David Willis

The cars in my neighbourhood, I'm 30 kilometres from the biggest fire, this one in the Pacific, Palisades. There were some harrowing television pictures, Alex, showing flames engulfing these cars. Oceanside mansions here, and one resident who escaped likened the situation to a scene from a disaster movie. The word apocalyptic is often misused, isn't it?

The cars in my neighbourhood, I'm 30 kilometres from the biggest fire, this one in the Pacific, Palisades. There were some harrowing television pictures, Alex, showing flames engulfing these cars. Oceanside mansions here, and one resident who escaped likened the situation to a scene from a disaster movie. The word apocalyptic is often misused, isn't it?

But in my view, it is entirely applicable here. And part of the reason for that, David, is just the speed of the winds.

But in my view, it is entirely applicable here. And part of the reason for that, David, is just the speed of the winds.

That's right. And the danger, Alex, is that these unusually high winds are expected to continue for the rest of the week. One crumb, I suppose, of good news is that the winds here anyway now appear to be blowing towards the coast rather than inland. But the fire is still burning ferociously and out of control. And the air around me here is thick with acrid smoke.

That's right. And the danger, Alex, is that these unusually high winds are expected to continue for the rest of the week. One crumb, I suppose, of good news is that the winds here anyway now appear to be blowing towards the coast rather than inland. But the fire is still burning ferociously and out of control. And the air around me here is thick with acrid smoke.

That's right. Zero percent contained at the moment, Alex. And they are calling... on additional resources from out of state, from neighbouring states, and they have also called on all off-duty firefighters to report for duty because the fire lines are so stretched.

That's right. Zero percent contained at the moment, Alex. And they are calling... on additional resources from out of state, from neighbouring states, and they have also called on all off-duty firefighters to report for duty because the fire lines are so stretched.