“They would have been betting that there would be a fire that wipes out the whole neighborhood, which of course, no one has ever seen before,” he said.

The historic wildfires blazing across Los Angeles County this week have wiped out more than 2,000 structures, killed at least five people and left countless residents reeling in heartbreak.

A fire ecologist has told the BBC that "entire neighbourhoods... have been wiped out".

Beloved longtime businesses and emblems of the local canon — also wiped out.

It was the last straw for Carter politically - although he won the Democratic nomination, he was wiped out in the election by Ronald Reagan that year.