Fire is a part of life in California, and the state has become notorious in recent years for increasingly intense wildfires.
But even by today's climate change-fueled standards, the fires currently engulfing parts of Los Angeles are outliers—the Palisades fire that has been raging in the city's West Side enclave of the Pacific Palisades is now the most destructive in Los Angeles history.
And as historically intense Santa Ana winds continue to batter Southern California and fuel the flames, the devastating fire problem has now spread to other parts of the area, including the Eaton fire in Eaton Canyon near Pasadena and Altadena and the Hurst fire near the city of Santa Clarita.
A report on local news station KTLA5 gives a glimpse into just how much the situation is deteriorating. As KTLA reporter John Fenoglio was reporting on the Eaton fire in Altadena on Tuesday night, it suddenly spread to the house he was stationed in front of.
Fenoglio had to stop to grab a nearby garden house to stop the house from being engulfed.
It's unknown if Fenoglio's bravery was enough to ultimately save the house, but the devastation sustained in Los Angeles so far is unfathomable. Officials estimate at least 1,000 structures, most of them homes, have burned in the Pacific Palisades.
Scores of injuries have been sustained by those who didn't evacuate—or couldn't, as many evacuees had to abandon their cars in the streets as the fire grew at such an astonishing pace that fire hydrants in the Pacific Palisades have run dry.
On social media, the situation Fenoglio faced during his report was a sobering symbol of just how dire the situation in Southern California is.
While it will likely be some time before the fires are brought under control, there is one hopeful piece of news—the raging Santa Ana winds were expected to die down over the course of Wednesday as calmer, cooler ocean breezes move into the area.
This is expected to slow the fires' spread and allow firefighters to make more progress in containing them.
