Evacuees began returning to their Pacific Palisades homes Saturday with law enforcement escorts, some waiting for several minutes almost all day with what was left of their homes.
One family said they already knew the fate of their beloved property, but needed to see it firsthand to gain some closure.
As each resident and family passes through the checkpoint, they have allotted time to check their belongings, grab whatever they can, and then return to their vehicles and exit the area before the 6 p.m. curfew. It was done.
KTLA’s Chris Wolfe visited the checkpoint at San Vicente Boulevard and 26th Street in Brentwood and complained that he waited up to 11 hours to get in and couldn’t understand why the process was taking so long. I heard stories from many evacuees who were in their care.
“We’re still numb. We just found out on Wednesday that our house burned down,” resident Debbie Tenenbaum said. “We’ve never been there and we want to go see it. We’re sad, all our stuff is gone.”
“The first few days didn’t go well,” said Debbie’s daughter, Molly Tenenbaum. “It’s looking a little bit better now, but I think when you really look at everything, it could be a little bit worse.”
Just before the 6pm curfew began, dozens of cars quickly passed through the checkpoint as police began waving from car to car to get as many people home as possible.
After the curfew, the National Guard and local law enforcement from Los Angeles Police Department, Santa Monica Police Department and Airport Police Department will be patrolling the fire zone until 6 a.m., ready to make arrests for trespassing, looting and all kinds of other violations.
The Palisades Fire, already one of the most destructive natural disasters in Los Angeles history, broke out on Tuesday, January 7th. As of Saturday evening, the fire had claimed five lives, burned 23,654 acres and was 11% contained. More than 5,000 structures, including many homes, were destroyed in the Pacific Palisades and Malibu.
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