A storm chaser from Minnesota who was in a burning house in Los Angeles during the disaster Wildfires in California this week he described how his faith was “instinct” as he prayed on the cinder-filled street as he escaped.
Tanner Charles Schaaf, who flew to Los Angeles over the holidays to spend time with friends, said God told him to extend his trip by a few days.
“I prayed about it (and) I just felt like I had to extend it,” Schaaf told Fox News Digital. “The fires broke out the next day.”
Tanner Charles Schaaf shared photos of the house he fled from with his friend during the California wildfires. (Tanner Charles Schaaf)
Even though Schaaf has been hunting natural disasters for more than sixteen years, he says he has never seen a wildfire as big as the disaster. Palisades Fire.
He met a friend who lived in the LA area and helped him gather belongings, knowing there would be major losses.
“We went (to his house) and started hosing down all the plants because I noticed a lot of the vegetation would catch fire first, before the houses would,” Schaaf said. “We were hosing down trees and the house itself, really doing our best to make it as fireproof as possible.”
He and his friend positioned themselves at the front and back of the house, each armed with hoses. They met inside to check on each other and watched as a hot ember engulfed a nearby tree and fence in flames.
“Within 10 to 20 seconds, the entire fence was on fire,” Schaaf said. “I look outside (say), ‘It’s time to go. We can’t do this.’ It was terrible.”
Tanner Charles Schaaf shared photos of the house he fled from with his friend during the California wildfires. (Tanner Charles Schaaf)
A video Schaaf posted of the couple’s escape from the house was viewed millions of times on the social media platform X.
“We tried, bro. I’m sorry,” Schaaf shouts to his friend in the video. “We did our best.”
He described hearing random explosions and compared it to a war zone.
Tanner Charles Schaaf shared photos of the house he fled from with his friend during the California wildfires. (Tanner Charles Schaaf)
“You see embers coming down, the wind is blowing, you have smoke, you hear these explosions,” Schaaf said. “If the embers would set things on fire very close to us, you could hear the noise it would make – it’s just really loud… It felt like I was in a giant oven.”
In another viral video, the two walk briskly onto the burning street, and Schaaf can be heard praying nearby.
“God, protect this house in the name of Jesus,” he said, raising his hands toward the houses. “Protect this neighborhood, God, in Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”
PALISADES RESIDENT DESCRIBES LOSING HOME TO FIRE
His friend distantly replies, “This tree is going to kill us.”
Tanner Charles Schaaf shared photos of the house he fled from with his friend during the California wildfires. (Tanner Charles Schaaf)
It’s important to integrate faith into everything he does, especially in a situation where he knows lives will be changed forever, Schaaf says.
He recalled talking to an older man who was hanging out with young cousins and refused to evacuate.
“He says, ‘Oh, it’s going to be fine. My house is fireproof,'” Schaaf said. “There’s just things like that in the back of my mind where I’m like, ‘Did they really make it?’ Taking the time to pray is very important. I believe prayer is so powerful that it can change so many things in the world.
A few years ago, Schaaf said, he asked God to show him His strength as he chased storms. He said God responded by telling him to start praying when he found himself in dangerous situations.
Tanner Charles Schaaf shared photos of the house he fled from with his friend during the California wildfires. It burned to the ground during the fire, Schaaf said. (Tanner Charles Schaaf)
“(I started saying), ‘I pray that this tornado disappears now in the name of Jesus,’ and then I would see tornadoes disappear before my eyes,” Schaaf said. “You can look online and you can totally see what was going on around me right when I was praying. So to stop and pray (during the California wildfires) was the instinct.”
While it’s exciting to have viral videos, he said his focus was on helping his friend get out of the fire.
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“I love documenting the real things that people experience and what that looks like,” he said. “It just happened that millions of people got to see it. Hopefully people will watch it and realize the severity of the situation and what’s really going on. humbling. I’m just trying to do my best here, and trying to love people well.”
