‘I packed in 15 minutes’: Mass. native living in California flees home as apocalyptic wildfires rage

BOSTON — Talia Gonzales and her one-year-old son, Dylan, landed in Boston on Thursday morning after fleeing her home in wildfire-ravaged Hollywood, California, with just the clothes on her back.

“I packed in 15 minutes,” Gonzales told Boston 25 News. “I have nothing for myself, just a suitcase full of stuff for him. I just drove to LAX and bought a plane ticket on the way.”

Gonzales had already considered leaving Los Angeles when her home was placed under cautionary evacuation. When she opened her apartment door, her home was filled with smoke and things changed quickly.

“It got so smoky so fast it was impossible to breathe,” Gonzales explained.

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Talia is an asthmatic and her son was still coughing hours after leaving smoke-ridden California.

“You can hear it (his cough). He inhaled some smoke before we left,” Gonzales said while patting his back to clear his lungs.

Gonzales’ number one goal was getting her son somewhere safe, and she is still in the throes of chaos, arriving in a bitter cold Boston with just a thin sweater on. Her family is helping gather supplies for her and Dylan.

“Gosh, my family has really rallied. This one’s going to let me borrow a winter coat. Someone’s going to lend me some baby stuff,” Gonzales said. “I feel really fortunate that when things like this happen, I can come home.”

Gonzales’ family lives in Stoughton and that’s where she will be staying until the smoke clears her home that she hopes is still standing.

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