In the wealthy Los Angeles neighbourhood of Pacific Palisades, a raging wildfire broke out, burning over 2,900 acres, as of Tuesday morning. This has since prompted the city to issue evacuation orders to 30,000 residents. The cause of the fire has not been officially confirmed yet, though reports suggest that it may’ve started from a brush fire that has since spread due to powerful winds. Footage shared to Reddit today depicts two LA residents abandoning their home as the fire engulfs their neighbourhood.
The video footage is captured on one of the LA resident’s phones, and opens on a building engulfed in flames, replete with blazing power lines and trees smoldering in the distance. “Oh, sorry dude. Yeah, let’s get out of here. We tried, we tried, bro. We tried our best, yeah.” The camera then pans to the residents in question, who begin to break out into a run as they hastily begin exiting the premises.
Once they get outside of their house, the true extent of the Palisades wildfire damage is revealed. Not only is a tree outside beginning to catch fire, but there are numerous hot embers blowing in the wind. Meanwhile, buildings and houses on the street are consumed by flame, and smoke is billowing all around them. “Gotta get out of here. Oh, sh**! Holy sh**!“
As the natural disaster continues to escalate, the internet weighed in with their thoughts and reactions to the shocking clip. One thoughtful Redditor declared:
The fire moves faster than you think. It probably didn’t look like that 15 mins before they decided to get out.
skin-flick
Elsewhere, a second commenter chimed in with, “At 40-70mph winds it is amazing how much ground a fire can cover. It is hard to imagine for most people until they see it live.”
Another netizen highlighted how this is likely a result of the escalating issues with climate change, writing: “Winds might reach over 100mph in that area tonight and it’s already dry as f*** out. I was listening to the weather report and the meteorologist started saying how the conditions were highly unusual and then corrected himself to say that it’s becoming more common. Climate change is here folks. Pacific Palisades is one of the wealthiest communities in California and it’s going up in flames tonight, right now.“
At the time of writing, dozens of schools have closed in Los Angeles and firefighters have called for reinforcements as they continue to tackle the spreading Pacific Palisades wildfire. Compounding the issue is the fact that tens of thousands of residents are still without power. As the authorities continue to battle the blaze, here’s hoping that there’s an end in sight for the residents impacted by this catastrophe.
