California Wildfires: Horrifying Stories from Residents, Burned to the Ground in a Blink of an Eye

The fire in California is truly shaking the whole world, the loss of life and property is increasing rapidly. Through the accounts of witnesses, anyone who hears it is terrified.

Victor Shaw, 66, died in the Eaton Fire while trying to extinguish flames at his home of 55 years in Altadena.

His sister, Shari Shaw, tried to evacuate him as the Eaton Fire spread through the neighborhood, but she was forced to leave him behind when he refused to come along. She fled as the fire engulfed their home.

"When I turned around and yelled his name, he didn't respond, I had to go outside because the embers were so big and flying like a firestorm - I had to save myself," Shari Shaw told local television station KTLA.

A family friend found Victor the next day; he was lying on the street next to his home, still holding the garden hose. "It looked like he was trying to save the house that his parents had owned for almost 55 years," the friend, Al Tanner, told KTLA.

Anthony Mitchell, 67, who lost part of his leg, and his son Justin, who has cerebral palsy, were among the other victims. Mitchell was found next to his son's bed.

Rodney Nickerson, 82, also of Altadena, died at his home. Nickerson thought he would be okay after surviving multiple fires in his 57 years at the home, his daughter said.

The death toll has risen to 11, with the cause of the fire under investigation. It could take weeks to identify all the victims.

Others described a chaotic scene as residents watched the firestorm suddenly descend on their neighborhood. People rushed to escape because of emergency warnings and evacuation orders, with no chance to check on others.

The Palisades Fire, described as the worst in the city's history, began the most destructive disaster ever seen in southern California as several other large and intense wildfires broke out across Los Angeles - the most populous place in the US - and were fanned by strong, dry hurricane-force winds.

With evacuation orders issued for some 180,000 people across the region, some 10,000 homes and buildings have been destroyed; emergency services are overwhelmed.

Another shared his evacuation after trying to save his home.

Other witnesses described their escape from the "inferno." Aaron Samson and his 83-year-old father-in-law, who has Parkinson's disease, escaped the Palisades fire, saying: "It felt like a bigger fire than any fire I've ever seen. I can't put into words the magnitude of the fire and the impact it had on my family and me personally."

Samson explained that he received an alert on his phone saying there was a wildfire in the area, but it did not say that evacuation was necessary.

“For the next hour or so, we were wondering if we should leave. Then we got another alert on the phone. I saw smoke and fire near my father-in-law’s house and realized we needed to leave,” said Samson, who said there was no car at their home at the time.

He tried to call 911 and an Uber to get his father-in-law to safety. A neighbor named Jeff, whom Samson had never met, helped drive the father and son until the fire engulfed them.

He tried to call 911 and an Uber to get his father-in-law to safety. A neighbor named Jeff, whom Samson had never met, helped drive the father and son until the fire engulfed them.

"As we drove down, there was fire on both sides of the car. You could feel the heat... and then the fire got closer and closer. We were completely trapped and the fire was about 4 meters away from the right car." At that point, police started yelling for everyone to get out of the car, Samson said.

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