Underneath the black smoke and eerie orange glow, the beautiful homes and wide streets of Pacific Palisades looked small and exposed Tuesday.
The fire forced residents, including some celebrities, to flee the coastal area west of Los Angeles. The majestic Sunset Boulevard became an escape route. Traffic closed the road Tuesday, all from Pacific Palisades except for emergency vehicles that were on their way to the fire.
In one hilly area southeast of the fire, there was a wall of smoke overhead. Olga Arango, 66, was at work cleaning the home there – the owners were out of town – when she decided it was time to leave.
“I saw on the phone that we have to get out,” Ms. Arango said in Spanish, as she packed her car and looked for the best way to get home to Van Nuys, Calif. “I haven’t finished, but I can come back tomorrow. .”
In the Palisades Highlands, an area on the edge of Topanga State Park, escape routes were very limited. “There’s actually one road into the Highlands and one out,” said Melissa Grant, an attorney who lives in a wood-frame townhouse.
Ms Grant, 69, tried to use that road, Palisades Drive, on Tuesday to reach safety with her dog, Abbie. But then a nearby elementary school was on fire, the flames that danced across the street forced him to turn his car around. Afraid to go home, Ms. Grant tried her luck at the local fire station. But it too had become a commonplace, restrained by locks and chains.
So Ms. Grant sought shelter from nearby homeowners who seemed far enough away from the flames, at least for now. “You can see the fire and the smoke right there — oh, wow, there’s a helicopter,” he said by phone from his apartment. “It’s scary.”
Shawn Hubler again Orlando Mayorquin reporting contributed.
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