One man’s desperate attempt to flee his home with his possessions as the apocalyptic Los Angeles wildfires rage on has touched the hearts of thousands of people.
In a clip uploaded by NBCLA, reporter Robert Kovacik approaches a homeowner attempting to get on a bike and leave his Pacific Palisades home, as the wind whips around the pair with sparks flying around.
The man is seen with a large tote bag on his shoulder, attempting to get on his bike, clutching the two framed paintings.
‘What can we do to help sir?’ the reporter asked, as the man struggled to hold onto the artworks and told Kovacik his backyard had caught fire.
‘You can take these paintings I guess,’ he says, as his voice cracks.
‘I can’t ride with these,’ the homeowner sadly points out.
Moments before, Kovacik had described the situation as like being in a hurricane, ‘in the middle of a brush fire.’
According to the NBCLA report published on January 8, the video was taken around 9.30pm.
In a clip uploaded by NBCLA, reporter Robert Kovacik approaches a man attempting to get on a bike and leave his Pacific Palisades home, as the wind whips around them with sparks flying around
Kovacik told the distressed man that he would take the paintings, assuring him he would make sure they got back to him safely.
The homeowner then flees the scene on his bike.
Viewers were left heartbroken at the sorry stare of affairs, with the comments section of the clip, posted to social media, flooded with sympathetic messages.
‘I’m actually crying this is so sad,’ one viewer wrote.
‘Please bring me back to see this man reunited with his paintings as they must be special to him,’ one user wrote.
‘The emotion when he asks him to take the paintings! He was probably already grieving them. Poor guy,’ added another.
Less than 48 hours on from the initial spark, the wildfire is on track to be the most destructive blaze in LA history, having ripped through the glitzy celebrity mansions and causing an estimated $48 billion in damage.
The Santa Ana winds then fanned the flames through this dry vegetation leading to the out-of-control fires.
Kovacik told the stricken man he would take the paintings, assuring him he would get them back to him
Users were heartbroken for the homeowner, with the comments section of the clip, posted to social media, flooded with sympathetic messages
A man walks in front of the burning Altadena Community Church, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in in Pasadena, Calif
A screenshot from a webcam at 11:31pm shows parts of LA completely engulfed by flames
The Sunset Fire breaks out in the Hollywood Hills, prompting swift responses from firefighters
Huge swathes of iconic California real estate from Malibu to Santa Monica, and from Pacific Palisades to Runyon Canyon, are ablaze – impacting millions caught off guard by the unprecedented spread and carnage.
As of Thursday morning, the largest inferno has consumed nearly 12,000 acres in the picturesque Pacific Palisades neighborhood that is home to many film, television and music stars.
In Studio City, several homes caught alight late on Wednesday after a fire broke out in a four-story building and spread to neighboring properties.
At least five people have lost their lives in the disaster so far, with 2,000 structures obliterated and thousands of people left with nothing but ash across the city.
The death toll is expected to rise as police and fire services prepare to deploy K-9 units trained to sniff out human remains.
More than 130,000 people are still under evacuation orders in Southern California as several notable TV, film and music stars took to social media to announce they had lost their homes.
Mandy Moore, Cary Elwes, Paris Hilton, James Woods, Billy Crystal and his wife Janice all claimed to have seen their homes go up in smoke in the Palisades Fire.
Private forecaster AccuWeather estimated initial damage and economic loss at more than $50 billion.
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