An Australian man died in Los Angeles fires after his water ran out, his mother says

The mother of an Australian man living in Malibu has revealed he died in the fires devastating Los Angeles.

Shelley Sykes wrote in a post on X that her 32-year-old son, Australian citizen Rory Sykes, lived with her on a 6.8-hectare property in Malibu and died on Thursday after she lost water to the hoses she was using for extinguishing. embers on the roof of the house.

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“It is with great sadness that I must announce the death of my beautiful son @Rorysykes who died in the Malibu fires yesterday,” Ms. Sykes wrote in the post.

“I am completely broken. “A British born Australian living in America, a wonderful son, a gift born on my birthday and his grandmother’s on July 29, 1992, Rory Callum Sykes.”

Mrs Sykes said her son was born blind, suffered from cerebral palsy and lived in a self-contained cottage on the property.

She told 10 News that calls she made to the US emergency number 911 went unanswered.

“He said, ‘Mommy, leave me,’ and no mother could leave her child. My arm was broken, I couldn’t pick him up, I couldn’t move him,” Sykes told 10 News.

She said she then drove 400 meters to the nearest fire station to raise the alarm, but was told there was no water supply at local hydrants.

“When the fire department brought me back, his cabin had been burned to the ground,” Sykes told 10 News.

She also said her son’s death has not yet been included in the official death toll from the Los Angeles fires because tracking dogs would have to locate his remains among the rubble of his home.

The official death toll is 11, according to Los Angeles authorities, including at least two people who died in the Palisades fire and at least five in the Eaton fire.