After hurricane-like winds whipped up wildfires in Pacific Palisades in Southern California, mandatory evacuations were ordered but there are only a few major intersections to enter and leave.
Panicked residents left their cars and ran for their lives, and fire departments were forced to bulldoze cars to make room for emergency vehicles.
The fire moved so fast that police officers ordered the drivers to get out and run, ditching their vehicles because the “fire was literally right on top of them,” said officer Tim Estevez.
Police have asked people if they have to abandon their cars to leave the keys, though in this case, there wouldn’t have be time to drive cars out of the way.
As people evacuated, the roads became gridlocked, and many residents chose to leave the cars and escape the area on foot. Despite requests from firefighters that vehicles be moved to the side or left with the keys, many cars were left with no way for emergency personnel to move them. As a result, firefighters have had to resort to heavy machinery, bulldozing the abandoned cars off the streets to make way for emergency vehicles