Francine Sohn was startled awake on New Year’s Day just after midnight when she received a panicked phone call from a neighbor. The neighbor informed her that there was a fire on the hill.
Sohn, 72, noticed a minor brush fire outside her Pacific Palisades neighborhood in western Los Angeles, which was dangerously near. As she waited to see if she should run, she saw firefighters put out the fire. There was no need, however, as the fire was contained before daylight with no homes burned and no one injured, and the wind was a strong but controllable 15 mph.
The same thing occurred a week later: a second little fire was discovered in the same location. However, this one became a monster.
One of the most devastating natural disasters in Los Angeles history, the Palisades Fire started in the backyard of Palisades Highlands, a wealthy and isolated neighborhood with a view of the coast between Malibu and Santa Monica. It was initially perceived by locals and hikers as a little brush fire looming in the arid scrubland.
However, driven by gusts of up to 60 miles per hour, the fire quickly spread across the mountainside and roared through residential areas, engulfing over 5,000 buildings and spreading to over 20,000 acres. At least 11 people have been killed and 180,000 people have been displaced by the six wildfires that are currently raging in Los Angeles County at the same time.
Nearly a dozen witnesses to the Palisades Fire’s early phases on the morning of January 7 told NBC News that they saw it develop and spread more quickly than any other fire they had ever seen, leaving a path of destruction they did not believe was conceivable, even in an area where wildfires are common.
After authorities warned that dry winter winds were predicted to increase the risk of flames in drought-stricken Los Angeles, Sohn was already on edge that morning.
Then, a neighbor yelled at her from across the street as she left her Piedra Morada Drive house for an art class at the neighborhood leisure center at 10:30 a.m. Less than a mile away, she noticed flames in the brush behind his house. The family of the neighbor had already dialed 911.
Sohn acted without waiting for an order to leave.
My buddy stated that I hurried into the home, woke her up, loaded my dog into the car with as many photo albums as I could carry, and quickly left.
Around the same time, Beni Oren and his friends were running a route near Skull Rock, a nearby landmark, when they noticed smoke rising in the brush. About 100 feet away, they turned and faced flames, according to 24-year-old Oren.
When they became aware that the wind was carrying the flames toward them, they fled in a panic and changed course. As they reached safety, a growing cloud of smoke lifted above the canyon. The realization that everything was going to catch fire was a strange experience. Oren uttered those words.
Soon after, sirens blaring, firefighters rushed in. They planned to use aircraft to soak the spreading flames, describing it on radios as a 10-acre brush fire on a ridgeline. A little after 10:30 a.m. The threat was obvious already.
It’s perfectly aligned with the breeze. According to a recording, someone told the Los Angeles County Fire Department over the radio that it might cover more than 200 acres in the following 20 minutes. In the next twenty minutes, there is a chance that structures will be in danger.
“It is pushing directly towards Palisades,” someone replied. He continued, “This thing is going to make a good run,” a few seconds later.
The same conclusion was being drawn by alarmed Palisades Highlands residents who were observing the spreading fire from their decks and backyards.
About three-quarters of a mile away, Stephanie Libonati was at her house on Piedra Morada Drive with her mother and brother when she cried out, “Fire!” when she noticed smoke and flames. After her mother dialed 911, Libonati and her brother hurried outside to notify the nearby residents. They decided to leave in three different cars, meet up outside of town, and then drive to her grandfather’s ranch in Santa Clarita after starting to pack up their passports, photos, and other valuables.
The fire appeared to be twice as large by the time they left, according to 26-year-old Libonati. Additionally, firefighters had shown there and instructed her brother to leave the area and stop wetting their back deck.
She claimed it sounded like a fire pit. Everything was burning, and you could hear the crackling of flames. Ash was blowing in our faces, and the smell was terrible. It was simply too quick. You saw it continue to expand.
The family split up as soon as they got behind the wheel, their routes cut up by traffic, panic, and fire. Libonati noticed people photographing the fire above from the side of the road as she passed Palisades Village, a shopping area at the base of the hill. She claimed that nobody would ever anticipate the fire spreading to the community. It hasn’t.
After some time, they reunited, gave each other hugs, and went on to the property.
From a trickle, the departure grew into a frantic rush. The only major route that went straight down the hill to Sunset Boulevard, Palisades Drive, was congested. According to locals, several people attempted Fire Road, a backup evacuation route in case of emergencies, but it was quickly encircled by flames. The sunset came to a halt.
Emergency personnel had to push the automobiles aside to make room for fire trucks since many terrified drivers left their cars in the road and fled on foot. In several areas of the neighborhood, firefighters advised people to remain temporarily because there was no immediate risk and no simple escape route.
As the winds increased, the flames were fueled and embers were pushed into the air and farther away, where they lit new hot spots. The slope was burned by the fire, which then spread to the Highlands, the hamlet, and the remaining Pacific Palisades before moving westward along the coast to Malibu.
After getting a text notice about possible evacuations, Colin Fields and Vanita Borwankar, who reside off Palisades Drive, got in their car and drove away. The fire was fading by the time they left their condo at 11 a.m., but they had to turn around due to traffic. Fields and his brother highlighted flare-ups to firefighters and sprayed hoses at oncoming flames as they made their way back up the hill to Fields’ parents’ house at the canyon’s edge.