A Pacific Palisades man has told how he made the potentially life-saving decision to get out of the city of Los Angeles as a massive fire continues to spread.
Mike Maholias, 30, told DailyMail.com how he woke up on Tuesday and became concerned by the strong winds sweeping across the city, but still went about his day while working from home.
He was in a meeting when the bush fire broke out at around 10.30am, at which point he started to hear some sirens outside of his home on Sunset Boulevard.
‘So I decided to step away from the meeting and run to my townhouse roof, which is a third story,’ Maholias said.
‘It faces the northwest, and as soon as I walked outside, I was met with a massive, just wall of smoke, and there were high flames on the mountainside surrounding the Palisades.’
Around him, homes were already on fire, as fire trucks tried to navigate the narrow lanes on Sunset Boulevard – which was already backed up as thousands tried to flee their mansions.
There were also two helicopters flying above him, trying to pour water on the inferno as it spread to cover 1,260 acres of the city.
The scene ‘felt like an apocalypse,’ he said. ‘My hands started shaking, I started sweating, and I knew that I needed to take swift action.’
Mike Maholias, 30, told DailyMail.com how he woke up on Tuesday and became concerned by the strong winds sweeping across the city, but still went about his day, working from home
This image was taken by Maholias as he frantically escaped LA on Tuesday
Pacific Palisades residents have shared the fears they faced as they were forced to evacuate their mansions on Tuesday while a massive fire continues to spread
The Pacific Palisades fire broke out at around 10.30am on Tuesday
‘It was a moment where I was torn because I was so mesmerized by what was happening in front of me and shocked by the fact that I was so oblivious to it just minutes before,’ Maholias explained.
‘And the other side of my brain knew that it was time to make smart decisions, because whatever I did in the next 10 to 15 minutes was going to determine how effective my evacuation was going to be.
‘We’ve all done these scenarios in our heads and tried to think of a game plan that we would enact in this situation, but it was definitely a whirlwind of emotions, knowing that this is my community, and the place that I hike three times a week was ablaze,’ he said, noting that the realization that the wind was only going to pick up was ‘unsettling.’
It was at that point, Maholias said, that he realized he had to get out of there.
‘So I got in the car as quickly as I could race through the neighborhoods, and in doing so, saw a lot of families kind of panicking, trying to run and throw things into their cars,’ he recounted.
‘People were going in both directions, presumably back to their families from work, [and] had heard about this [fire].’
‘There was definitely some panic starting to sit in and emergency vehicles were trying to navigate by in the regular lane of traffic up towards the fire, while everyone was in a standstill on the side, headed towards the ocean, westbound.’
Mike Maholias said he soon started to hear sirens outside his home on Sunset Boulevard
Maholias described how he saw two helicopters flying above him, trying to pour water on the inferno as it spread to cover 1,260 acres of the city
More than 100 firefighters and strike teams are now working to get the blaze under control
More than 30,000 people have now fled the city as California issues warn there is an ‘immediate threat to life’
On his way out of the City of Angels, Maholias said he saw a Porsche ‘driving maybe close to 100 miles an hour towards the fire.’
It was ‘an emotionally engaging moment, because you can only build a story in your head about what that person may have been doing – if they had heard from a family member that was in need and was brave enough to drive into harm’s way.’
Maholias then texted his girlfriend, ‘Don’t worry, no matter what happens, I can make it to the ocean if I need to’ – even though he was still stuck in gridlock at that time, and said he could not help but think of 2018’s deadly Camp Fire in northern California.
Still, he said, he was ‘very lucky in that I was on the road before I got the emergency evacuation order on my phone.
‘Looking at the news now and seeing all the abandoned vehicles on the road was pretty startling. It could have been a bad situation,’ Maholias said.
Resident Nina and her daughter also told DailyMail.com they were lucky to drive out with the clothes on their backs and their two small dogs Aspen and Buster.
She described the scene as ‘chaotic’ and ‘frightening’ with people running, sirens blasting and planes full of ocean water buzzing overhead.
‘People are parking their cars on the side of the road, getting out and running for their lives!’ Nina told DailyMail.com. ‘People are literally running down the sidewalks pulling kids by their hands and carrying Louis Vuitton luggage.
‘One guy was running with two Gucci suitcases and a house plant. It is like something out of a disaster movie.’
The Palisades Fire burns a residence to the ground
A helicopter drops water around homes threatened by the wind-driven Palisades Fire
More than 30,000 people have now fled the city as California issues warn there is an ‘immediate threat to life.’
‘This is a lawful order to LEAVE NOW,’ the California Department of Forest and Fire Protection said. ‘The area is lawfully closed to public access.’
Firefighter David Ortiz reiterated the urgent warning: ‘Do not stand in the way of this fire. This is pretty much the worst possible scenario for a firefight.’
Los Angeles City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson declared a state of emergency on Tuesday night – warning that the worst of the windstorm is ‘yet to come.’
Among those who were affected by the fire was Emmy Award-winning actor James Woods, 77, who shared a video of the blaze near his home as he prepared to evacuate.
‘Standing in my driveway ready to evacuate. We’ve got a lot of planes going over dropping water,’ he said. ‘S**t.’
In the video, it appeared as though a house further up on the hills had already been engulfed in flames.
‘We were blessed to have LA fire and police depts doing their jobs so well,’ he later said.
Authorities has issued an ‘immediate’ evacuation order for Pacific Palisades, urging residents to ‘LEAVE NOW.’ ‘Do not stand in the way of this fire,’ Firefighter David Ortiz said
With panicked residents fleeing on foot, the city has enlisted bulldozers to rid the streets of the deserted cars and clear a path for first responders to access the hills, where the fire is raging
‘We are safe and out. There are several elementary schools in our neighborhood and there was an enormous community effort to evacuate the children safely. Can not speak more highly of the LA fire and LAPD.’
Police Academy star Steve Guttenberg also described how people were abandoning their cars, making it difficult for firetrucks to make it up the road.
He urged fellow neighbors to leave their keys in their car if they’re leaving their vehicle behind ‘so guys like me can move your car.’
‘We really need people to move their cars,’ he told KTLA. ‘So if you leave your car on Palisades Drive, leave the key in there.’
The actor said he had friends who can’t get out of their homes due to vehicles left behind.
Los Angeles officials have since enlisted bulldozers to help rid the streets of the deserted cars and clear a path for first responders to access the hills, where the fire is continuing to burn down mansions.
Teslas, BMWs, Porches, and Mercedes were all filmed being dozed out of the way on Tuesday afternoon – as terrified millionaire locals said that the natural disaster felt like an all-encompassing ‘tornado of fire.’
