20 20 2025 S01 E10
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00:00Tonight, a deadly inferno, the city of angels ablaze.
00:05Everything is catching fire here.
00:07Trash bins, shrubs, trees.
00:10There's a fire right outside our car.
00:12The fear.
00:13I mean, this is utterly terrifying.
00:15Yeah, let's get out of here.
00:16The lives shattered.
00:17I don't know how we're going to get back from this.
00:19The heroes racing in.
00:21Tonight, the breaking new special.
00:24We are utterly surrounded by fire.
00:26That building there is fully engulfed.
00:28The horror and the hope.
00:30I don't know how we're going to get through it, but we will.
00:34David Muir reporting.
00:35Home after home here, destroyed.
00:37Thousands of structures.
00:39Families returning to find that they have nothing left.
00:43American catastrophe, LA burning.
00:47Now reporting, David Muir.
00:51Good evening, and welcome to this special edition of 2020
00:54Tonight from Los Angeles, where an American catastrophe
00:57is unfolding.
00:58Wildfires ripping through this iconic city
01:00known around the world.
01:01From the movies to the glamour.
01:03From the beauty of the coastline to the homes in the hills.
01:07Home to 18 million people from all walks of life.
01:10And tonight, Los Angeles is a city shaken and suffering
01:13after devastating loss here.
01:15At least 11 dead now.
01:17More than 10,000 homes and structures have been lost.
01:19More than 150,000 still under evacuation orders tonight.
01:23The first fire is still burning tonight.
01:25And this evening, the stunning images.
01:27Just moments ago, our station here in Los Angeles, KABC,
01:31up over a new flare up in the Santa Monica mountains.
01:33These are the images coming in right now.
01:35This is part of the Palisades fire,
01:37spreading tonight three days
01:39after the first fires broke out here.
01:41Extending evacuation warnings
01:42into new neighborhoods at this hour,
01:44as we come on the air for this special edition of 2020.
01:47Tonight, we take you through it all
01:49from the powerful first images of the Palisades fire.
01:52Homes completely engulfed in flames,
01:54fueled by wind gusts up to 100 miles an hour.
01:57Over the last three days, several new fires.
02:00In Hollywood, the Sunset Fire erupting in the hills
02:03just north of Hollywood Boulevard,
02:04quadrupling in size in just minutes,
02:06not far from the famous Hollywood sign.
02:09A torrent of embers spreading the fires from house to house.
02:12A man running through those embers from his burning home
02:15after realizing it was impossible to save.
02:18In those first early hours, residents of a nursing home
02:21evacuated in the middle of the night,
02:22many wearing masks to protect themselves
02:25from the dangerous air.
02:27Evacuees driving on the Pacific Coast Highway
02:29through Malibu as the fire burned
02:31every structure along the way.
02:33As the evacuation spread, the chaos, homeowners,
02:35families stuck in traffic, abandoning their cars,
02:38a man helping his elderly father-in-law
02:41through the smoke right there.
02:42Firefighters from all over the country now stepping in,
02:45but most live right here,
02:46working around the clock in horrific conditions,
02:49some losing their own homes while they save others.
02:52They are the true heroes here.
02:54Tonight, we're with so many families
02:55returning to their homes for the first time.
02:57I was with one dad.
02:58He raced to school amid the evacuations to get his boys,
03:01his wife staying back to save their valuable documents.
03:04They lost everything, but they have each other, he told me.
03:08Late today, our ABC News exclusive,
03:10I flew up over the fires with CAL FIRE,
03:12and while we were in the air,
03:13we witnessed not only the devastation
03:15along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu
03:17and Pacific Palisades, but the urgent effort.
03:20Three days into this disaster,
03:22the fires still burning,
03:23the water being dropped to save homes
03:25as we're on the air tonight.
03:27Our team across the fire zone tonight
03:29and KABC meteorologist, Leslie Lopez,
03:32and the new threat, what they're seeing
03:33with these winds and the forecast
03:35that concerns them tonight.
03:37But we begin this evening with the images
03:39and a city forever changed.
03:45Tonight, it's been just over 72 hours
03:47since Los Angeles began burning,
03:50a city now forever changed.
03:52The deadly apocalyptic scenes,
03:54nine separate wildfires tearing
03:56through America's second largest city.
03:58Tonight here, the firefighters
04:00and the first responders have not stopped.
04:04Tonight, the ABC News exclusive,
04:06we take flight with CAL FIRE
04:08up over the Pacific Coast Highway,
04:10headed toward the Pacific Palisades.
04:12And the first images we see here, the coastline,
04:15the homes of Malibu that once lie in the ocean are gone.
04:19It's just stunning to look at this stretch
04:21along the Pacific Coast Highway here in Malibu.
04:23You can see it right over the shoulder here.
04:25Home after home just completely gone.
04:28They are taking us to where they say
04:29there is a firefight right now from the air.
04:32They are now dropping water.
04:34But before we even get there, over this ridge,
04:36the Pacific Palisades, entire communities wiped away,
04:40homes burned to the ground.
04:43This is just a devastating view
04:44as we fly over Pacific Palisades.
04:46You can see down below just how quickly these fires spread.
04:51CAL FIRE Deputy Incident Commander, Justin McComb.
04:54When you look at the scope of the devastation here,
04:56what kind of winds were you dealing with
04:58in those first 24 hours?
05:01The winds that we saw were 70, 80 miles an hour
05:05along the Pacific Coast Highway.
05:07And that was what the environment
05:09the firefighters were dealing with.
05:10There was embers just flying across laterally.
05:14Very difficult to even do anything
05:16as far as perimeter control.
05:17There was zero putting the edges of the fire out.
05:20It was mainly going house to house
05:21and protecting as many homes as you could.
05:24And the priority was to work for the life safety
05:26to try to get people out of the fire.
05:28He tells me three days into this historic disaster,
05:31they are still fighting the fires here.
05:33We see bulldozers on this ridge trapping the fire.
05:37You can see the flames burning over our shoulder here.
05:39This is now three days into this.
05:41Almost impossible to get to that.
05:44Choppers in the air, crossing the canyon, dropping water,
05:48trying to protect the homes with flames moving in.
05:51You can see the urgent effort here right now.
05:53This is Topeka Canyon.
05:54They're trying to save the homes in Fernwood.
05:56That helicopter just dropped water from the air.
06:00Three days into this disaster,
06:03they are still fighting fires here.
06:05And they have a tool now at their disposal,
06:06which is water in the air.
06:09There are so many fires still burning here.
06:11More than 72 hours now after the first fires began.
06:15Back on the ground tonight, the families returning home
06:18to see what, if anything, is left.
06:21The father who told me his wife, his two boys are safe,
06:24but they lost everything.
06:27And while we were in that neighborhood,
06:29we learned of another family nearby.
06:31They had not been back.
06:33One of the children, 21-year-old Jacob Brown,
06:36going back today.
06:37And he showed me what he found.
06:39David, I'm sure you saw, the entire town is gone.
06:43Our lives, our homes, our friends,
06:46everyone has lost everything.
06:49I don't understand how you can attempt
06:51to rebuild an entire community
06:52without schools and roads and homes.
06:55It's devastation beyond the comprehensible.
07:00Jacob's childhood home, now nothing but ashes.
07:05He rings the doorbell of a friend's home,
07:07haunting because it still rings,
07:09though behind it, there is nothing left.
07:12The alarms still ringing here
07:14in what was once a church and a school.
07:18There's still hotspots, active fire.
07:20Just a few miles to the east,
07:22David Hansen is still waiting to get back in
07:24to see his mother's home.
07:25LA Fire Department, total heroes, doing a great job.
07:29David giving a thumbs up to the firefighters.
07:33His mother, a senior, capturing video from outside her home.
07:36Just 30 minutes after the fire broke out nearby.
07:41Her neighbors were trying to use water from their pool
07:44to protect their home.
07:46Tonight, across Los Angeles, at least 11 lives now lost.
07:50It's believed more than 12,000 structures,
07:52homes and businesses, damaged or destroyed.
07:55More than 55 square miles burned.
07:58More than 150,000 under evacuation orders.
08:02Since the first fires broke out Tuesday morning,
08:05around the densely populated 25 mile expanse
08:07north of downtown LA.
08:09Tonight, still no cause has been identified
08:12for any of the largest of these fires.
08:14The Eaton Fire in Altadena and Pasadena
08:17is now the most destructive in LA history.
08:20KABC reporter, Leanne Suter, was live on the air
08:23just after it broke out.
08:25It is just a sea, a massive wall of embers
08:28that just get blown across the area here.
08:32And it's those embers that really are the big concern
08:35because it could get lodged in any of the homes
08:36next door.
08:37It also could start fires just, you know,
08:40more than a mile away.
08:42The Kennet Fire erupting late yesterday afternoon
08:45near the Ventura County line.
08:48Firefighters battling the blaze from the ground.
08:50Helicopters dropping water from above.
08:54And tonight here, an eerie new look at the wildfires.
08:57A home security camera capturing the moment's flames
09:00close in on Walter and Yalda Cece's Altadena home.
09:04Embers flying through the air.
09:07The couple had evacuated and now they're back.
09:11It's overwhelming.
09:13I don't know how we're gonna get through it, but we will.
09:17I know we will.
09:18It's just gonna be a long process.
09:21They and their two dogs are safe, but they have nothing.
09:25And like so many here, they tell us they will rebuild.
09:29While back in the air tonight,
09:30firefighters dropping water from above while they can,
09:34knowing dangerous winds are ahead.
09:36What do you think about these firefighters
09:37that really haven't had a break since this started?
09:39And to look at this forecast and see that these winds
09:41are coming yet again, what do you think?
09:44It's tough, but you know, we've bolstered our assets.
09:49We've actually had not only some of the regional resources
09:53from Southern California,
09:54but we've got resources from Northern California.
09:57We've got resources from Nevada, Colorado on the way.
10:01So we've got resources coming in to back us up on this.
10:04With these winds returning?
10:05Correct.
10:06The first report of wildfires here, 1030 Tuesday morning.
10:10And tonight, more than three days later,
10:12they have been unrelenting.
10:14Across Los Angeles, nine wildfires breaking out
10:17in just more than 72 hours here.
10:19All this is gonna be gone.
10:22We traveled with CAL FIRE Battalion Chief Brent Pescois,
10:25who says he has never seen anything like this.
10:27We're on the Pacific Coast Highway.
10:29We turn into one of the neighborhoods
10:31in Pacific Palisades, this small school burning.
10:34You can hear the bangs going off.
10:36Yeah, yeah, the fire's ripping through
10:37that school right there.
10:39The cars here charred.
10:41And then we see it, home after home, burning.
10:44It's just jumping from home to home right now.
10:46With this wind, there's nothing to stop it.
10:51As we drive up into the hills, the charred cars,
10:54where families simply stopped, got out, and escaped.
10:57These people who were coming down from the hills here
11:00decided to give up because the fire was encroaching?
11:03Right, right.
11:04The traffic was so bad, they figured their chances
11:06were better getting out on foot
11:08and running the rest of the way out of here.
11:10I mean, it's an apocalyptic scene here.
11:12It is, it is.
11:14You see where the bulldozer had to come through
11:17and push the cars aside so we can get up here.
11:20The bulldozers moving the cars
11:22so that fire trucks could get through.
11:24So we're now 24 hours into this disaster,
11:27and we've got another multiple homes in a row here in flames.
11:31Yeah, the wind is just pushing this fire
11:33from home to home to home, and you'll see it.
11:35It's even running down canyon to the homes
11:37that are below these homes.
11:38So there's just no stopping it
11:40when the winds are this strong.
11:41Everything's gonna burn.
11:43We walk through the darkened neighborhoods here,
11:45smoke hovering over the homes,
11:47many still crackling from the flames.
11:50Overnight, Joshua Oppheim and his dog
11:52trying to escape the fires
11:54surrounding them on Sunset Boulevard.
11:56Embers coming off.
11:59Thousands of firefighters spanning out,
12:01racing to contain the flames,
12:03the new fires jumping from home to home.
12:05Bro, I don't.
12:06And residents here doing whatever they can.
12:09This young man, Orly Israel, trying to use a fire hose
12:12to beat back the flames in his own backyard.
12:15Bro, we gotta go.
12:15You can hear the intense fire crackling.
12:19Oh.
12:20Fire alarm going off.
12:22Yeah, let's get out of here.
12:24We tried.
12:25His friend there, Tanner Schaaf,
12:26wearing a mask, trying to help him,
12:28trying to save the home.
12:30We tried our best.
12:31They both escaped through the front door,
12:33running to safety.
12:34The homes, the trees, all around them on fire.
12:37There's nothing we can do now, bro.
12:39And then they pray.
12:41God, protect this house in the name of Jesus.
12:45Protect this neighborhood, God, in Jesus' name,
12:47I pray, amen.
12:48Palisades, I see LAV1.
12:50The biggest fire, the Palisades Fire,
12:52entire streets engulfed.
12:54One firefighter with a hose trained at the front door,
12:57though every home there on fire.
12:59Some 40 miles away, the Eaton Fire in Pasadena.
13:03The Pasadena Preschool Academy on fire.
13:07The residents at this senior living facility,
13:09the terraces at Park Merino, rushed out of their bedrooms,
13:13wearing masks to protect them from the air.
13:16They were rescued.
13:17A heroic effort by the LA Fire Department
13:19and emergency response teams across the region tonight.
13:23They are saving lives amidst the horror.
13:26The scope of the loss here, though, is unimaginable.
13:29It's devastating.
13:30It's devastating, and I feel for those people.
13:32I've spoke to some of them.
13:33I hear it in their voices.
13:35It just, it tears at my heartstrings, too.
13:39But like I said, at the end of the day, they were alive.
13:43They knew they would rebuild and come back better.
13:46And I just gave them a hug and I said,
13:48please reach out with anything you need.
13:50Well, there's no question you've saved lives here.
13:52That was our goal.
13:53That's our number one priority.
13:57The sun glow in the sky over Los Angeles,
14:00reflecting a new reality for this city.
14:03Shining through the heavy smoke
14:05as some of the most destructive wildfires
14:06in the history of Los Angeles rage on tonight.
14:09The devastation for miles.
14:12We saw firsthand what is left
14:14and the sounds of the fire alarms ringing out.
14:18Everywhere you go, you can hear sort of the alarms
14:21still going off, long after the fires here.
14:24And it's not just the neighborhoods
14:26where you see home after home.
14:27This used to be the grocery store right here,
14:31completely hollowed out.
14:33And then over my shoulder here, if you look right up,
14:36you can see nothing left
14:37but the tattered American flag there,
14:41covered in soot and torn.
14:46And torn, but still hanging.
14:50In this neighborhood, we are told about the first home
14:52that caught fire and how it then spread.
14:55One neighbor alerting the others.
14:57This was the house here on the corner that began to burn.
15:01And then they alerted everyone down the street
15:02to get out of their homes
15:03because they knew it was just a matter of time
15:05before the flames jumped from house to house,
15:08which is exactly what it did.
15:09Not only on this block, but on every block,
15:12you can see the one off in the distance.
15:16The next block here, you can see
15:19the fire ripped through here as well.
15:24As far as the eye can see, really not a home left standing.
15:30The damage here is difficult to put into words.
15:33The cars here in the streets incinerated
15:37what's left of sort of the burned out,
15:39charred metal frame here, just sitting on the street here.
15:43And if you look across the street,
15:46there's still some embers burning here.
15:49But you can see right in this yard here,
15:51the washer and dryer sitting.
15:53That's just about all you can make out.
15:57And we met families returning to their homes
15:59for the first time.
16:00This husband and father of two,
16:02Alessandro Vigilante, had not been home yet.
16:05Have you seen your house yet?
16:08The father had raced to school
16:09to pick up his boys under evacuation orders,
16:12his wife staying behind.
16:15He's trying to grab their most important documents.
16:19I'm sorry.
16:21He sees for the first time what is left.
16:26That's the entrance.
16:27And this was the living room, the subway TV.
16:30He tells me this used to be one of the boys' rooms.
16:32My wife was here and she just collected
16:36what she could and then left.
16:38What was she able to save?
16:40The documents, mainly the documents.
16:42I took a couple of stupid things,
16:45like my son's perfume,
16:47because he has a wee-wee ton of the toilet.
16:49His cologne.
16:50His cologne.
16:52Yeah, just something emotionally related,
16:55but nothing, yeah, nothing.
16:58But nothing else?
16:59No.
17:00Taking what they could and grateful to have their lives.
17:05Aidan Khan returning to his home in the Pacific Palisades,
17:08making his way up Sunset Boulevard.
17:10Bedroom right here.
17:13His apartment completely destroyed.
17:16Here's our patio.
17:19Here's the front entrance.
17:23The elevator's still there.
17:26But with the winds, there is still so much uncertainty.
17:30Another major fire breaking out,
17:32this time in the Hollywood Hills, the Sunset Fire.
17:35The gridlock, the panic to get out.
17:38At the Eden Fire in Altadena,
17:40fire crews using saws to cut open garage doors
17:43for their fire hoses to reach the flames inside.
17:45This is what's left of the auditorium
17:47at the Elliott Arts Magnet Academy Middle School,
17:50the scorched row of chairs.
17:52A satellite image over that fire,
17:55showing nearly nothing was spared.
17:57Back at the Palisades fire,
17:59we're learning of some familiar names
18:01have lost their homes as well.
18:03Some well-known actors, including actor Billy Crystal.
18:07He and his wife Janice telling ABC News
18:09they have lived in their home since 1979,
18:12raising their children and grandchildren there,
18:14saying, quote,
18:15we pray for the safety of the firefighters
18:17and first responders.
18:19The Pacific Palisades is a resilient community
18:21of amazing people,
18:22and we know in time it will rise again.
18:25It is our home.
18:28Less than 24 hours after those two friends,
18:31Orly and Tanner, tried to use a hose
18:33to beat back the flames in Orly's backyard.
18:37Yeah, let's get out of here.
18:38We tried, we tried, bro.
18:41Tanner returning to his friend's home the next day.
18:44This is my first time back to the house from last night,
18:48as this is Orly's home.
18:56There is literally nothing left.
19:01While back at that home in Pacific Palisades
19:03that once stood,
19:04that father, Alessandro, telling me he is grateful
19:08that he has his family.
19:09They lost everything, but they have each other.
19:12And he also believes tonight
19:14that every one of his immediate neighbors were saved too.
19:17I mean, I think it's impossible for people
19:21around the country to look at this
19:23and understand the scope of this devastation.
19:25Everything is gone.
19:26Yeah.
19:27But you've got your boys and you've got your wife.
19:29Yeah, exactly.
19:30Yeah.
19:30And we figured out the rest.
19:34I'm glad you're here.
19:35Thanks.
19:36And that you're okay.
19:36Thank you so much.
19:37Thanks.
19:41Well, I think about that father
19:43and about all of the families who we have met here
19:45and they have all said the same thing.
19:47Even though they have lost everything,
19:49they still have each other.
19:50And I so appreciate their bravery
19:52in sharing their stories with us.
19:54And we should point out the firefighters.
19:56So many have not stopped
19:57since the first fires broke out here.
19:59Their strength, they have not given up.
20:01They are the real heroes here.
20:03Our Matt Gutman has been reporting on the fire lines
20:05since the first flames broke out,
20:08witnessing the firefighters and the desperate battle
20:09from the very start against the flames.
20:12An army of firefighters on the front lines here
20:14in harrowing conditions,
20:15reports of hydrants without water or with little pressure.
20:18There will be many questions here
20:20in the days and weeks ahead about this.
20:21Tonight, Matt Gutman on some of those questions
20:24and on the firefighters,
20:25their bravery and the one firehouse that survived,
20:28the only building left standing in one community.
20:32It's hard for the mind to comprehend
20:33everything we're seeing here.
20:35Large building behind me is engulfed.
20:37All of the houses down this street.
20:40Temesco, on fire.
20:43But swirling around them,
20:44controversy about whether Los Angeles officials
20:46failed to supply enough water
20:48and deploy enough firefighters.
20:51Lots of talk about the water running out,
20:53that you were fighting a fire
20:55without all the resources necessary.
20:58As all these homes actually do burn down,
21:02and a lot of them have their own fire sprinkler systems,
21:05that those sprinkler systems become compromised
21:08as the house burns down and the water will free flow.
21:11As we see our gauges go down lower and lower,
21:14we knew we were getting low on water.
21:15Tonight, ABC News has confirmed a nearby
21:17117 million gallon reservoir that feeds Pacific Palisades
21:22has been taken offline for repairs
21:24well before the fires broke out.
21:27If you'd had all the resources and all the water,
21:30would it have made a difference here?
21:31I've been on the job for 36 years,
21:34and I've never seen weather like that.
21:37It was a hurricane-force wind with fire involved.
21:40It was indescribable.
21:42California burning.
21:44This is the week of living dangerously in L.A.
21:47The Palisades fire extremely hot and incredibly close.
21:50You're just evacuating now?
21:52What's going on up there?
21:53There are houses on fire up in the corner
21:55and all the way down that street.
21:57I've seen tons of fires.
21:58This is nothing.
21:59I was scared for my life.
22:02It's terrifying.
22:03Angelino's on the run, caught in gridlock traffic,
22:05abandoning vehicles to fate and fire.
22:08In order for firefighters to actually get to the fires,
22:12they had to carve a path,
22:13and so a bulldozer literally shoved
22:16all of these cars to the side.
22:17You can see the bumpers ripped off,
22:20the scratches along the vehicles here.
22:22There's glass in the roadway,
22:24and the terrified motorists here,
22:27they had to flee to safety on foot.
22:2920,000 acres of heartbreak.
22:32Fires so ferocious, it calls for a new measurement,
22:35burn rate, five football fields per minute.
22:38And you can feel the intensity of the heat.
22:40Now it's lighting up the trees here,
22:42and this is how all of these new fires
22:45are being created here.
22:46On Malibu Beach, lifeguard stations ablaze
22:49with the ocean right there,
22:51but not close enough to save homes and businesses
22:53along the Pacific Coast Highway.
22:55It is like driving through hell itself down here.
23:01Literally through hell.
23:03This is madness down here.
23:05Fire, flames, inferno.
23:07By day three, words and water fail,
23:11but the burning is without end.
23:13The sad cycle goes like this.
23:15Fire comes, people run.
23:18The fire finishes, and people,
23:20like this couple we spotted in the ashes
23:22of an apartment building,
23:23come back to count their losses.
23:26And a combination of fear and hope
23:27as Gail McGowan recovers a safe,
23:30a fireproof safe that remains to be seen.
23:33Is this your safe?
23:34It is.
23:35Wanted to get to it before the looters got to it.
23:37McGowan had lived here for 22 years
23:39since her husband died,
23:40and she was hoping that one particular ring
23:43had survived that heat.
23:44I mean, I gotta save something.
23:46Look at everything else.
23:46This is my home right here.
23:48On her way out, she had grabbed her phone,
23:50nursing scrubs, but little else.
23:52The documents, passport, things like that.
23:54Nothing.
23:55Are somewhere here.
23:56Yeah, come on, yeah.
23:58Everything, everything, everything, everything.
23:59Minutes later, the fire still flickering,
24:01a friend Mario heaving that safe off the building.
24:07He left to get a shopping cart
24:08and came back with cops on a patrol.
24:11Do you have your ID with you, ma'am?
24:12You bet.
24:13The officers were concerned about looters,
24:15made sure that Gail's ID matched the address
24:17of where they were.
24:20Then they cracked the safe.
24:22Oh, look.
24:23Oh, yeah, way to go.
24:25These your rings?
24:25Yeah, my wedding rings.
24:27Thursday, authorities announced the arrest of 20 looters.
24:29We asked the LAPD about that.
24:31Oh, it's huge, it's huge.
24:33You have million dollar homes all intact,
24:35rows and rows of them,
24:36and there's really no way to police this area
24:40effectively right now.
24:41Pacific Palisades, right now,
24:43could just be taken off the map.
24:46It's, there is no Pacific Palisades.
24:49Matt, I'm still thinking about that moment with the safe
24:51and what they found when you were able to crack it open.
24:53I wanna bring in Matt Gutman here tonight,
24:55who's been out there reporting from the fire lines
24:58since these fires broke out.
25:00And Matt, as you know, there've been a lot of reports
25:01about firefighters running out of water
25:03in Pacific Palisades or dealing with hoses
25:05that had very little water pressure.
25:07I know authorities have been pressed on this.
25:09There's so much still to learn about this,
25:11but what have you heard from the firefighters themselves
25:13about what they faced in those early days?
25:17In short, David, impossible odds.
25:19100 foot walls of flame, 80 mile per hour winds,
25:22and yes, a shortage of staff and water.
25:24And city officials are acknowledging
25:26that shutting off certain utilities
25:28did affect the water pressure here.
25:30One reason that Governor Gavin Newsom
25:32is demanding an independent investigation
25:34into these water issues,
25:35calling it deeply disturbing, David.
25:39Yeah, they said they shut off the utilities
25:41because they were fearful the power lines
25:42would actually contribute to more fires,
25:44but there'll be questions about the back and forth
25:47of that decision-making.
25:48A lot of questions ahead,
25:49and Matt, I know you're gonna continue to follow it for us.
25:51Matt, thank you.
25:52When we come back here tonight,
25:54amid heartbreaking loss and the hope of recovery,
25:56tonight right here, the family's sifting through the ashes,
25:59what some have discovered,
26:00and this is really moving later here.
26:02The family's hoping to rebuild their homes,
26:04and real questions now
26:05about a potential insurance crisis here.
26:07Will families be covered?
26:09And real concern tonight about the Santa Ana winds again,
26:11what they're now expecting in the hours
26:13and the days ahead all over again.
26:16And then later tonight right here,
26:17a remarkable effort to help.
26:19The idea that is now taken off,
26:21and how you could help tonight too.
26:23Los Angeles Strong.
26:33Welcome back.
26:34And tonight, thousands of homes in the Los Angeles area
26:36have been destroyed by these fires.
26:38180,000 people have been evacuated.
26:41Up to 200,000 more are under evacuation warnings tonight.
26:44In fact, they've been told
26:45that they must be ready to leave at a moment's notice
26:47with the threat of these strong winds
26:49returning in the forecast.
26:51Many have lost everything already
26:53and have begun that search for anything
26:55to remember the life they had in their cherished homes.
26:58Our own Kana Whitworth is among those
27:00under evacuation orders tonight,
27:02and Kana is still reporting for us right here this evening.
27:09As we see so many images
27:11of the thousands of homes damaged and destroyed,
27:14it's overwhelming to realize
27:16that every single one of them held a story.
27:18That is the living room.
27:19Uh-huh, that's the front entrance.
27:21Beyond that, there was a bedroom.
27:23If I could only have found one thing, this was it.
27:26It's the bill that we have at the front of the house,
27:29and it came from my husband's childhood home.
27:32In the Pacific Palisades, I met with a woman, Patricia,
27:36her home of more than 40 years destroyed.
27:39At our age, it's gonna take years to come back
27:44for a village, for a beautiful town to come back.
27:48It's surreal.
27:51I'm numb.
27:52And while we spoke, she pulled out the only thing
27:55she could salvage from her home.
27:57This was from my daughter's bathroom.
28:00Her bathroom was blue and white,
28:03and the turtles went around the vanity, the tile,
28:06and I found it.
28:08It was the only thing I found.
28:12We got it, Dad. We got it.
28:13Roughly 180,000 people in Los Angeles,
28:16including myself, have been evacuated from their homes.
28:19We are utterly surrounded by fire.
28:21Broken memories are everywhere.
28:23You're just right over there.
28:24Just last May, I interviewed Rikki Lake.
28:27We sat in her stunning dream home overlooking Malibu.
28:30Every day is like magic here for me.
28:33But just yesterday.
28:33This is what's happening right now.
28:36She posted news of her own evacuation on social media.
28:39Oh, my gosh.
28:40Writing about that dream home, it's all gone.
28:45Cameron Matheson, star of General Hospital,
28:47says the grief of losing a home,
28:49which he documented on his social media,
28:51will impact his family for generations to come.
28:54My daughter in particular said
28:56that she wanted to raise her kids in that house,
28:58and she said that actually less than a week ago.
29:01Like, why would she say that now,
29:02right before it burns down?
29:08You know, it's really something the well-known names
29:10and the families from all walks of life,
29:13everyone in this together, having lost their homes.
29:15Kana Whitworth with us tonight.
29:16And Kana, I know you, like so many of our colleagues,
29:19had to evacuate your home.
29:21If you don't mind me asking on the air tonight,
29:22I've checked in with you off the air,
29:24but again, how are the boys doing,
29:26and have you been able to check in on your home tonight?
29:30Oh, David, you're so kind.
29:32Look, my boys are doing well.
29:33We're not able to return home yet,
29:35but I did have the opportunity to check on my house,
29:37and there is active firefight going on right near my home,
29:41water drops and the like,
29:43but I stand here tonight in utter gratitude to firefighters
29:46that my boys still have something to go home to
29:50because of scenes like that.
29:52And I also want to pass along to people watching
29:55that we are in this with you, and we are in this for you,
29:58and we will continue to tell these stories, David,
30:01because as you know, this is far from over.
30:05Yeah, well, I know you don't want to pat on the back,
30:07but you are dedicated, and you're just like everyone else
30:09from this Southern California community
30:11who are in this together, still fighting every day.
30:14Thank you, Kena.
30:15When we come back here,
30:16families facing a devastating reality now,
30:18how to rebuild their homes, and the real question tonight,
30:21will insurance actually cover this?
30:23And there is concern about dangerous winds
30:25now in the forecast again tonight,
30:26what we're now learning about the days ahead.
30:28KABC meteorologist Leslie Lopez is standing by,
30:30her own father, a longtime L.A. firefighter,
30:33and what she's now expecting with these winds.
30:35The new forecast is in, it's concerning,
30:38and we'll have it here in a moment.
30:44Welcome back tonight.
30:45We now know the Eaton Fire has destroyed more homes
30:47than any other wildfire in Los Angeles history,
30:50many turning to shelters now,
30:52and long-term, there are already real questions
30:54about whether insurance will cover this for these families.
30:58Mola Lengi in Altadena tonight.
31:01Meet Travis Hayden.
31:03His house burned down in the Palisades fire.
31:07I lived in the Pacific Palisades in a mobile home community.
31:13I loved living in the Pacific Palisades
31:14because I loved to surf.
31:16There were 176 units there, and they're all gone.
31:23It was completely leveled.
31:24I dug through some rubble.
31:26There was some ceramics that had survived,
31:29but really nothing.
31:31Everything was burned, melted, destroyed.
31:34Now, many homeowners like Hayden
31:36are facing another nightmare, an insurance crisis.
31:39When I moved in, the first thing I did
31:42was try and secure insurance,
31:45and it turns out that because my home was built in 1957,
31:50anything before 1976 is incredibly difficult
31:54to secure fire insurance for.
31:57Every time I tried to get insurance, it was just denied.
32:00Hayden is just one of many California residents
32:03who couldn't even procure fire coverage,
32:05but Hayden's story is putting a spotlight
32:07on the insurance crisis, which has been years in the making.
32:11The 2018 Camp Fire was, at the time,
32:14the most destructive fire in California history,
32:17costing insurance companies billions
32:19and starting a reassessment
32:21of how they do business in the state.
32:23It's led to skyrocketing prices for homeowners
32:25to keep any policy and thousands of canceled policies.
32:29As for Hayden, he has no choice
32:31but to figure out what he can do next.
32:33It's simply my home.
32:35I can't imagine living anywhere else.
32:39Well, David, right now, there's an estimated $20 billion
32:43in insured losses, and as you know,
32:44those fires are still burning.
32:46By the way, David, the homeowner we spoke to, Travis Hayden,
32:48he's currently staying with friends, like so many others,
32:51turning to friends, family, hotels, shelters.
32:54This, while he tries to figure out what to do next,
32:56is how he's going to rebuild his life
32:59without insurance, David.
33:02A really overwhelming road ahead, Mola, thank you.
33:04When we come back here,
33:05what started out as a random act of kindness
33:07has now turned into a major,
33:08spontaneous relief effort tonight,
33:11and this evening, how you can help as well.
33:13And just moments ago, our station, KABC,
33:14up above yet another new flare
33:16up in the Santa Monica Mountains tonight.
33:17This is between Tarzana and the Pacific Palisades,
33:20prompting evacuation warnings in new neighborhoods,
33:23including Brentwood.
33:24And the winds, we have the new forecast
33:27right after the break.
33:32Well, tonight, there is growing concern
33:34about the forecast here in the Los Angeles area.
33:36Meteorologist, Leslie Lopez,
33:37from our station here in LA, KABC, is here.
33:40I mentioned earlier, her own father,
33:42a longtime LA firefighter.
33:44Leslie, you grew up learning about these Santa Ana winds.
33:46Your father knew the danger all too well.
33:48What do you expect in the hours and days ahead here?
33:51Yeah, David, thank you so much.
33:53You know, he just worked down the street here.
33:54Fire station 42 in Eagle Rock,
33:56and we are expecting calm winds for the time being,
33:58but boy, that is going to change.
34:00Right now, we are now reissuing some fire weather watches.
34:04This is going to be extending from Temecula
34:06all the way out towards Thousand Oaks,
34:08because Saturday night into Sunday,
34:09wind speeds will be reinvigorated
34:11by an area of high pressure.
34:13There you go, 43 mile per hour winds over into Thousand Oaks.
34:16We're gonna move you off into Monday,
34:17because this looks like it'll be the stronger
34:19of the wind events that will be taking place here
34:22over the next coming days.
34:25This will not be as extreme as the wind event
34:27that just passed, but again, this high pressure center
34:29will sit over the four corners, bringing with it
34:31another strong Santa Ana Monday into Tuesday.
34:35So again, that elevates our fire danger once more,
34:37likely bringing in some red flag warnings.
34:39David, back over your way.
34:41So watching closely right into the next Monday and Tuesday.
34:44Leslie, thank you.
34:45And so many of you at home have been asking,
34:47how could there have been so many homes lost here?
34:50Matt Rivers tonight on the perfect storm of severe drought
34:53and these record Santa Ana winds.
34:56Normally, the lush mountains and deep arroyos
34:59of the City of Angels are a gorgeous backdrop
35:02for the region.
35:03But this week, a combination of extreme weather
35:06and climate forces created a devastating scenario.
35:10And all of this is a far cry from this same time last year,
35:14when we saw historic flooding here in Los Angeles.
35:19We've had more than a month's worth of rain
35:21in just the last 12 hours.
35:24But in the months following that devastation,
35:26LA has been experiencing a severe drought.
35:29Experts call it hydroclimate whiplash,
35:32rapid swings between intensely wet
35:35and dangerously dry weather.
35:37And we're dealing with actually two record wet winters
35:41the last two years, which had kept fires low,
35:43but all of that water had actually helped our forests
35:46and our chaparral grow to create all this vegetation
35:50that then becomes dried out and flammable.
35:53And we've had those extreme winds
35:55with speeds up to 100 miles an hour,
35:58and the result is a catastrophic weather event,
36:01with embers able to ride those gusts for miles,
36:04igniting new fires virtually anywhere, anytime.
36:09And David, we've spoken to experts who tell us
36:11with the continued effects from climate change,
36:13increased winds, increased average temperature,
36:15increased severity of drought,
36:17unfortunately, situations like this
36:20will be more common in the future.
36:22David?
36:24Matt River's with us here tonight as well.
36:25Matt, thank you.
36:27When we come back tonight,
36:27a remarkable act of kindness growing quickly tonight,
36:30and a major announcement from our parent company, Disney,
36:34and how you can help too.
36:39Before we go, the family's in need.
36:41Tonight, Disney, the parent company of ABC,
36:43donating $15 million to wildfire relief,
36:46offering support to the Red Cross,
36:48the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation,
36:51the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.
36:52If you'd like to help, go to redcross.org
36:54or SalvationArmyUSA.org.
36:57I'm David Muir.
36:58Good night.