The Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles has been decimated by some of the worst fires in U.S. history. On Friday, WSJ’s Katherine Sayre accompanied two residents who went back to see what is left of their homes. Further Reading: -The Palisades Residents Who Took Long Journeys to See What’s Left of Their Lives -Their Wealth Is in Their Homes. Their Homes Are Now Ash. Further Listening: -The Race to Save an Iconic Train From Falling Into the Ocean Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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How far back are you? I am... Behind that truck? Yeah, just behind the truck.
On Friday morning, a long line of cars formed in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, a place that's been decimated over the past few days by raging wildfires. In areas where the fires have burned out, authorities have started to let residents back in to assess the damage and to see what's left of their homes. In one of the cars was a woman named Mariah Lanphardt.
Yeah, so we had a clue that our house was gone when we got this map from, like, Cal Fire or whatever. But they didn't update this for so long, so I was, like, holding out.
With her was a man from her neighborhood named Gavin Bates.
My wife didn't even want to come. She's like, why are you going? I feel like I just need to see it myself. Totally. I feel the same way. I just need to see it. It's hard. It's hard.
Getting into the neighborhood was a slow process. Police were escorting people in, in part to protect against looters, and they only let a handful of cars in at a time.
Maybe I should roll up the window. I think it's going to be smoky. Yeah, it's going to be miserable.
Also in the car was our colleague Catherine Sayre, who Mariah said could tag along to report on the damage.
Well, this is more fun than being all alone, so...
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