By : Lloyd Mahachi
A fast-moving wildfire swept through Los Angeles, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate their homes. The fire, which began as a small brush fire, quickly spread due to strong winds, engulfing a large area of the Pacific Palisades neighborhood.
Eyewitnesses described chaotic scenes as people abandoned their cars and fled on foot, desperate to escape the rapidly spreading flames. Marsha Horowitz, a resident of the area, recounted how firefighters told people to leave their cars behind as the fire approached.
The Pacific Coast Highway, the main route in and out of the area, became gridlocked, leading many motorists to ditch their vehicles near Sunset Boulevard. One resident, who wished to remain anonymous, told ABC News that she rushed home from her job in Hollywood once she heard about the evacuations.
After abandoning her car, she went home to grab her cat and then ran to safety, dodging flaming pieces of palm tree along the way. “I’m getting hit with palm leaves on fire, I ran into a car,” she said. “It’s terrifying. It’s like a horror movie. I’m screaming and crying going down the street.”
Some evacuees described seeing homes burn as they fled. Hollywood actor James Woods was among the celebrities forced to flee their properties. Actor Steve Guttenberg, also a Pacific Palisades resident, urged people who abandoned their cars to leave their keys inside so the vehicles could be moved to make way for fire trucks.
Bulldozers were later used to clear abandoned vehicles and open the route for emergency vehicles. The fire raged on, with flames overtaking intersections and homes. Many residents were forced to flee with only the clothes on their backs, leaving behind their belongings and pets.
Jennifer Aniston, Bradley Cooper, Tom Hanks, Reese Witherspoon, Adam Sandler, and Michael Keaton are among the celebrities who own homes in the Pacific Palisades area. People also fled the nearby Los Angeles suburb of Topanga Canyon, where Ewan McGregor has a home.
One resident, Melanie, told KTLA that she tried to get out, but the path was engulfed by flames, and she was forced back home. She described making a “very fast U-turn because flames were coming down the hill to the road”. “I would have been driving right into the fire,” she said.
Residents in Venice Beach, some six miles away, reported seeing the flames and ash falling from the sky. Kelsey Trainor described the scene as “apocalyptic,” with people fleeing their cars and running for their lives. “People were getting out of the cars with their dogs and babies and bags, they were crying and screaming,” she told the Associated Press.
Ellen Delosh-Bacher rushed from downtown Los Angeles to her home, where her 95-year-old mother and their two dogs live. She hit a gridlock at Sunset Boulevard and Palisades Drive and described fire exploding behind a nearby Starbucks. Police rushed down the road, shouting to stuck motorists: “Run for your lives!”
Delosh-Bacher left her car, keys still in the ignition, and ran half a mile down to the beach. “This is like an apocalypse,” she said, describing the chaotic scene. The fire continued to rage, with firefighters working tirelessly to contain the blaze and evacuate residents.
Editor : Josephine Mahachi