See Pacific Palisades before and after the devastating Los Angeles fire By Reuters

By Jackie Luna and Jonathan Allen

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Earlier than one of many deadliest wildfires in California historical past swept by means of, the Pacific Palisades neighborhood west of Los Angeles was filled with inexperienced, well-kept properties and fashionable buying and eating spots.

This week, the Palisades Fireplace turned a lot of it into black particles. To see what’s misplaced, a Reuters video reporter visited the neighborhood on Friday to evaluate the path of a YouTube climbing couple who made a video final yr of the hike, which is being reproduced with their permission.

In Might 2024, when the unique video was filmed beneath the blue sky of California, a white constructing with ionic columns on Sundown Boulevard within the buying middle of Palisades Village was dwelling to Starbucks (NASDAQ:) and Cafe Vida. Now it’s darkish, stained with soot, the palm bushes exterior are desolate, the sky is darkish and yellow.

Within the surrounding streets, home after home has fallen into burning piles with terracotta roof tiles that resisted the fireplace. Concrete doorways that also stand open to the ruins.

The Palisades Fireplace has grown to greater than 20,000 acres as of Tuesday and was solely 11% contained Saturday, and neighboring Palisades stays a vital evacuation zone. One other wildfire, a large one, is ravaging components of Los Angeles and neighboring cities, killing at the least 11 individuals thus far and destroying 1000’s of properties.

The Palisades was nearly lifeless on Friday: just a few Los Angeles firefighters right here and there, and some crows watched the road earlier than dispersing. Exterior of a home, which was as soon as a wheelchair sat on the aspect of the highway, all the things was melted or burned apart from its metallic.

The scenic view from Level on the Bluffs spans the ocean and the Pacific Coast Freeway. From there, what’s left of the Pacific Palisades Bowl Cell Estates fills the scene: lots of the reasonably priced properties that ran down the seashore at the moment are rows of ruins.