How the Palisades Fire zone turned into an evacuation nightmare
One year since the Palisades Fire, new research shows just how difficult it was for residents to escape the area.
New data from traffic analytics company INRIX and the University of Maryland confirmed what many saw in the wildfire's early hours: the sheer number of drivers overwhelmed the road network near Pacific Palisades.
Evacuees had only two roads to escape the flames: Sunset Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway, both of which were gridlocked for hours.
"People to the south had to go north, and the people to the north had to go south on Sunset Boulevard," University of Maryland researcher Greg Jordan said.
With traffic at a standstill, people abandoned their cars to escape the fire.
One of the biggest movie stars in the 1980s and 1990s, Steve Guttenberg, said the roads were filled with "piles of cars."
"It was a very difficult time," actor Steve Guttenberg said. "I think it will be difficult for a while."
With the clogged roadway blocking firefighters' routes, Guttenberg jumped into the abandoned cars and moved them out of the way.
"Moving them to the curb so I could hopefully make a road, a zig-zag, so fire personnel could get through," Guttenberg said.
Firefighters also used a bulldozer to push the cars aside and clear a path for engines to reach the Palisades Fire.
"One hope is that this is a tool, a resource in enhancing emergency preparedness in the future," Jordan said.
While the Eaton Fire zone also experienced traffic, the research shows that the area handled the volume better because more streets allowed cars to eventually flow into the city grid.
One year after the Palisades Fire, Caltrans said it has seven emergency road projects, directly related to the fires, underway.
"It was a super destructive fire, and there's a lot of work that needs to be done," spokesperson Katy Macek said.
Crews are also repairing roads in Topanga Canyon after the fire and ensuing rain damaged them and closed the community to outside traffic.
"Traffic on top of everything that people have personally been through, I know, is frustrating," Macek said. "Our crews are aware of that and we are doing the best to restore the highway and make it viable and safe for years to come for everyone."
Even though Guttenberg is in the rebuilding process himself, he's maintaining a positive and optimistic outlook of the future and urges others to do the same.
"I know we can learn from this," Guttenberg said. "It will be rebuilt. In 10 years, there will be people coming into the Palisades and into Eaton, and asking a question, 'When was there a fire here?' That will happen."
