EXCLUSIVE
The son of an Australian TV presenter has been hailed a hero as he risks his life for strangers during the raging fires devastating Los Angeles.
Kai Rochester, 25, the son of former Australia’s Biggest Loser host Ajay Rochester, has been working around the clock alongside firefighters for five days straight.
The private security guard has often been armed with just a garden hose as battles the out-of-control fires and evacuates residents to safety.
But despite fresh warnings for locals to brace for 72 hours of hell, he has told his terrified mum: ‘I’m not leaving until they no longer need me.’
While his TV star mum is proud of her son’s courage on the frontline of the fires, she admits fearing for his safety as he battled the blazes through the night, often alone.
‘I haven’t slept a wink with worry, it’s crazy,’ Ajay Rochester told Daily Mail Australia. ‘It’s really crazy.Â

Kai Rochester moved to American in 2023 hoping to land a job in TV like mum Ajay Rochester

After the Hollywood writers’ strike, he changed careers and became a private security guard who was rostered to work as the fires gripped LA

TV star Ajay has started an Amazon Wish List for donations after a firefighter gave her son food when he had none
‘If I do nod off, I have nightmares about him out there and wake up with a start. You have to see it to believe it.Â
‘The steam rising from the ground, it looks like a bomb has gone off, everything is covered in ash.
‘He came home exhausted after the first 32 hours, slept for a few hours and went back again.’
She revealed how Mr Rochester’s regular shift patrolling the wealthy Pacific Palisades neighbourhood on January 8 suddenly turned into a terrifying life or death situation.
The fires had erupted hours earlier in the celebrity suburb where Hollywood’s biggest stars including Tom Hanks, Reece Witherspoon and Adam Sandler all have homes.
‘We both thought it was a normal shift that just rolled into fires everywhere,’ Ajay said.
‘Kai is trained and armed so he wanted to stay and protect homes from looters, but ended up helping law enforcements and the fire department.
‘He has been getting calls and messages from home owners to thank him after they’ve seen him on their security cameras using their garden hoses and pool water to save their homes.

Kai Rochester has been getting messages from home owners thanking him

Mr Rochester has been updating his worried mum via text during his gruelling shifts that have lasted up to 32 hours

Fires broke out in Pacific Palisades and spread while Kai Rochester was at work as a private security guard
‘He has done everything from getting people to safety, to feeding pets and securing homes from looters.’Â
Mr Rochester, who worked as a television editor on Australia’s renovating show The Block, moved to America in 2023 hoping to gain work in the TV industry.
But after Hollywood’s writers’ strikes affected work into 2024 and put many shows on hold, he decided to switch careers.
‘He has seen me chase pay cheque to pay cheque his whole life, said Ajay.Â
‘He was the kid who only had one pair of shoes at school and even now he knows I still live that way.
‘So he decided he wanted more stability and I respect him for that. 2024 was the worse year ever in our industry, everyone said survive until 2025 and now what?Â
‘The city has burned down.’
Ajay said her son had been under no obligation to continue his shifts as the fire terror engulfed the city and she now sees him in a new light.
‘Your children are always going to be your babies and you never stop worrying, but I realise now after all of this that he has become a man,’ she said.Â
‘And I am so proud of the kind and brave man he has become.’

Video footage shot by Kai reveals the infernos he’s been battling armed with just a garden hose

As the devastation grew in the affluent neighbourhood Kai Rochester began working alongside firefighters after defying evacuation orders to stay behind to protect homes

Ajay said Kai (pictured together) had been under no obligation to continue his shifts as the fire terror engulfed the city and she now sees her son in a new light
Ajay, who has not had to evacuate her home but is on high alert, has now set up an Amazon Wish List to donate essentials to the emergency services on the front line.
‘Kai didn’t even take food with him on that first day, thinking he could just grab something at lunchtime,’ she revealed.
‘But by then, everything was burned to the ground. He was given a muesli bar by a firefighter and that’s all he ate in 32 hours.
‘I’m now collecting donations for essentials like food and eyedrops and dropping them off for ther emergency workers on the frontline.’