Blazing wildfires create living hell for commuters
By Tori Richards and Danika Fears
December 6, 2017 | 12:42pm	| Updated December 6, 2017 | 9:42pm
A new wildfire erupted in Los Angeles early Wednesday morning along one of the country's busiest freeways, setting homes in tony Bel-Air ablaze as several other devastating infernos continued burning nearby.
Not the typical morning commute… pic.twitter.com/kJIOQeqsIK
— A. Mutzabaugh CMT (@WLV_investor) December 6, 2017
The brush fire, which broke out before 5 a.m. and engulfed 475 acres within hours, turned the Interstate 405 freeway into a hellscape, with scorched hilltops glowing against a black sky.
"It was dark until I saw a gigantic ball of orange," Tiffany Lynette Anderson, who saw the blaze while driving on the 405, wrote on Instagram. "I'm grateful to be safe — truly grateful."
Several stunned commuters on the 405 captured dramatic footage of the fire — which filled the air with thick black smoke and ash — before nine miles of the famously congested freeway were shut down Wednesday morning.
At least four homes in the wealthy neighborhood of Bel-Air had been destroyed by 11 a.m., and hundreds of residents were forced to flee their homes.
"These are days that break your heart, but these are also days that show the resilience of your city," Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said.
A state of emergency was declared in the City of Angels on Wednesday afternoon, as hundreds of firefighters battled the wind-propelled fire.
UCLA, which was less than five miles from the roaring flames, canceled classes for the day, and more than 800 residents in the area lost power.
"It's been years since anything here has burned at all," Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Cody Weireter told the LA Times.
"You've got heavy, heavy brush, you've got the dryness — obviously, we haven't had any rain at all. A lot of the fire is topography-driven, which already becomes dangerous. The wind is going to increase that twofold."
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It was like flying through "hell on earth."
The ferocious fire was just the latest to wreak havoc in the Los Angeles area, where four other blazes broke out this week, destroying homes and forcing thousands to flee.
An out-of-control inferno that started in Ventura County on Monday spread to the Pacific Ocean Tuesday night, charring 65,500 acres as more than 1,700 firefighters battled the flames.
At least 150 structures have been destroyed by the fire, which was worsened by strong Santa Ana winds, and around 12,000 homes remain in danger. About 50,000 residents have fled amid mandatory evacuation orders.
While the Santa Ana winds weakened slightly on Wednesday, they're expected to kick up again on Thursday, thwarting firefighting efforts.
"We're talking winds that could be 80 miles per hour," Cal Fire Chief Ken Pimlott said. "These will be winds that there will be no ability to fight fires."
Many residents in Ventura County have lost everything — including the Christmas presents under their tree.
"We got knots in our stomach coming back up here," Lisa Kermode, who returned to her home Tuesday, told The Associated Press.
"We lost everything, everything, all our clothes, anything that was important to us. All our family heirlooms — it's not sort of gone, it's completely gone."
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Bel-Air residents on Stradella Road — where mansions sell for more than $10 million — worried they might suffer the same fate.
Jila Davachi said she watched coverage of the Ventura fire on Tuesday — and never dreamed another blaze would break out in her neighborhood the next morning.
"I'm hoping it's not going to come here," she told The Post. "I think I'll stay and see. We've been here 17 years and [experienced] nothing like this."
"This is your home, and to think it's not going to be here is sad," Davachi added.
Neerja Gupta said cops showed up at her door twice on Wednesday to tell her she needed to evacuate.
"Better to be safe then sorry," she said as she left the neighborhood with her Lhasa apso and Maltese in tow. "My whole trunk is filled with things."
President Trump encouraged residents to listen to officials — and thanked first responders for their "incredible work."
"Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone in the path of California's wildfires. I encourage everyone to heed the advice and orders of local and state officials," he tweeted.
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Filed under california , fires , wildfires
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