Two Los Angeles residents recounted their harrowing escape from the wildfires that tore through their community, as they waited to be told what would become of their home and business.
Palisades Highlands residents Eric Robertson and Tricia Cosentino were forced to evacuate their home Tuesday, along with thousands of others, as flames neared their community. The couple explained their sudden departure during “American Affairs.”
CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES RAGE AROSS LOS ANGELES, FORCING THOUSANDS FROM THEIR HOMES.
“We were afraid to stay, and we were afraid to leave,” Cosentino told Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino on Wednesday. “It was amazing … our neighbors, we gathered everyone and said we will all go at once. So it was a kind of caravan. How much everyone wrote messages and made sure that everyone is safe when we get to the bottom.”
“Everybody I know … has been evacuated, and I'd say half of them have lost their homes,” he continued. “I have a business in town … I think the whole block went up. We saw it burn last night. There are a lot of citizens who own businesses, a lot of women who own businesses in town, and I don't have know how many of them will survive.
Firefighters battle the Palisades Fire as it burns a building in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Three wild fires are burning Los Angeles County, including the Pacific Palisades and Sylmar areas of Los Angeles and the rest of the city of Pasadena. As of Wednesday morning, the fires were zero percent contained as strong winds prevented firefighters from sending in airplanes to battle the infernos.
Robertson said as Tuesday progressed, the two followed the fire and eventually received orders to evacuate.
“Tricia and her son went down first and were surrounded by smoke and flames on both sides of the canyon…and cars blocking the road. They went home. We heard that the evacuation order had been lifted, so I didn't know what to do, but the wind kept blowing, and the smoke was around us, so we decided to give it a rest.”
More than 30,000 residents are under evacuation orders, and more than 200,000 people were without power in Los Angeles County on Tuesday evening.
The authorities were forced to block the cars to give way for the firefighters to fight the flameswhich Robertson compares to a “war zone.”
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Robertson said: “Fortunately, the police stopped the traffic after some cars were hit, so we were able to walk through the traffic area, which looked like a war zone. then there were at least 50, 75 cars pushed aside, which we saw pictures of. There's burning debris on the floor and … fire hoses and obstructions everywhere.”
“All of our parks, our schools, our grocery store, our churches, everything on the way down PCH was burning around us, so it was it's really hard to see that, and then we drive,” he continued.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman Margaret Stewart told “Fox & Friends” Wednesday morning that wildfires burning in his city they are “strong and dangerous” and “continue to grow.”
“We're in high wind conditions. We've got sustained winds over 80 mph, which is hurricane force. It's impossible to stop a wind-driven fire like this, with this type of weather.” topography, from the ground,” he said.
“We need to be able to fly our planes. Our helicopters cannot fly in this wind condition. They are constantly checking it. Unfortunately the winds are not expected to decrease within hours next,” he continued.
“This is a strong and dangerous fire that continues to grow. We have many damaged and destroyed buildings but we cannot measure that at this time,” Stewart added. “And we've had injuries to firefighters and civilians.”
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