From palm trees and mansions to beach lifeguard stations: ‘Everything was on fire’

In an area famous for natural disasters, survivors of multiple massive wildfires in Los Angeles County described apocalyptic scenes and the horror of trying to outrun flames stoked by hurricane-like winds.

At least five wildfires continued to burn out of control Wednesday afternoon, consuming nearly 27,000 acres combined and destroying more than 1,000 homes, including multimillion-dollar mansions, in some of the priciest enclaves in America. More than 100,000 people were under mandatory evacuation.

At least five people were killed in one of the fires, officials said.

“It’s astounding what’s happening,” President Joe Biden said during a news conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday, during which he announced that he had signed an emergency disaster declaration.

5 blazes burning at once

The blazes began around 10:30 a.m. Pacific Time on Tuesday with the Palisades Fire and the Hurst Fire erupting around the same time miles apart, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The Palisades Fire — burning in Pacific Palisades, about 20 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles along the Pacific Ocean — had consumed nearly 16,000 acres by Wednesday afternoon, officials said. The Hurst Fire near San Fernando, about 22 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles, had burned 700 acres.

The Eaton Fire, the second-largest fire in the area, ignited just after 6 p.m. on Tuesday and was fanned by strong Santa Ana winds that reached 98 mph in some areas, had grown to 10,600 acres, torching homes in Pasadena and Altadena, both about 11 miles east of downtown L.A. Five residents perished in the Eaton Fire, but officials did not disclose details of how they died.

A fourth blaze burning in Los Angeles County, the Woodley Fire, erupted at about 6:15 a.m. on Wednesday near Van Nuys in the San Fernando Valley and quickly spread to 30 acres. As of about 6 p.m. local time, the flames were considered “under control,” according to LA Mayor Karen Bass.

On Wednesday afternoon, a fifth fire broke out in Los Angeles County near Palmdale, about 40 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles. The Lidia Fire quickly spread to 80 acres, according to CalFire, but it was reported as 30% contained into the evening hours.

Another fire erupted just before 6 p.m. PT in the Hollywood Hills and quickly grew to take up 10 acres in Runyon Canyon. It became the Sunset Fire and led to evacuation orders in the early evening as the flames and smoke encroached on the famed residential area, closed to numerous landmarks.

The Palisades Fire had by then spread to Malibu Beach, where a lifeguard station went up in flames and homes along the Pacific Coast Highway were also blazing like a string of Roman candles.

‘Not prepared for this type of widespread disaster’

In the tony business district of Pacific Palisades, shop after shop was on fire, including the community’s largest supermarket. The Getty Villa, a museum filled with more than 125,000 priceless artifacts, was also being threatened as flames engulfed the hillside it is perched on.

ABC News reporters on the scene describe horrific scenes of destruction and chaos as everything appeared to be on fire at once, including luxury homes, trash bins, lines of palm trees and numerous vehicles. The fires were accompanied by an eerie soundtrack of blazes popping, broken gas lines hissing, buildings collapsing and winds roaring.

The devastation came even as fire departments in the area prepared for potential fires over the weekend, placing equipment and personnel in areas vulnerable to fires after the National Weather Service forecast high-risk fire danger due to a Santa Ana wind event that became the worst in more than a decade.

“No, L.A. County and all 29 fire departments in our country are not prepared for this type of widespread disaster,” said Chief Jim McDonnell of the Los Angeles Police Department, adding that there were not enough firefighters in address all the fires burning in L.A. County.

Chief Kristine Crowl of the Los Angeles Fire Department said that in her 25 years as a firefighter she had never experienced a disaster as far-reaching as the one that has now enveloped one of the most densely populated areas of the nation, home to more than 10 million people.

The wind, fires and terrain filled with bone-dry vegetation from lack of rain in the area had formed a perfect storm for the disaster, Crowl said.

“The fire is being fueled by a combination of strong winds and surrounding topography, which is making it extremely challenging for our personnel that are assigned to this incident,” Crowl said.

The conflagrations caused officials to close several iconic landmarks around Los Angeles, including access to the Hollywood sign, the Los Angeles Zoo, Griffith Park and the Griffith Observatory.

‘Everything was on fire’

Nearly 1.2 million customers were also without power due to burning trees falling on powerlines or Southern California Edison shutting down power in an attempt to prevent the fires from spreading, officials of the utility company said.

After signing the emergency declaration, Biden said he was sending in federal assistance to help suppress the fires, including 10 Navy helicopters.

The president also said fire crews from Oregon, Washington, Arizona and elsewhere were headed to Los Angeles County to help.

Actor Steve Guttenberg told ABC’s “Good Morning America,” that at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, it was a typical beautiful, sunny Southern California day. But 90 minutes later, he said, “Everything was black and the fire was raging.”

“Everything was on fire on both sides,” Guttenberg said of his path to safety. “I couldn’t see more than three feet in front of my car. The smoke was so thick. It looked like a volcano was on the sides of the hills, and all of a sudden people were just fleeing. It was two miles of cars packed.”

Los Angeles County’s famed Sunset Boulevard, which runs through Pacific Palisades, was lined with cars Wednesday as desperate residents rushed to get out of harm’s way. But firefighters said people, apparently fearful of getting trapped by the flames while sitting in a traffic jam, abandoned their cars on Sunset Boulevard, prompting fire crews to use a bulldozer to push vehicles out of the way and clear a path for first responders.

Pacific Palisades resident Tricia Rakusin told ABC News on Wednesday that when the fire started she began hosing down her home and the trees and shrubbery around it, but soon realized she and her family had to evacuate after she seeing flames creeping up to her residence.

She said she fled down Sunset Boulevard only to get stuck in traffic.

“I’ve never been so petrified,” Rakusin said. “It’s absolutely unreal. We have never experienced anything like this in this area.”

Rakusin’s husband, Kenny, said that their home insurance carrier recently dropped them and other residents in the area because of the fire risks.

“We don’t know whether our house is standing or not, but if it’s not standing, I don’t know what we’re going to do,” he said.