In the Eye of the Storm...Escaping the LA Fires. How did so many people end up like this?

There were near hurricane force winds blowing at the time. Basically fire tornados.

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Surely there was plenty of warnings issued in time for them to get out or did the fires just move that fast?

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Probably a combination of them thinking that maybe the fires wouldn't get them, the fires moving faster than they expected and just plain being overwhelmed.

The winds pushed them so fast.

It was crazy. I saw the smoke and turned on the news. In the next few minutes the roads were turning into parking lots.

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The winds pushed them so fast.

It was crazy. I saw the smoke and turned on the news. In the next few minutes the roads were turning into parking lots.

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That had to be absolutely terrifying. My oldest lives in north Cali and works for a company that goes in after disasters like this and works the environmental side of the cleanup efforts (monitor air, water, soil, etc.) and he told me what I saw on the news in no way captured the devastation. Watching this show drove home his statement.

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I can’t imagine a worse way to die than by fire

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Agreed that it’s extremely painful but how about being wedged in somewhere and you can’t get out and it takes you days to die of exposure/dehydration?

I’m not particularly claustrophobic but the thought of being wedged in a tunnel is no bueno to me.

Most of them suffocated before they burnt still not a fun way to go because you know what's coming

Most of the deaths were elderly people who died in the Eaton Fire in Pasadena/Altadena. I bet the average age of the deceased was over 60.

That said, I know more about the start and spread of the Palisades Fire. It began less than a quarter mile from multiple neighborhoods. Homes were threatened within 15 minutes and involved in less than a half hour.

That fire burned under an exceptional Santa Ana wind event. Winds were steady at 50+ with measured gusts over 90mph. The threatened neighborhoods were aligned perfectly with that wind in valleys. Those areas are densely populated and the roads in those hills aren't great for a mass evac with little warning. Traffic jams from abandoned vehicles formed early on and ultimately had to be cleared by bulldozer.

The Palisades Fire was a holdover fire from the Lachland fire on New Year's Eve night. That fire burned under normal conditions and was contained in a few hours with no property damage. Comparing that fire, which occurred on a normal day with normal wind, to the Palisades fire, you can see the big differences.

I could type a whole lot more and have in various posts on the OT and PT.

Thanks Legend.

Hurricane = you should have plenty of time to prepare or evacuate.

Tornado = very limited time to prepare or evacuate..

Fire tornado = survive only by the grace of God.

I think it is hard for people to understand how that fire (the Palisades fire specifically) burned and progressed. The best way I've thought of to picture it is to tell people to go to your home on Google Maps, find the "measure distance" tool, and use it to measure just under a quarter of a mile in any direction. That's how close the fire that rekindled on that day was to multiple densely packed neighborhoods when it was called in, less than the length of a NHRA dragstrip.

Now, imagine your home is downwind of the smoke that you saw and that wind was blowing 50+ with regular gusts over 70mph. The first firefighters who responded called in over the radio with a report that there was ember cast (wind-driven embers) up to a mile ahead of the fire's location. Natural and man made fire breaks were of no use. That fire crossed roads, paved areas, streams, etc. without checking up.

The first responders on scene began home and property defense immediately. No sooner could they get established on a property than another call of homes being threatened or involved would come in. Calls and radio traffic were constant and the chaotic mass evac effort made responding nearly impossible at times.

It isn't hyperbole when a person like Chief Brian Fennessy, Orange County Firechief, head of the California fire chief association, and a seasoned wildland firefighter, says, "The only thing stopping that fire under those conditions was the Pacific Ocean."

The Palisades fire burned until it reached the Pacific Ocean.

Thanks LIMM. It's just hard to imagine a fire moving that quickly if you have not lived it. That had to be terrifying, absolutely terrifying to live through.