LOS ANGELES (Michigan News Source) – Former Michiganders who traded snowy winters for sunny California skies are finding themselves grappling with an entirely different natural threat – wildfires. As the latest fires engulf parts of Southern California, many ex-Michigan residents are sharing how they’re coping with the danger.

On high alert.

For Josh Sikkema, a Grand Rapids native now living in Marina del Rey, wildfire season is a constant game of vigilance and deciding when and if to evacuate. He told Fox 17 on Tuesday, “It was devastating this morning. To just see everything completely gone. I mean, that whole side of the mountain is usually really lush and green and beautiful.”

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With ash falling like snowflakes and evacuation orders looming, former Michiganders are finding new ways to navigate their lives amid this new disaster.

Evacuation bags and air masks in Los Angeles.

Hilton Wright, a music producer who moved from Detroit to Los Angeles, has learned to always keep an evacuation bag ready and went into dad mode immediately to pick up his son from school when he learned about the fires and heard about evacuation warnings. He told WXYZ Detroit, “I’ve never experienced anything traumatic like this…it’s still hard to compute as I’m talking about it.”

Wright lives in a Mid-City neighborhood, about a half-hour drive from Pacific Palisades which is now being called the most destructive fire in Los Angeles history.

Wright said that many of his son’s classmates are now homeless and the elementary school where they went was burned to the ground.

Like a time bomb.

Kris Kyer, formerly of West Michigan and now living in Hollywood, described to Fox 17 the narrow path to escape if he needs to evacuate. He said, “It’s like sitting on a time bomb, in a way, isn’t it? Because you don’t know if your area is going to get hit or not.” If he does have to evacuate, he said he’ll grab what he can and stay with a friend in Palm Springs.

For these ex-Michigan residents, sunny California now comes with a smoky price, but their determination to adapt remains strong, proving that even in the face of fire, they’re as tough as the Great Lakes State they left behind.

Michigan on standby.

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The Michigan Red Cross, Michigan DNR wildland firefighters, and Detroit Fire Department have told WXYZ Detroit that they are on standby, ready to assist if California officials request their help.