SAN ANTONIO – Southern California is being ravaged by wind-driven wildfires advancing at unprecedented speeds this week.
The biggest fire started in the Pacific Palisades section of Los Angeles, but multiple fires are now burning all the way toward San Diego.
Thousands of acres and structures have been destroyed. At least five people have died and many have been injured.
>> Videos show deadly wildfires burning through Los Angeles area
KSAT’s Courtney Friedman grew up in Southern California and has been in contact with many friends affected by the fires, including a childhood best friend who just had to evacuate her home.
“I looked outside and it was completely red, orange color up to the whole sky. There’s debris all in the street from the wind,” Christine Cunningham said. “It’s like your eyes are stung by all of the debris that’s flying into your eyes, and then we started hearing ambulance after ambulance. The lights were coming down from the mountain.”
Cunningham made it to her mother’s house in her hometown of San Diego after escaping the catastrophic Eaton fire, which has burned more than 10,000 acres in Pasadena and Altadena, taking lives and homes with it.
Her husband George’s friend lost his home in Pasadena, which is just two miles north of their house.
“Some of my friends from LA, they don’t have family here. At this moment my mom is greeting some of my friends who are going to stay here with us. They have two dogs, a baby,” Cunningham said.
>> What to know about wildfires raining embers onto the Los Angeles area
Southern California residents are familiar with wildfires, but none have experienced ones driven by winds of this caliber.
“Never in my life have I seen these winds. We got an alert, and they were they were telling us to be prepared for 80-mile-an-hour winds, which I have heard now they’re up to 100 miles an hour,” Cunningham said.
She saw that in her neighborhood before she left — and things have worsened since then.
“There were people running around trying to move a downed tree from the road so that people could evacuate out of the mountain towns. There were Christmas trees in the street being like blown around, dry Christmas trees because it was garbage day today,” she said.
That’s why leaving was the only option for them.
“It happened so quickly. I’m a recent cancer survivor, so I’m on a lot of medicine. And my mom was like, ‘Did you bring your medicine?’ And I was like, ‘My gosh, I can’t believe I forgot that.’ So I immediately went to my app, refilled my prescription,” Cunningham said.
She even took to social media to share that reminder.
“I went on my Facebook and my Instagram and I wrote to everyone, ‘If you’re evacuating, like remember your medicine and things,‘” she said.
What Cunningham was sure not to leave behind, are the irreplaceable things.
“We had just gotten married this year, so I brought my wedding vows. We have them only handwritten. And because I’m just a recent cancer survivor, I did bring all the cards people sent me, just in case,” Cunningham said through tears.
She’s already been a survivor in so many ways. This is just one more.
“I just hope everyone else is safe as well. And I hope that we have a beautiful community to go back to, because it really is such a beautiful community,” she said.
Another friend Friedman has stayed in touch with is a familiar face to some KSAT viewers.
Native San Antonian and former KSAT anchor Eileen Gonzales lives in the Los Angeles area and said she woke up to heavy smoke in and around her home.
She said Wednesday that the wind changed direction away from her, so she was not required to evacuate. She said the situation looked apocalyptic.
While Gonzales said it’s terrifying, she sees her community stepping up for one another amidst so much loss, and said it’s beautiful and encouraging.
Watch the full interview with Gonzales below: