I saw a massive wall of smoke engulf my home… I knew I had to escape the Pacific Palisades wildfire

A Pacific Palisades man has told how he made the potentially life-saving decision to leave the city of Los Angeles as a massive fire continues to spread.

Mike Maholias, 30, told DailyMail.com how he woke up on Tuesday worried about high winds blowing through the city, but still went about his day working from home.

He was in a meeting when the forest fire broke out around 10:30 am. That’s when he started hearing sirens outside his home on Sunset Boulevard.

“So I decided to leave the meeting and run to the roof of my townhouse, which is a third floor,” Maholias said.

“It faces northwest, and as soon as I walked outside I was confronted with a huge, flat wall of smoke and there were tall flames on the mountainside around the Palisades.”

Around him, houses were already on fire as fire trucks tried to navigate the narrow streets on Sunset Boulevard – already backed up as thousands tried to flee their homes.

Two helicopters also flew overhead, attempting to pour water on the inferno as it spread across 1,260 hectares of the city.

The scene “felt like an apocalypse,” he said. ‘My hands started shaking, I started sweating and I knew I had to take action quickly.’

“It was a moment where I was torn because I was so fascinated by what was happening in front of me and shocked by the fact that I had been so oblivious to it just a few minutes earlier,” Maholias explained.

“And the other side of my brain knew it was time to make smart decisions, because whatever I did in the next 10 to 15 minutes would determine how effective my evacuation would be.

“We all did these scenarios in our heads and tried to come up with a game plan that we would execute in this situation, but it was definitely a whirlwind of emotions knowing that this is my community, and the place where I walk three times. was on fire once a week,” he said, noting that the realization that the winds were only going to increase was “disturbing.”

At that moment, Maholias said, he realized he had to get out of there.

“So I got in the car as fast as I could and raced through the neighborhoods. While I was doing that, I saw many families panicking, trying to run away and throwing things in their cars,” he said.

‘People were going both ways, probably back to their families from work, [and] had heard about this [fire].’

“There was clearly some panic and emergency vehicles were trying to navigate past in the normal lane towards the fire, while everyone was standing still on the side, towards the ocean, heading west.”

As he left the City of Angels, Maholias said he saw a Porsche “going maybe close to 100 miles per hour toward the fire.”

It was “an emotionally compelling moment, because you can only build a story in your mind about what that person might have done — if he or she had heard of a family member who was in distress and brave enough to drive into danger.”

Maholias then texted his girlfriend: “Don’t worry, whatever happens, I can reach the ocean if I need to” – even though he was still stuck at the time, saying he couldn’t help but think . of the deadly 2018 Camp Fire in Northern California.

Still, he said he was “very lucky that I was on the road before I got the emergency evacuation order on my phone.

“When I looked at the news now and saw all these abandoned vehicles on the road, it was quite surprising. It could have been a bad situation,” Maholias said.

Resident Nina and her daughter also told DailyMail.com they were lucky to drive away 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 blaring and planes full of ocean water buzzing overhead.

‘People park their cars on the side of the road, get out and run for their lives!’ Nina told DailyMail.com. “People are literally running on the sidewalks, pulling children by their hands and carrying Louis Vuitton luggage.

‘A man ran away with two Gucci suitcases and a houseplant. It looks like something out of a disaster movie.’

More than 30,000 people have now fled the city as California Issues warn there is an ‘imminent threat to life’.

“This is a lawful order to LEAVE NOW,” the California Department of Forest and Fire Protection said. “The area is legally closed to the public.”

Firefighter David Ortiz reiterated the urgent warning: “Don’t 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 Tuesday evening, warning that the worst of the storm is “yet to come.”

Among those 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.

“I’m standing in my driveway, ready to evacuate. There are a lot of planes flying over dropping water,” he said. ‘S**t.’

In the video, it appeared as if a house further up the hills was already engulfed in flames.

“We were blessed that the LA fire and police departments did their jobs so well,” he said later.

‘We’re safe and gone. There are several primary schools in our area and there has been a huge community effort to evacuate the children safely. “I can’t say more about the LA fire and the LAPD.”

Police Academy star Steve Guttenberg also described how people were abandoning their cars, making it difficult for fire trucks to get onto the road.

He urged fellow neighbors to leave their keys in their cars when they abandon their cars “so guys like me can move your car.”

“We really need people to move their cars,” he said KTL. “So if you leave your car on Palisades Drive, leave the key in there.”

The actor said he had friends who couldn’t leave their homes because of abandoned vehicles.

Officials in Los Angeles have since called in bulldozers to help clear the streets of abandoned cars and clear a path for first responders to access the hills, where the fire continues to burn mansions.

Teslas, BMWs, Porches and Mercedes were all filmed dozing on Tuesday afternoon – as terrified local millionaires said the natural disaster felt like an all-encompassing ‘tornado of fire’.