Scores of Los Angeles residents returned Tuesday to wildfire-ravaged Pacific Palisades after officials began letting people drive back into the scorched community, the first opportunity most have had to carefully scour the sites of their former homes. Sifting through the ash and rubble, they marveled at what survived: everything from cherished keepsakes to mundane items of daily life that were now imbued with new meaning.
But now they're, you know, a memory to sort of look back on. It's such a scary thing to see all this, but it's really sort of beautiful in a way. Firefighters were close to nearly having the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire fully to the east surrounded after the first significant storm of the season dosed a region that had been bone-dry for eight months.
Both ignited Jan. The Palisades Fire, the largest of the blazes, destroyed more than 6, structures and killed at least 12 people. A massive line of vehicles snaked along the Pacific Coast Highway in the morning to a Santa Monica parking lot where officials distributed permits to drive into the burn zone before nightfall β a curfew was still in effect to guard against looting.
Before this week people were allowed to go to a only select few areas with a police escort. The sun was out as hundreds drove into Pacific Palisades, a coastal hillside community, once dotted with mansions with spectacular views of the ocean and downtown Los Angeles. Block after block was reduced to gray and black debris. Many wore protective gear, heeding health warnings about toxic ash that is a mix of incinerated cars, electronics, batteries, building materials, paints, furniture and other household items.
Standing at the remains of his year-old mother's home, where he grew up, Tim Bearer, surveyed the stunning scene. He said his stepbrother made it past the police barrier days after the fire and took video of the destroyed home with his phone, so he knew what to expect. But it was still emotional to mine the site for family treasures. Amazingly his mother's golf putter was bent but otherwise OK.
