In the Los Angeles area, more than 100,000 people have been told to evacuate as a fury of flames from several wildfires continues to move through the region. Among those leaving their homes behind was David Brown.
“It feels pretty unreal,” Brown said.
As Brown sat in a hotel room with his wife and two children Thursday, he said a couple days ago, this scenario would be hard to imagine.
“I would not have guessed we’d be in the place we’re in now,” Brown said.
On Wednesday morning, Brown recalled looking up to see half the sky blue with clouds and the other half filled with black, billowing smoke.
Wildfires were burning at the time north, east and west of their neighborhood, so Brown and his wife decided to prepare to leave and make the call to go before an evacuation order was issued.
“We were worried about the congestion if they say evacuate. We were just never going to get out,” Brown said.
By Wednesday afternoon, he said only one main road out of the mountainous region that could get them south was unimpacted by fire. That would change during the evening when a new wildfire began near that road. The family then decided it was time to go, but they were not alone.
“We head down to that road, we had packed up the car, put the kids in, and I put a fire extinguisher from the kitchen in the car … and it is just complete gridlock,” Brown said.
The family made the decision not to wait for traffic to move and decided to go back instead, toward routes that unfortunately took them closer to the fires.
“We end up going backward to one of the evacuation zones, because even though we’re closer to the fires, most of those people have already left, so the roads are completely open,” Brown said.
After a couple hours, Brown, his wife and children made it to a hotel.
He said it has been a tough 24 hours for his family, but everyone, including his young daughter, rose to the occasion. The daughter stepped up to keep tabs on her brother, who is a toddler with special needs, while their parents packed.
“She was awesome,” he said.
He said while his day now involves checking in on his home by watching fire and evacuation maps, he believes his house is still unaffected. As he reflected on the situation, he said he realized during the “daily grind,” you don’t think about the fact that your life could change dramatically in a moment’s notice.
“You don’t know when, one day, all of a sudden, there’s no guarantee of being back at that dinner table again,” he said.
Brown said his thoughts are with the families who are coping with the news that their homes have been destroyed. He said right now, he’s just thankful his family is out of harm’s way.
“The most important things are our family and we’re all safe,” he said.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
