Wild moment Sunrise reporter is forced to take cover as shopfront explodes during California wildfires

An Australian TV correspondent was forced to take cover during a live broadcast of the Los Angeles bushfires after a storefront suddenly exploded.

Sunrise’s Isabelle Mullen was lying on the ground in Altadena, about 14 miles from LA’s CBD, when her cameraman came within meters of the flames.

“Cam, watch out,” she shouted during the segment.

“We’re just going down a little, guys. A storefront that Cam was standing in front of just went up in flames,” she said.

‘There appears to be gas canisters or something in there that will explode. A piece of the glass has already been pushed out.’

Mullen, wearing a smoke mask, spoke to Channel Seven presenters Monique Wright and Michael Usher about the circumstances.

But amid the visible and horrific destruction in LA, the Australian correspondent didn’t expect to almost be part of the story.

Fortunately, Mullen and her cameraman were not injured in the terrifying encounter and she was able to continue her report.

Mullen (pictured in Canberra) explained that a storefront just meters from where she and her crew were filming started burning furiously, forcing them to move

Mullen said the fires were “out of control” because there were not enough firefighters to safely contain the blazes.

“The authorities cannot get a handle on this at the moment,” she said.

‘You see how many people are currently falling by the wayside. The police are chasing their tails. There’s another fire emergency just ahead. But at the end of the street, like you said, is that gas station.

“They’ve cordoned off a large exclusion zone.”

Mullen said she had noticed a key difference in the way emergency services approached the bushfires in the US and the bushfires in Australia.

“Really, it’s up to individuals to take their safety into their own hands. That’s the only thing I noticed. It’s very different here to Australia,” she said.

“There’s so much damage, so much destruction. They say if you want to go home and pack your things, you go in at your own risk. The responsibility here lies with the owner of the site.’

She said the tragedy was compounded by the fact that some of the destroyed homes might have survived the inferno if there had been better resources.

The tragedy is made worse by the fact that some of the destroyed houses (pictured) might have survived the inferno if there had been better resources.

“A number of homes probably could have been saved if there were just enough firefighters to deal with the ongoing emergency,” Mullen said.

“We saw one building right next to another that was untouched by flames and then a small fire started and the crews (flew) past (to) the next fire and the next street as fast as they could, just on and on. this region.’

So far, two people have died in the LA fires, about 70,000 people have fled their homes and a growing number of multi-million dollar mansions have been destroyed.

High winds have fanned the fires and hampered firefighters’ efforts to control them.

“I was surprised and a little scared by the intensity of the gusts,” an LA resident told Daily Mail Australia.

‘I don’t remember the wind being this strong before. A few times I wondered if we were going to be blown off our feet.”

Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristen Crowley said strong winds that continue to blow through the city and county mean residents are still in danger.

The city’s water systems are also under great pressure.

“The fire department needs the water to fight the fires and we’re fighting a wildfire with urban water systems, and that’s quite a challenge,” said Janisse Quinones, CEO of LA’s Water and Energy Department.