
British-born Australian man, who appeared on TV show Kiddy Kapers as a child, has died in the California wildfires, his mother has said.
Rory Sykes, 32, was living in a cottage on his family's 17-acre estate in Malibu when the roof caught alight on 8 January.
An Australian mother has spoken of how she tried in vain to save her blind son from the Los Angeles area wildfires as water supplies ran dry.
Shelley Sykes, a TV production entrepreneur, told Australian media of a desperate battle to save her 32-year-old son Rory Sykes, who had cerebral palsy.
Wind-fanned wildfires have killed at least 24 people in Los Angeles, consuming communities and destroying homes.
Sykes said on social media that she and her son lived on a 17-acre estate in Malibu, a beachside city in Los Angeles County.
Rory Sykes, who appeared in British TV show "Kiddy Kapers" in the 1990s, had his own self-contained cottage on the estate, she said.
She said that she has a broken arm and could not lift or move her son. After alerting the local fire department, she said when she was brought back to the property, "Rory's cottage was burnt to the ground".
Ms Sykes further claimed that when the blaze broke out, she could not put out the cinders with a hose because the water had been turned off by Las Virgenes Municipal Water.
She told Australian TV channel 10 News First that Mr Sykes died of "carbon monoxide poisoning".
The Associated Press reported that 67-year-old amputee Anthony Mitchell and his son, Justin, who has cerebral palsy, also died in the fires. Other fire victims include a man who was found holding a garden hose as well as an 82-year-old man who died in his bed.
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