The grand homes and wide boulevards of Pacific Palisades looked small and exposed Tuesday against a backdrop of towering black smoke and an ominous orange glow.
The fire forced residents, including some celebrities, to flee the beachfront community on Los Angeles’ west side. The scenic Sunset Strip became an escape route. Roads were clogged with cars Tuesday, with all but emergency vehicles heading toward the fire leaving Pacific Palisades.
In a hilly area southeast of the fire, a wall of smoke loomed overhead. Olga Arango, 66, was cleaning a home there — the owner was out of town — when she decided it was time to leave.
“I saw on the phone that we had to evacuate,” Ms. Arango said in Spanish as she packed up her car and considered the best route back to Van Nuys, California. .
In the Palisades Heights community on the edge of Topanga State Park, means of escape are limited. “There’s basically one way into Highlands and one way out,” said attorney Melissa Grant, who lives in a wood-frame townhouse in Highlands.
Ms. Grant, 69, tried to reach safety with her dog, Abbie, on Palisades Drive on Tuesday. But then a fire broke out at a nearby primary school, sending flames dancing across the road and forcing her to turn around. Afraid to return home, Ms. Grant tried her luck on local fire roads. But it also became a dead end, blocked by locks and chains.
So Ms. Grant found shelter among nearby homeowners who appeared to be far enough away from the flames, at least for now. “You could see the flames and the smoke there – oh, wow, there’s a helicopter,” she said by phone from her home that was not hers. “It’s scary.”
Sean Hubler and mayor of orlando Contributed reporting.
