The upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood, between Malibu and Santa Monica, was ravaged by a devastating fire, leaving behind charred ruins and an apocalyptic landscape.
Pacific Palisades was one of the pearls of the Californian coast. A chic neighborhood nestled between Malibu, Santa Monica and the Pacific Ocean. Known for its spectacular views, sumptuous villas and peaceful atmosphere, it attracted Hollywood stars and wealthy people alike. Here, each house was a work of art, each garden, a carefully maintained green setting. The Pacific Coast Highway, which ran alongside the neighborhood, offered a postcard panorama. But this privileged enclave was also vulnerable. Surrounded by hills and dense vegetation, it represented a perfect trap for flames.
The nightmare of flames
In two days, everything changed. The Palisades fire has devoured more than 8,000 hectaresreducing the neighborhood to a field of ruins. The images filmed by the Los Angeles Times show a striking spectacle: charred villas, gardens transformed into ashes, white smoke still rising from the debris.
“ Architectural fantasies and landscaping are nothing more than smoking ruins“, describes the newspaper. Along the Pacific Coast Highway, properties were literally incinerated, leaving a gray and battered landscape.
The numbers are dizzying. More than 12,000 buildings damaged or destroyed, including 5,300 in Pacific Palisades alone. Eleven dead, 150,000 people under mandatory evacuation. And despite the calm in the winds, new houses continued to catch fire.
An unprecedented disaster
Los Angeles is no stranger to natural disasters. Earthquakes, fires, floods… The metropolis has experienced it all. But according to the Los Angeles Times, “ these are losses on a scale never seen in recent memory, if not ever“.
Today, Pacific Palisades is a lunar landscape. Some buildings, such as a church or a shopping center, remained standingbut they seem lost in the middle of a desert of ashes.
This fire is a reminder of California’s vulnerability to climate change. Longer summers, repeated droughts and violent winds make these tragedies more and more frequent. For Pacific Palisades, it will take years to rebuild.
