A brain surgeon has been hailed a hero after he saved his entire Malibu street from being ravaged by LA’s wildfires by holding the raging flames at bay for five nights.
Chester Griffiths, 62, had just finished performing brain surgery when he dashed to his car and drove across Los Angeles to save his beachfront home from being engulfed in fire.
In a scene reminiscent of a Hollywood blockbuster, he joined forces with two other neighbors to fight tooth and nail to save their homes after having briefed his son and others on his street on his plan of action.
When the inferno swept through their sunny cul-de-sac, reducing surrounding homes to ash and rubble, the trio leapt into action.
Over the next five harrowing days and nights, they managed to defend six houses from the raging blaze, even as hurricane-force winds hurled flaming embers the size of footballs through the air.
‘At one point I started packing up my car and then I just decided I’m just not gonna let my house burn down, no matter what’, Clayton Colbert, Griffiths’s neighbor, told The Telegraph.
Armed with fire hoses, spades, and N95 masks, the three men held the fire at bay in what many would call a miraculous feat of determination.
The stakes couldn’t have been higher.
Chester Griffiths, 62, had just finished performing brain surgery when he dashed to his car and drove across Los Angeles to save his beachfront home from being engulfed in fire
Griffiths and his son, also named Chester, who said his dad is a ‘champion, he has a warrior mentality’
He joined forces with two other neighbors to fight tooth and nail to save their homes after having briefed his son and others on his street on his plan of action
Homes along Pacific Coast Highway are seen burn out from the Palisades Fire, Sunday, January 12, 2025, in Malibu
In this aerial view taken from a helicopter, burned homes are seen from above during the Palisades fire in Malibu, Los Angeles county, California on January 9
By midweek, the fire, driven by 80mph gusts, began destroying houses on Topanga Beach Drive and within minutes, two neighboring homes went up in flames.
One erupted as eucalyptus trees exploded nearby; another ignited ‘like a Roman candle’.
‘Everything was coming this way. The fire was coming this way, the smoke, the embers in the air, the wind was unbelievable’, Colbert added, calling the scenes ‘almost apocalyptic’.
As homes crumbled around them, the men scrambled onto roofs, using hoses to douse flames and shovels to smother hotspots with dirt and sand.
The winds were so strong they were blown over multiple times, but still, they pressed on.
In terrifying footage of the men’s battle against the fires, the surgeon can be heard taking deep breaths while looking through the window at the orange flames roaring just metres away.
He can be heard pleading the captain of a nearby fire crew for a water drop but the response was devastating.
Griffiths was told they were all grounded, with even planes out of the question.
With no time to waste the surgeon returned to the thick of the smoke and made the call that they would have to fight the flames themselves.
The determined father-of-two, along with his son Chester, 24, and neighbor Colbert, fought tirelessly to save their homes
Gas and electric vehicles making repairs pass fire-ravaged beachfront properties from the Palisades Fire along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California, on January 12, 2025
Flames near the Mandeville Canyon on January 11
A fire fighting helicopter drops water as the Palisades fire grows near the Mandeville Canyon neighborhood and Encino, California, on January 11, 2025
Aerial footage reveals aftermath of wildfire devastation in Los Angeles
The determined father-of-two, along with his son Chester, 24, and neighbor Colbert, fought tirelessly to save their homes.
With hoses, a water cannon, and even assistance from firefighters on the ground, they managed to stop the flames from advancing into their neighborhood.
The medical professional insists he did not feel fear during the ordeal, due to the fact he is a surgeon and is used to being in situations where he is forced to rely on training and preparedness when thrown into the thick of a difficult situation.
And even the group’s exit strategy was meticulously planned, with the trio setting aside paddle boards that were ready to take out straight into the ocean if need be.
Griffith’s son Chester described his father as the driving force behind their survival.
‘This has all been, honestly, under the leadership of my dad. He’s been preparing for this for so long. He’s a champion; he has a warrior mentality,’ he said.
But for neighbor Colbert, the battle against the flames came at a cost – both physically and emotionally.
Speaking to the newspaper, the sleepless 62-year-old admitted he had lost track of time, only realizing that his scheduled kidney surgery was that very day.
Colbert spent the first 10 hours alone as the fire approached from the east, devouring everything in its path, including the nearby Reel Inn fish shack, a beloved local spot.
But he soon received an evacuation phone alert, which he bravely ignored as chose to fight the fire to save his home.
Two people walk along a road in a fire-ravaged community in the aftermath of the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Monday, January 13, 2025
Firefighters watch as water is dropped on the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon Saturday, January 11, 2025
A view of wild fire as firefighting planes and helicopters drop water over flames in Mandeville Canyon during ‘Palisades Fire’ in Los Angeles, California, United States on January 10, 2025
Colbert’s efforts weren’t without danger, however.
At one point, his hair caught fire, though he joked about the outcome claiming he appeared as if he had a full head of hair, even though it was all just ash.
Griffiths purchased his property in 2005 and the family moved into it four years later.
They had attempted to fireproof it at the time by building sprinklers in the rood ad using cement tiles instead of wooden ones.
The brain surgeon, who is also a doctor to the LA Kings hockey team, said if one thing can come from the devastating tragedy, he wants people to get to know their neighbors.
He claims the trio were only able to pull off the immense operation because they are part of a tight-knit community.
‘This whole thing is a f****** tragedy, beyond apocalyptic proportions. I’m so sad,’ he told the newspaper.
Although grateful that the families and their homes were kept safe due to his and the neighbors efforts, he stressed that the result could have been much different.
‘I made a video on the first night of our home, recording memories in each room,’ he said.
