Abandoned, Bulldozed, Burned Cars in Palisades Fire

Los Angeles, California — Dozens of abandoned cars still line Sunset Boulevard near the Lake Shrine in Pacific Palisades. There, frightened residents were forced to flee for their lives after getting stuck in traffic during an evacuation.

The first evacuation order was issued at 12:07 p.m. Tuesday, about 90 minutes after the fire started and spread rapidly due to strong winds. Many residents had already begun to leave. At that point, Sunset Boulevard was still moving slowly, but after a while traffic jams started to form.

The fire truck was heading uphill on a busy road, heading in the opposite direction toward the growing fire. Some Los Angeles authorities appeared unaware of the extent of the danger, and there were no police officers directing traffic at the time.

As smoke began to blow toward frightened motorists trapped at the intersection of Sunset Drive and Palisades Drive, some got out of their cars and ran downhill toward Pacific Coast Highway. Some were explicitly told to abandon their cars. The Los Angeles Fire Department then deployed a bulldozer to clear a path between cars for emergency vehicles to pass.

The area left behind now looks like a war zone. Cars squeezed into each other on the eastbound side of Sunset. Many cars on the westbound side were completely burnt out.

Novelist Lowell Caufeel, who lost his entire apartment building in a fire, was struck by the fact that residents were trapped in their cars while state and local politicians held press conferences in a local beach parking lot. expressed dissatisfaction.