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BBC reporter details chaotic escape from home in Palisadespublished at 01:14 Greenwich Mean Time
BBC reporter Lucy Sheriff evacuated her home in the Pacific Palisades as the blaze neared her neighbourhood
Let’s catch up with BBC reporter Lucy Sheriff who lives in the Los Angeles community of Pacific Palisades and was forced to evacuate. Here’s how she described her escape:
I was already concerned about the high wind warning, and how quickly the fire was spreading. I went outside to find out what was going on because there wasn’t a lot of information online.
One Los Angeles officer told me that they had all been taken by surprise by the speed of the blaze. I could see the fire spreading across the Santa Monica mountains ridgelines – jumping from spot to spot – and surrounding the Palisades.
I’m also pregnant, and felt I needed to be more responsible than perhaps I would normally be. When I felt how quickly the wind was changing – the sky went from bright blue to orange in a matter of seconds – and ash began raining down on me, I ran back home and started making plans to evacuate.
I needed to leave. Then I saw the roads and it was complete gridlock. How would I get out? Some people were ditching their cars and running to escape the fire. I don’t think I could outrun it. Home felt like the safest place to wait as I packed.
I finally decided to leave when we were told there was a mandatory evacuation order for the entirety of the Palisades. I was also getting more concerned as the fire had spread to the mountains directly in front of my house, and I had heard the winds were going to only get stronger this evening.
There’s only one road that goes in and out of the Palisades, and so I braved the gridlock – it didn’t feel like there was any other choice. It took a while to get out – there were thousands of cars trying to leave.
