hawaii, and in Paradise, which both were completely leveled and lost around a hundred people each,” he said.
His warnings were specific and detailed: “I told people, if a wildfire breaks out, there’ll be a thousand homes burned down. This would be cataclysmic.”
He urged residents to prepare by gathering important documents, positioning vehicles for quick departure, and staying vigilant.
“I knew that that warning might’ve been a little bit excessive,” McGregor admitted, “but as it turns out, a thousand homes are not even a fraction of the loss, the ones that were lost.”
McGregor, an avid hiker and environmentalist, was well aware of the fire risk in the dry, fuel-laden Eaton Canyon. He has been vocal about the dangers for years, often using his hikes to clean up trash and post videos about his efforts.
“For years, I’ve been telling people this canyon, it’s been decades since we last had a wildfire, and the fuels are abundant,” he explained.
“I see dead trees that have accumulated everywhere. So I knew this was coming. I certainly didn’t think January was the month it would occur, but I hope that I did my job in warning everybody.”
Although the immediate danger has subsided, McGregor remains cautious. He continues to share updates with his growing audience about potential future threats.
“I think for the most part the immediate threat is over,” he said. “The next couple of windstorms are not going to be all that impressive, especially not compared to what we saw on Tuesday.
“But it still hasn’t rained. So in the next couple of weeks, if we get another major windstorm, it could be Hollywood that faces disaster next. Santa Barbara. Any of these foothill towns. And then when it rains, we have the mudslides to get through.
“What I’m saying is, this is not over yet,” he warned.
McGregor’s own neighborhood bore the brunt of the destruction. While his house remains standing, nearby homes – including hundreds in surrounding blocks – were completely destroyed.
“It could have been any community around here that got hit. It just happened to be mine,” he said. “I think what was most important, for people who lost their homes, was I was able to get them an additional 30 minutes or an hour or even 12 hours to prepare and to pack their cars.”
Despite the devastation, McGregor remains committed to keeping the public informed, a passion he has nurtured since childhood.
“In kindergarten, I would ask to go to the restroom during rainstorms just to stand out in the rain, and I’d come back in soaking wet. I’ve never had a life where I wasn’t interested in storms and what was going on outside with the weather,” he said.
