Evacuated from a hospital

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George Scott, 67, a former mayor of Avalon and a 40-year resident of Catalina, was waiting this morning at Catalina Landing in downtown Long Beach with his daughter Autumn Scott, 40, for a ride back to the island. He had been evacuated from the hospital in Avalon, where he was being treated for a diabetes-related heart condition.

He was intially evacuated to safer ground at City Hall; then his daughter moved him to a friend’s house on the other side of the island. Still, she didn’t feel safe, so they took a ferry to Long Beach and spent Thursday night in a hotel, along with their black-and-white cat, Santa Claus.

‘The flames were so bad, we got so scared,’ George Scott said.

Autumn Scott said she could see the flames from her friend’s house.

‘You could see the flames on the hillside,’ she said. ‘It just didn’t feel safe. It was really hard to get information in the midst of it. I couldn’t get any information except for what I could see with my own two eyes.’

She was eager to get her father back to the hospital quickly.

‘He’s also in a wheelchair and is very feeble. I basically didn’t want him to be hurt. I am so happy it didn’t burn our house down.’

-Susannah Rosenblatt