Armed homeowners patrolling burnt-out LA neighborhoods in defiance of local officials

Armed residents of wildfire ravaged communities in Los Angeles county have reportedly taken to guarding their homes in defiance of government-mandated evacuation orders.

A contingent of homeowners in Altadena and the Pacific Palisades have been on a desperate neighborhood watch amid the ongoing blazes that have wrought destruction and resulted in looters attempting to take advantage of tragic circumstances, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Some of those residents patrolling their beleaguered streets are even toting firearms for fear of their safety and lawless looters.

“I have no patience for any of them,” Ross Gerber, president of a wealth-management firm, reportedly said of the LAPD, which has set up a stringent border around fire-torn neighborhoods.

“After you survive this, you don’t care what they say,” said Gerber.

The 53-year-old carried a firearm twice when checking on his house on Thursday and Friday last week, according to the report.

Gerber and his family evacuated from their Pacific Palisades home and are staying at the Ritz Carlton in Marina del Rey — but the homeowner has been proactive about protecting his property.

Last week, Gerber, who was armed at the time, traversed his block with friends, questioning anyone they didn’t recognize.

“The whole neighborhood banded together,” he told the WSJ.

Along with several neighbors, Gerber organized for a private water truck and driver to sit by their empty homes in case another fire breaks out.

The water truck was initially blocked from entering the ritzy area — but a call to California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office slicked the wheels.

“So we called somebody who was very important who called Gavin Newsom and told him to let our water truck into our neighborhood,” Gerber told the Journal.

Gerber’s house survived the fires and other locals are similarly keen on remaining in their standing homes to protect their belongings.

“We do feel like we’re in the Wild West,” Aaron Lubeley, an unarmed, Dodger-cap wearing lawyer told The Wall Street Journal.

Lubeley, 53, returned to his Altadena home after he, his wife, and 26-year-old son were initially evacuated — retrieving passports, purses, and personal items.

When he stepped foot on his property all that remained of his $1.8 million home was the chimney which Lubeley had built “by hand.”

Lubeley’s neighbors’ homes, however, remained intact.

Lubeley said his wife is begging him to end his vigil but he remains in the same set of clothes every night, sleeping in his SUV. 

“I could be having a Manhattan and a steak but I couldn’t live with myself if I did that and my neighbor’s house goes up,” he told the Journal.

LAPD and LAFD officials say they are keeping residents from returning to burned neighborhoods because of hazardous conditions like downed power-lines and fire-weakened trees.

In some areas in the Pacific Palisades, police have escorted residents to their properties, the Wall Street Journal reports.

“People are saying: ‘I just want to go to my house and see what’s left,’” Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Monday at a news conference, “We know that, but we have people literally looking for the remains of your neighbors.”