McGregor, who regularly posts hyper-local weather updates on his Facebook page, Altadena Weather and Climate, foresaw the disaster a week before the fires began. “I knew on December 30th that when this windstorm hit, conditions would mirror those in Lahaina, Hawaii, and Paradise, which suffered catastrophic losses,” McGregor told PEOPLE magazine. Recognizing the impending threat posed by the Santa Ana winds and dry conditions, he urged residents to prepare for immediate evacuation.

“I told people, ‘If a wildfire breaks out, there’ll be a thousand homes burned down. This would be cataclysmic,’” he recalled. His advice to keep essential documents ready and vehicles facing outward proved invaluable as the fires engulfed large swathes of the region.