It’s a cliché by now, but it’s apocalyptic in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. The place is simply unrecognizable. So far, hundreds of homes — including mega-mansions — have been burned. The chimneys can be seen naked in the orange.
Most of the business areas in this wealthy enclave, including large supermarkets and mom-and-pops, are burning down right now. The wind is whipping thick vortices of fire over Sunset Boulevard and firefighters are powerless to stop it.
Some firefighters are standing by and waiting to burn some structures. But many others are trying to put as much water as possible on the remaining structures.
ABC News’ Matt Gutman reports on the fast-moving fires in Southern California, calling Tuesday, January 8, 2025, the “scariest” night he’s experienced since living there.
ABC News
There must be billions of dollars in property damage at this point.
The iconic Sunset Boulevard is now a slalom course lined with fallen trees and burning bark from spewing embers. Houses on both sides are engulfed making the first responders traitors.
There are still hours left for this windy event. And judging by the weather, there could be more fires anywhere in the region in the coming hours.
This still from a video shows a Palisades apartment building going up in flames on January 7, 2025.
KABC
I have been in Los Angeles for nine years. This is the most dangerous it has ever felt.
After covering the Palisades fire for eight hours on Tuesday, I went to my aunt’s house near Sunset to rescue documents and some family belongings. The multi-story building across the street was completely engulfed.
The house around my wife’s cousin is likely gone by now. After a 35-minute drive home on Tuesday, I came across a fire 300 meters from my house, surrounded by the sound of sirens.
Firefighters battle the flames of the Palisades Fire on January 8, 2025 in Malibu, California.
Eric Thayer/Getty Images
Once I got home the lights flickered. The power was on at my in-laws house a few miles away in Studio City. Parts of Santa Monica are under mandatory evacuation orders. Pasadena is under siege further east with what could be another devastating wildfire. Other towns too.
The steeple of a church burns in Pacific Palisades, California, on Jan. 8, 2025, as a result of the Palisades fire.
Caroline Brehman/EPA via Shutterstock
I am not writing to elicit sympathy, but rather to emphasize the extent and magnitude of the threat to the millions of people in the crosshairs of this windstorm.
We all know that the dreaded fire can start anywhere, sprouting like seeds, no matter what neighborhood you call your home or how far you are from the fire zone your insurance carrier says you are. Many of us have our bags full.
