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| 'Run for your lives!' LA residents abandon cars to flee wildfire on foot | 'Run for your lives!' LA residents abandon cars to flee wildfire on foot |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Watch: LA reporter battles heavy winds and flying ash during broadcast | Watch: LA reporter battles heavy winds and flying ash during broadcast |
| Screaming Los Angeles residents left their cars behind to flee a fast-moving wildfire as it closed in on a picturesque celebrity enclave, eyewitnesses said, describing scenes straight out of a Hollywood disaster movie. | Screaming Los Angeles residents left their cars behind to flee a fast-moving wildfire as it closed in on a picturesque celebrity enclave, eyewitnesses said, describing scenes straight out of a Hollywood disaster movie. |
| A windstorm whipped a seemingly typical brush fire into a raging inferno within a matter of hours on Tuesday, sending the blaze racing towards the Pacific Palisades area. | A windstorm whipped a seemingly typical brush fire into a raging inferno within a matter of hours on Tuesday, sending the blaze racing towards the Pacific Palisades area. |
| Thirty thousand people were ordered to evacuate as the conflagration surrounded the neighbourhood in the west of the city, exploding rapidly from 10 acres to several thousand in size. | Thirty thousand people were ordered to evacuate as the conflagration surrounded the neighbourhood in the west of the city, exploding rapidly from 10 acres to several thousand in size. |
| Bordering Malibu, Pacific Palisades is a haven of hillside streets and winding roads nestled against the Santa Monica Mountains and extending down to beaches along the Pacific Ocean. | Bordering Malibu, Pacific Palisades is a haven of hillside streets and winding roads nestled against the Santa Monica Mountains and extending down to beaches along the Pacific Ocean. |
| Watch: Firefighters suppress blaze approaching home | Watch: Firefighters suppress blaze approaching home |
| But the Pacific Coast Highway, the main route in - or out - quickly became gridlocked, leading many motorists to ditch their vehicles near Sunset Boulevard as the flames drew near. | But the Pacific Coast Highway, the main route in - or out - quickly became gridlocked, leading many motorists to ditch their vehicles near Sunset Boulevard as the flames drew near. |
| One resident, Marsha Horowitz, said firefighters told people to get out of their cars as the blaze, fanned by gusts sometimes topping 100mph (160km/h) in the mountains and foothills, approached. | One resident, Marsha Horowitz, said firefighters told people to get out of their cars as the blaze, fanned by gusts sometimes topping 100mph (160km/h) in the mountains and foothills, approached. |
| "The fire was right up against the cars," she said. | "The fire was right up against the cars," she said. |
| Latest updates from the wildfire | Latest updates from the wildfire |
| Another Pacific Palisades resident told ABC News that she rushed home from her job in Hollywood once she heard about the evacuations. | Another Pacific Palisades resident 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. While running to safety, flaming pieces of palm tree fell on her. | After abandoning her car, she went home to grab her cat. While running to safety, flaming pieces of palm tree fell on her. |
| "I'm getting hit with palm leaves on fire, I ran into a car," said the woman, who did not give her name. | "I'm getting hit with palm leaves on fire, I ran into a car," said the woman, who did not give her name. |
| "It's terrifying. It's like a horror movie. I'm screaming and crying going down the street." | "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. | Some evacuees described seeing homes burn as they fled. |
| Hollywood actor James Woods was among celebrities forced to flee their properties. | Hollywood actor James Woods was among 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. | 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. |
| "This is not a parking lot," Guttenberg told KTLA. "I have friends up there and they can't evacuate." | "This is not a parking lot," Guttenberg told KTLA. "I have friends up there and they can't evacuate." |
| Bulldozers later cleared abandoned vehicles to open the route for emergency vehicles. | Bulldozers later cleared abandoned vehicles to open the route for emergency vehicles. |
| Watch: Bulldozers used to move abandoned vehicles in Palisades fire | Watch: Bulldozers used to move abandoned vehicles in Palisades fire |
| Jennifer Aniston, Bradley Cooper, Tom Hanks, Reese Witherspoon, Adam Sandler and Michael Keaton also have homes in the Pacific Palisades, according to the Hollywood Reporter. | Jennifer Aniston, Bradley Cooper, Tom Hanks, Reese Witherspoon, Adam Sandler and Michael Keaton also have homes in the Pacific Palisades, according to the Hollywood Reporter. |
| People fled wildfire flames in the nearby Los Angeles suburb of Topanga Canyon, where Ewan McGregor has a home. | People fled wildfire flames in the nearby Los Angeles suburb of Topanga Canyon, where Ewan McGregor has a home. |
| One resident named Melanie told KTLA she tried to get out, but the path was engulfed by flames and she was forced back home. | One resident named Melanie told KTLA she tried to get out, but the path was engulfed by flames and she was forced back home. |
| She was trying to take Palisades Drive down to the Pacific Coast Highway and said had to make "a very fast U-turn because there were flames coming down the hill to the road". | She was trying to take Palisades Drive down to the Pacific Coast Highway and said had to make "a very fast U-turn because there were flames coming down the hill to the road". |
| "I would have been driving right into the fire," she said. "We're stuck up here. I don't see any flames but I know they're close by." | "I would have been driving right into the fire," she said. "We're stuck up here. I don't see any flames but I know they're close by." |
| Residents in Venice Beach, some six miles (10km) away, reported seeing the flames, too. | Residents in Venice Beach, some six miles (10km) away, reported seeing the flames, too. |
| Kelsey Trainor said ash fell all around as the fire jumped from one side of the road to the other. | Kelsey Trainor said ash fell all around as the fire jumped from one side of the road to the other. |
| "People were getting out of the cars with their dogs and babies and bags, they were crying and screaming," she told the Associated Press news agency. | "People were getting out of the cars with their dogs and babies and bags, they were crying and screaming," she told the Associated Press news agency. |
| "The road was just blocked, like full-on blocked for an hour." | "The road was just blocked, like full-on blocked for an hour." |
| Ellen Delosh-Bacher told the Los Angeles Times how she rushed from downtown Los Angeles to her home, where her 95-year-old mother and their two dogs live. | Ellen Delosh-Bacher told the Los Angeles Times how she rushed from downtown Los Angeles to her home, where her 95-year-old mother and their two dogs live. |
| She, too, hit gridlock at Sunset Boulevard and Palisades Drive. | She, too, hit gridlock at Sunset Boulevard and Palisades Drive. |
| Ms Delosh-Bacher described fire exploding behind a nearby Starbucks and police rushing down the road shouting to stuck motorists: "Run for your lives!" | Ms Delosh-Bacher described fire exploding behind a nearby Starbucks and police rushing down the road shouting to stuck motorists: "Run for your lives!" |
| She left her car, keys still in the ignition and ran half a mile down to the beach. | She left her car, keys still in the ignition and ran half a mile down to the beach. |
| "This is like an apocalypse," she said. | "This is like an apocalypse," she said. |
| Get in touch | |
| How have you been affected by the wildfires in Los Angeles? Tell us your story. |