Fire officials are hoping calmer winds Thursday morning can help them combat the five Los Angeles area wildfires that have prompted tens of thousands of people to evacuate.
Meanwhile, many stories of survival are surfacing. Aaron Samson, 48, was caring for his 83-year-old father-in-law in his Pacific Palisades home when the time came to flee on Tuesday. They had no car, so Samson flagged down a neighbor who agreed to give them and their belongings a ride.
Samson began recording their escape, with flames and smoke surrounding the two as they abandoned a car. While Samson was retrieving a walker for his father-in-law, a woman could be heard screaming in panic as firefighters continued to usher the crowd along.
"We got it, Dad," Samson can be heard saying over and over again as they evacuated on Tuesday.
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"My father-in-law was saying, ‘Aaron, if we are ever in a position where the flames are right there, you just run and leave me here,'" Samson told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
It did not get to that point. They walked for about 15 minutes before, for the second time in a matter of hours, a good Samaritan picked them up, then drove them to safety in Santa Monica.
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By Wednesday afternoon, Samson did not know if the home had survived, but he said they were indebted to the two strangers.
"They saved us," he said. "They really stepped up."
Their escape came as thousands of people fled wildfires in the Los Angeles area that turned picturesque neighborhoods into smoldering wasteland, with chimneys or wrought-iron staircases about all that remained of homes. Driven by powerful Santa Ana winds, the flames obliterated more than 1,000 structures, scorched landmarks made famous by Hollywood and killed at least five people.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
