“The smoke looked pretty black and intense over Temescal Canyon,” the 78-year-old told The Los Angeles Times in a Jan. 7 interview. “I couldn’t see any flames but the smoke was very dark.”
Another local resident Ellen Delosh-Bacher left her car behind after law enforcement began encouraging drivers to escape the congestion, telling the outlet, “Cops began running down the road telling anyone stuck in traffic, ‘Run for your lives.’”
While other structures, including the Palisades Theatre, caught fire during the blaze, the Getty Museum—which is located near the Brentwood area of Los Angeles, east of the Pacific Palisades—was grateful to clarify its building was safe.
“At the Getty Villa, some trees & vegetation on site have burned,” the museum shared on X (formerly Twitter), “but no structures are on fire, and staff and the collection remain safe.”