A video published to Facebook truly looks like something out of a scenes of a drama movie.
Surrounded on both sides with flames lapping at the road as they race to get out of raging wildfires in California, Brynn Parrott Chatfield wrote on Facebook, “I feel very vulnerable posting this but I feel I should.”
“My hometown of Paradise is on fire. My family is evacuated and safe. Not all my friends are safe. It’s very surreal. Things always work out, but the unknown is a little scary.”
At least 23 people have died in the fire, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said late Saturday night. That makes it the second deadliest wildfire in state history, according to Cal Fire records. The Oakland Hills Fire killed 25 people in 1991.
At least five of the Camp Fire victims were found in cars. Others were found in houses. Dozens of people remain missing, and firefighters and deputies on Saturday were searching property-by-property for additional victims.
The still-burning “Camp Fire” is the most destructive in California history, torching 6,453 homes and burning more than 90,000 acres. About 52,000 residents have been evacuated from the fire, which is 5 percent contained. The cause remains under investigation.
The entire city of Malibu was under an unprecedented mandatory evacuation, in addition to areas south of the 101 Freeway, from the Ventura line to Malibu Canyon.
Despite evacuations in Malibu and flames threatening near campus, Pepperdine University called for students and staff to shelter in place..
