By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-08 14:21:25 | Updated at 2025-01-09 07:09:58
16 hours ago
A CNN reporter narrowly missed being struck by a chunk of flaming debris during his live coverage of the California wildfires.
Nick Watt was on the ground in Palisades Village on Tuesday when he suffered the near miss.
Residents in the area are among the tens of thousands of people in Los Angeles who have been ordered to evacuate amid the blazing wildfires which have already razed homes and left several firefighters injured.
Watt, originally from Paisley in Scotland, was on air with studio host Polo Sandoval showing viewers a burning apartment building when tragedy almost struck.
'You know, we've spent most of the day up in the [Hollywood] Hills, the beautiful little windy streets, the beautiful multi-million dollar homes, some of which are no more. We've now come down into Palisades village, the center of this community,' he explained.
'That was an apartment building that we have watched… Jesus Whoa! Sorry, I nearly got hit by something there. Um, yeah. Whoa. Uh, we're gonna have to get back.'
The camera then zooms out further to show the crumbling building engulfed in flames.
'And we've just watched this building just disintegrate, and a little part of that building nearly hit me there.'
CNN reporter Nick Watt narrowly missed being struck by a chunk of flaming debris during his live coverage of the California wildfires
Tens of thousands of people in Los Angeles who have been ordered to evacuate amid the blazing wildfires
The blazes began on Tuesday and were rapidly whipped up by high winds which are expected to continue today.
Million-dollar mansions in the celebrity enclave of Pacific Palisades were razed last night, with landmark institutions and beloved restaurants leveled as three out-of-control blazes and winds nearing 100mph spread at a rapid rate across Los Angeles.
In the frantic haste to get to safety, roadways were clogged and scores of people abandoned their vehicles and fled on foot, some toting suitcases.
Firefighters battling the Palisades blaze, which is burning through about five football fields a minute, warned they were running out of water and supplies, as evacuation warnings spread to Malibu and Calabasas.
Tankers full of water had been dousing the inferno from the skies all afternoon, but all aircraft were later grounded amid deteriorating wind conditions and visibility.
Residents were warned the worst is still yet to come as the raging wildfire burns through some 3,000 acres of Los Angeles land at an extraordinary rate. Firefighters have warned that 'tornado-like' winds are making their work harder.
At least 30,000 residents are now under mandatory evacuation orders with more still warned they should be prepared to leave after a fire that broke out in the foothills near Eaton Canyon grew to 1,000 acres in just six hours since it began.
A traffic jam on Palisades Drive prevented emergency vehicles from getting through and a bulldozer was brought in to push the abandoned cars to the side and create a path.
Watt was on the ground in Palisades Village on Tuesday when he suffered the near miss
The blaze began on Tuesday and has been whipped up by high winds which have proved tricky to tackle
More wildfires have since broken out. Pictured: Residents of a senior center are evacuated as the Eaton Fire approaches
Video along the Pacific Coast Highway showed widespread destruction of homes and businesses along the famed roadway.
Fires at higher elevations were preventing utility crews from getting water to refill tanks, the Los Angeles Department of Wind and Power said in a statement Tuesday night.
A third wildfire started around 10:30 p.m. and quickly prompted evacuations in Sylmar, a San Fernando Valley community that is the northernmost neighborhood in Los Angeles. The causes of all three fires were under investigation.
