Transcript of American Catastrophe: LA Burning -- Special Edition of 20/20

Tonight, a deadly inferno, the city of Angels Ablaze. Everything is catching fire here. Trash bins, shrombs, trees. There's a fire right outside our car. The fear. I mean, this is utterly terrifying. Yeah, let's get out of here. The lives shattered. I don't know how we're going to come back from this. The heroes racing in. Tonight, the breaking news special. We are utterly surrounded by fire. That building there is fully engulfed. The horror and the hope. I don't know how we're going to get through it, but we will. David Muir reporting. Home after home here destroyed thousands of structures. Families returning to find it. They have nothing left. American Catastrophe, LA burning. Now reporting, David Muir. Good evening, and welcome to this special edition of 2020, tonight from Los Angeles, where an American catastrophe is unfolding. Wildfires ripping through this iconic city known around the world, from the movies to the glamor, from the beauty of the coastline to the homes in the hills, home to 18 million people from all walks of life. And tonight, Los Angeles is a city shaken and suffering after devastating loss here. At least 11 dead now, more than 10,000 homes and structures have been lost, more than 150,000 still under evacuation orders tonight.

The first fire is still burning tonight, and this evening, the stunning images. Just moments ago, our station here in Los Angeles, A, A, B, C, up over a new flare up in the Santa Monica Mountains. These are the images coming in right now. This is part of the Palisades fire spreading tonight, three days after the first fires broke out here, extending evacuation warnings into new neighborhoods at this hour as we come on the air for this special edition of 2020. Tonight, we take you through it all from the powerful first images of the Palisades fire, homes completely engulfed in flames, fueled by wind gusts up to 100 miles an hour. Over the last three days, several new fires. In Hollywood, the sunset fire erupting in the hills just north of Hollywood Boulevard, quadrupling in size in just minutes, not far from the famous Hollywood sign. A torrent of embers spreading the fires from house to house, a man running through those embers from his burning home after realizing it was impossible to save. In those first early hours, residents of a nursing home evacuated in the middle of the night, many wearing masks to protect themselves from the dangerous air.

Evacuees driving on the Pacific Coast Highway through Malibu as the fire burned every structure along the way. As the evacuation spread, the chaos homeowners, families stuck in traffic, abandoning their cars, a man helping his elderly father-in-law through the smoke right there. Firefighters from all over the country now stepping in, but most live right here, working around the clock in horrific conditions, some losing their own homes while they save others. They are the true heroes here. Tonight, we're with so many families returning to their homes for the first time. I was with one dad. He raced to school a midday the evacuations to get his boys, his wife staying back to save their valuable documents. They lost everything, but they have each other, he told me. Late today, our ABC News exclusive, I flew up over the fires with Cal fire, and while we were in the air, we witnessed not only the devastation along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu and Pacific Palisades, but the urgent effort, three days into this disaster, the fire's still burning, the water being dropped to save homes as we're on the air tonight. Our team across the fire zone tonight, and K meteorologist Leslie Lopez, and the new threat, what they're seeing with these winds in the forecast that concerns them tonight.

But we begin this evening with the images and a city forever changed. Tonight, it's been just over 72 hours since Los Angeles began burning. A city now forever changed. The deadly apocalyptic scenes. Nine separate wildfires tearing through America's second largest city. Tonight here, the firefighters and the first responders have not stopped. Tonight, the ABC News exclusive. We take flight with Cal Fire up over the Pacific Coast Highway headed toward the Pacific Palisades. And the first images we see here, the Coast the homes of Malibu that once lined the ocean are gone. It's just stunning to look at this stretch along the Pacific Coast Highway here in Malibu. You can see it right over the shoulder here. Home after home, just completely gone. They are taking us to where they say there a firefight right now from the air. They are now dropping water. But before we even get there, over this ridge, the Pacific Palisades, entire communities wiped away. Homes burned to the ground. This is just a devastating view as we fly over Pacific Palisades. You can see down below just how quickly these fires spread. Cal Fire Deputy Incident Commander Justin McCome. When you look at the scope of the devastation here, what winds were you dealing with in those first 24 hours.

The winds that we saw were 70, 80 miles an hour along the Pacific Coast Highway. That was what the environment the firefires were dealing with. There was embers just flying across laterally, Very difficult to even do anything as far as perimeter control. They were putting the edges of the fire out. It was mainly going house to house and protecting as many homes as you could. The priority was to look for the life safety to try to get people out of the fire. He tells me three days into this historic disaster. They are still fighting the fires here. We see bulldozers on this ridge, trapping the fire. You can see the flames burning over our shoulder here. This is now three days into this. Almost impossible to get to that. Then we see it, developers in the air, crossing the canyon, dropping water, trying to protect the homes with flames moving in. You can see the urgent effort here right now. This is Topeca Canyon. They're trying to save the homes in Fernwood. That helicopter just dropped water from the air. Three days into this disaster, they are still fighting fires here, and they have a tool now at their disposal, which is water in the air.

There are so many fires still burning here. More than 72 hours now after the first fires began. Back on the ground tonight, the family is returning home to see what, if anything, is left. The father who told me his wife, his two boys are safe, but they lost everything. And while we were in that neighborhood, we of another family nearby. They had not been back. One of the children, 21-year-old Jacob Brown, going back today, and he showed me what he found. David, I'm sure you saw the entire town is gone. Our lives, our homes, our friends. Everyone has lost everything. I don't understand how you can attempt to rebuild an entire community without schools and roads and homes. It's devastation beyond the comprehendable. Jacob's childhood home, now nothing but ashes. He rings the doorbell of a friend's home, haunting because it still rings, though behind it, there is nothing left. The alarms still ringing here in what was once a church and a school. There's still hotspots, active fire. Just a few miles to the east, David Hansen is still waiting to get back in to see his mother's home. La fired upon total heroes doing a great job.

Even giving a thumbs up to the firefighters. His mother, a senior, capturing video from outside her home just 30 minutes after the fire broke out nearby. Her neighbors were trying to use water from their pool to protect their home. Tonight, across Los Angeles, at least 11 lives now lost. It's believed more than 12,000 structures, homes, and businesses damaged or destroyed. More than 55 square miles burned, more than 150,000 under evacuation orders. Since the first fires broke out Tuesday morning, around the densely populated 25-mile expanse north of downtown LA, tonight, still no cause has been identified for any of the largest of these fires. The Eaton fire in Altadina and Pasadena is now the most destructive in LA history. K-abc reporter Leanne Sutter was live on the air just after it broke out. It is just a sea, a massive wall of embers that just get blown across the area here. It's those embers that really are the big concern because it could get lodged in any of the homes next door. It also could start fires just more than a mile away. The Kenneth fire erupting late yesterday afternoon near the Ventura County Line. Firefighters battling the blaze from the ground, helicopters dropping water from above.

And tonight here, an eerie new look at the wildfires. A home security camera capturing the moment's flames close in on Walter and Yalda Cease's Altadina home. Embers flying through the air. The couple had evacuated, and now they're back. It's overwhelming. I don't know how we're going to get through it, but we will. I know we will. It's just going to be a long process. They and their two dogs are safe, but they have nothing. And like so many here, they tell us they will rebuild. While back in the tonight, firefighters dropping water from above while they can, knowing dangerous winds are ahead. When you think about these firefighters who really haven't had a break since this started, and to look at this forecast and see that these winds are coming yet again, what do you think? It's tough, but we've bolstered our assets. We've actually had not only some of the regional resources from Southern California, but we've got resources from Northern California. We've got resources from Nevada, Colorado, The weather on the way. So we've got resources coming in to back us up on this. With these winds returning. Correct. The first report of wildfires here 10:30 Tuesday morning.

And tonight, more than three days later, they have been unrelenting. Across Los Angeles, nine wildfires breaking out in just more than 72 hours here. All this is going to be gone. We travel with Cal fire battalion of Brent Pessoa, who says he has never seen anything like this. We're on the Pacific Coast Highway. We turn into one of the neighborhoods in Pacific Palisades. This small school burning. You can hear the things going off? Yeah, the fire's ripping through that school right there. The cars here charred. Then we see it home after home burning. It's just jumping from home to home right now. With this wind, there's nothing to stop it. As we drive up into the hills, the charred cars, where families simply stopped, got out, and escaped. These people who were coming down from the hills here decided to give up because the fire was encroaching? Right. The traffic was so bad, they figured their chances were better getting out on foot and running the rest of the way out of here. I mean, it's an apocalyptic scene. It is. You see where the bulldozer had to come through and push the cars aside so we can get up here.

The bulldozers moving the cars so that firetrucks could get through. So we're now 24 hours into this disaster, and we've got another multiple homes in a row here in flames. Yeah, the wind is just pushing this fire from home to home to home, and you'll see it. It's even running down Canyon to the homes that are below these homes. There's just no stopping it when the winds are this strong. Everything's going to burn. We walk through the darkened neighborhoods here, smoke hovering over the homes, many still crackling from the flames. Overnight, Joshua Oppheim and his dog trying to escape the fire firefighters surrounding them on Sunset Boulevard. Embers coming off. Thousands of firefighters spanning out, racing to contain the flames, the new fires jumping from home to home. Bro, I don't. And residents here doing whatever they man. This young man, Orly Israel, trying to use a fire hose to beat back the flames in his own backyard. Bro, we got to go. You can hear the intense fire crackling. The fire alarm going off. Yeah, let's get out of here. We tried. His friend there, Tanner Schaft, wearing a mask, trying to help him, trying to save the home.

We tried our best. They both escape through the front door, running to safety. The homes, the trees all around them on fire. There's nothing we can do now, bro. And then they pray. God, protect this house in the name of Jesus. Protect this neighborhood, God, in Jesus' name, I pray, amen. Palisades, I, C-L-A-V-1. The biggest fire, the Palisades fire entire streets in soft. One firefighter with a hose trained at the front door, though every home there on fire. Some 40 miles away, the Eaton fire in Pasadena. The Pasadena Preschool Academy on fire. The residents at this senior living facility, the terraces at Park Moreno rushed out of their bedrooms, wearing masks to protect them from the air. They were rescued. A heroic effort by the LA Fire Department and emergency response teams across the region tonight. They are saving lives amidst the horror. The scope of the loss here, though, is unimaginable. It's devastating. It's devastating. And I feel for those people. I've spoke to some of them. I hear it in their voices. It tears out my heartstrings, too. But like I said, at the end of the day, they were alive. They knew they would rebuild and come back better.

And I just gave them a hug and I said, please reach out with anything you need. Well, there's no question you've saved lives here. That was our goal. That's our number It's our priority. Thank you. The sun blow in the sky over Los Angeles, reflecting a new reality for this city. Shining through the heavy smoke as some of the most destructive wildfires in the history of Los Angeles rage on tonight, the devastation for miles. We saw firsthand what is left and the sounds of the fire alarms ringing out. Everywhere you go, you can hear the alarms still going off long after the fire's here. It's not just the neighborhoods where you see home after home. This used to be the grocery store right here, completely hollowed out. Then over my shoulder here, if you look right up, you can see nothing left but the tattered American flag there, covered in soot and torn, but still hanging. In this neighborhood, we are told about the first home that caught fire and how it then spread, one neighbor alerting the others. This was the house here on the corner that began to burn, and then they alerted everyone down the street to get out of their homes because they knew it was just a matter of time before the flames jumped from house to house which is exactly what it did not only on this block, but on every block you can see the one-off in the distance.

The next block here you can see the fire ripped through here as well. As far as the eye can see, really not a home left standing. The damage here is difficult to put into words. The cars here in the streets incinerated what's left of the burned-out, charred metal frame here, just sitting on the street here. If you look across the street, there's still some embers burning here. But you can see right in this yard here, the washer and dryer sitting. That's just about all you can make out. We met families returning to their homes for the first time. This husband and father of two, Alessandro Vigilante, had not been home yet. Have you seen your house yet? No. The father had raced to school to pick up his boys under evacuation orders. His wife staying behind to grab their most important documents. I'm sorry. He sees for the first time what is left. That's the entrance, and this was the living room, that's our TV. He tells me this used to be one of the boys rooms. My wife was here and she just collected what she could and then left. What was she able to save?

The documents, mainly the documents. And then she took a couple of stupid things, like my son's perfume because he has a wee wee ton of the collect. His cologne? His cologne. Just something emotionally related, but nothing. Yeah, nothing. But nothing else. No. Taking what they could and grateful to have their lives. Aiden Khan returning to his home in the Pacific Palisades, making his way up Sunset Boulevard. This is my bedroom right here. His apartment completely destroyed. Here's our patio. Here's the front entrance. We are There's still that. But with the winds, there is still so much uncertainty. Another major fire breaking out this time in the Hollywood Hills, the Sunset fire, the gridlock, the panic to get out. At the In fire in Altadena, fire crews using saws to cut open garage doors for their fire hoses to reach the flames inside. This is what's left of the auditorium at the Elliott Arts Magnet Academy Middle School, the scorched row of chairs. A satellite image over that fire showing nearly nothing was spared. Back at the Palisades fire, we're learning of some familiar names who have lost their homes as well. Some well-known actors, including actor Billy Crystal.

He and his wife, Janice, telling ABC News they have lived in their home since 1979, raising their children and grandchildren there, saying, We pray for the safety of the firefighters and first responders. The Pacific Palisades is a resilient community of amazing people, and we know in time, it will rise again. It is our home. Less than 24 hours after those two friends, Orly and Tanner, tried to use a hose to beat back the flames in Orly's backyard. Yeah, let's get out of here. We tried. We tried, bro. Tanner returning to his friend's home the next day. This is my first time back to the house from last night. This is Orly's home.There is literally nothing left. While back at that home in Pacific Palisades that once stood, that father Alessandro, telling me he is grateful that he has his family. They lost everything, but they have each other. He also believes tonight that every one of his immediate neighbors were saved, too. I mean, I think it's impossible for people around the country to look at this and I understand the scope of this devastation. Everything is gone. But you've got your boys and you've got your wife.

Yeah, exactly. We figured out the rest. I'm glad you're here.Thanks.Emma, you're okay.Thank you so much.Thank you.Thanks. Well, I think about that father and about all of the families who we have met here, and they have all said the same thing. Even though they have lost everything, they still have each other. I so appreciate their bravery in sharing their stories with us. We should point out the firefighters. So many have not stopped since the first fires broke out here. Their strength, they have not given up. They are the real heroes here. Our Matt Gutman has been reporting on the fire lines since the first flames broke out, witnessing the firefighter and the desperate battle from the very start against the flames. An army of firefighters on the front lines here in harrowing conditions, reports of hydrants without water or with little pressure. There will be many questions here in the days and weeks ahead about this. Tonight, Matt Guttman, on some of those questions and on the firefighters, their bravery and the one firehouse that survived the only building left standing in one community. It's hard for the mind to comprehend everything we're seeing here. That large building behind me is involved with all of the houses down this street.

Tomesco on fire. But swirling around them, controversy about whether Los Angeles officials fail to supply enough water and deploy enough firefighters. Lots of talk about the water running out. That you were fighting a fire without all the resources necessary. As all these homes actually do burn down, and a lot of them have their own fire sprinkler systems, that those sprinkler systems become compromised it economizes the house burns down and the water will free flow. As we see our gages go down, lower and lower, we knew we were getting low on water. Tonight, ABC News has confirmed a nearby 117 million-gallon reservoir that feeds Pacific Palisades has been taken offline for repairs well before the fires broke out. If you'd had all the resources and all the water, would it have made a difference here? I've been on the job for 36 years, and I've never seen weather like that. It was a hurricane force wind with fire involved. It was indescribable. California burning. This is the week of living dangerously in LA. The Palisades fire extremely hot and incredibly close. Are you just evacuating now? What's going on There are houses on fire up on the corner and all the way down that street.

I've seen tons of fires. This is nothing. I was scared for my life. It's terrifying. Angelino's on the run, caught in gridlock traffic, abandoning vehicles to fate and fire. In order for firefighters to actually get to the fires, they had to carve a path. A bulldozer literally shoved all of these cars to the side. You can see the bumpers ripped off, the scratches along the vehicles here. There's glass in the roadway, and the terrified motorists here, they had to flee to safety on foot. 20,000 acres of heartbreak. Fire's so ferocious, it calls for a new measurement. Burn rate, five football fields per minute. And you can feel the intensity of the heat. Now it's lighting up the trees here, and this is how all of these new fires are being created here. On Malibu Beach, lifeguard stations ablaze with the ocean right there, but not close enough to save homes and businesses along the Pacific Coast Highway. It is like driving through hell itself down here, literally through hell. This is madness down here. Firing flames inferno. By day three, words and water fail. But the burning is without end. The sad cycle goes like this: fire comes, people run, the fire finishes, and people, like this couple we spotted in the ashes of an apartment building come back to count their losses.

A combination of fear and hope as Gail McGowan recovers a safe, a fireproof safe that remains to be seen. Is this your safe? It is. I wanted to get to it before the looters got to it. Mcgowan had lived here for 22 years since her husband died, and she was hoping that one particular ring had survived that heat. I got to save something. Look at everything else. This is my home right here. On her way out, she had grabbed her phone, nursing scrubs, but little else. Two documents, passport, things like that. Nothing. Are somewhere here. Yeah. Everything. Minutes later, the fire still flickering. Her friend Mario heaving that safe off the building. He left to get a shopping cart and came back with cops on a patrol. You have your ID with you, ma'am? You bet. The officers were concerned about looters, made sure that Gail's ID matched the address of where they were. Then they cracked the safe. Oh, look.Oh, yeah. Way to go. Is your race? Thursday, authorities announced the arrest of 20 looters. We asked the LAPD about that. Oh, it's huge. It's huge. You have million dollar homes all intact, rows and rows of them.

There's really no way to police this area effectively right now. Pacific Palisades right now could just be taken off the map. There is no Pacific Palisades. Matt, I'm still thinking about that moment with the safe and what they found when you were able to crack open. I want to bring in Matt Guttman here tonight, who's been out there reporting from the fire lines since these fires broke out. Matt, as you know, there have been a lot of reports about firefighters running out of water in Pacific Palisades or dealing with hoses that had very little water pressure. I know authorities have been pressed on this. There's so much still to learn about this. But what have you heard from the firefighters themselves about what they faced in those early days? In short, David, impossible odds when 100-foot walls of flame, 80-mile-per-hour winds, and yes, a shortage of staff and water. And yes, a A shortage of staff and water. City officials are acknowledging that shutting off certain utilities did affect the water pressure here. One reason that Governor Gavin Newsom is demanding an independent investigation into these water issues, calling it deeply disturbing, David. Yeah, they said they shut off the utilities because they were fearful the power lines would actually contribute to more fires, but there'll be questions about the back and forth of that decision making.

A lot of questions ahead. Matt, I know you're going to continue to follow it for us. Matt, thank you. When we come back here tonight amid heartbreaking loss and the hope of recovery. Tonight, right here, the family sifting through the ashes, what some have discovered, and this is really moving later here. The family is hoping to rebuild their homes, and real questions now about a potential insurance crisis here. Will families be covered? And real concern tonight about the Santa Ana wins again, what they're now expecting in the hours and the days ahead all over again. Then later tonight, right here, a remarkable effort to help. The idea that is now taken off and how you could help tonight, too. Los Angela's strong. We'll be right back. Get me Will Trent. Abc Tuesdays. I don't even know where he is. Will Trent is back. You thought she could hide forever? Time to come home. The series that's being called, one of the Best Network Procedurals. We're going to solve this case. Featuring new cast member, Gina Rodriguez. I'm a prosecutor. We deal in truth and facts. Maybe everybody should try that, huh? Will Trett, the two-part season premiere, Tuesdays on and stream on Hulu.

Abc Wednesdays, Tim Allen and Kat Dennings star in the new family comedy Shifting Gears. Dad, I'm broke and I need a place to stay until I figure out what the rest of my life looks like. So a couple of days. I love it. When his daughter moves back in. The last time you walked out that door, you looked back at me and gave me a double bird. I was 18. The double bird was how I ended all our conversations. The wheels come off. Can we try to talk to each other like rational adults? Have you watched the news lately? That's not a thing anymore. News Wednesdays, 8:7 Central on ABC and stream on Hulu. Welcome back. And tonight, thousands of homes in the Los Angeles area have been destroyed by these fires. 180,000 people have been evacuated. Up to 200,000 more are under evacuation warnings. In fact, they've been told that they must be ready to leave at a moment's notice with the threat of these strong winds returning in the forecast. Many have lost everything already and have begun that search for anything to remember the life they had in their cherished homes. Our own Kayna Whitworth is among those under evacuation orders tonight, and Kayna is still reporting for us right here this evening.

As we see so many images of the thousands of homes damaged and destroyed, it's overwhelming to realize that every single one of them held a story. That is the living room. That's the front entrance. Beyond that, there was a bedroom. If I could only have found one thing, this was it. It's the bill that we have at the front of the house, and it came from my husband's childhood home. In the Pacific Palisades, I met with a woman, Patricia. Her home of more than 40 years, destroyed. At our age, it's going to take years to come back, for a village, for a beautiful town, to come back. It's surreal. I'm numb. And while we spoke, she pulled out the only thing she could salvage from her home. Is It was from my daughter's bathroom. Her bathroom was blue and white, and the turtles went around the vanity, the tile. And I found it. It was the only thing I found. Thank you. We got a tile. We got it? Roughly 180,000 people in Los Angeles, including myself, have been evacuated from their homes. We are utterly surrounded by fire. Broken memories are everywhere. You're just right over there.

Just last May, I interviewed Ricky Lake. We in her stunning dream home overlooking Malibu. Every day is like magic here for me. But just yesterday. This is what's happening right now. She posted news of her own evacuation on social media. Oh, my gosh. Writing about that dream home It's all gone. Cameron Mathieson, star of General Hospital, says the grief of losing a home, which he documented on his social media, will impact his family for generations to come. My daughter, in particular, said that she wanted to raise her kids, and in that house. And she said that actually less than a week ago. Why would she say that now, right before it burns down? It's really something the well-known names and the families from all walks of life everyone in this together, having lost their homes. Kayna Whitworth with us tonight. And Kayna, I know you, like so many of our colleagues, had to evacuate your home. If you don't mind me asking on the air tonight, I've checked in with you off the air, but again, how are the boys doing and have you been able to check in on your home tonight? Oh, David, you're so kind.

Look, my boys are doing well. We're not able to return home yet, but I did have the opportunity to check on my house, and there is active firefight going on right near my home, water drops and the like, but I stand here tonight in utter gratitude to firefighters that my boys still have something to go home to because of scenes like that. I also want to pass along to people watching that we are in this with you and we are in this for you. We will continue to tell these stories, David, because as you know, this is far from over. Yeah, well, I know you don't want to pat on the back, but you are dedicated and you're just like everyone else from this Southern California community who are in this together, still fighting every day. Thank you, Kayna. When we come back here, family is facing a devastating reality now, how to rebuild their homes. The real question tonight, will insurance actually cover this? There is concern about dangerous winds now in the forecast again. Tonight, what we're now learning about the days ahead KBC meteorologist Leslie Lopez is standing by, her own father, a longtime LA firefighter, and what she's now expecting with these winds.

The new forecast is in. It's concerning, and we'll have it here in a moment. This January. Something He was dragging me into the sewer the other night. We need to find it. This could all have something to do with those kids that disappeared. It's happening again. My research broke out of the basement. It's unstable and fragile. Is that the scream? Inspired by the best selling books. Goosebugs, The Vanishing. Are you going to be okay out here? I'm not sure. Why don't you go ahead and give me five stars now before anything happens? All episodes now available on Disney+ and Hulu on disney+. Disney. Com. We did TV14LV. Welcome back tonight. We now know the Eaton fire has destroyed more homes than any other wildfire in Los Angeles history. Many turning to shelters now, and long term, there are already real questions about whether insurance will cover this for these families. Mola Lange in Altadena tonight. Meet Travis Hayden. His house burned down in the Palisades fire. I lived in the Pacific Palisades in a mobile home community. I loved living in the Pacific Palisades because I love to surf. There were 176 units there, and they're all gone.

It was completely leveled. I dug through some rubble. There was some ceramic. Of the economics that had survived, but really nothing. Everything was burned, melted, destroyed. Now, many homeowners like Hayden are facing another nightmare, an insurance crisis. When I moved in, the first thing I did was try and secure insurance. It turns out that because my home was built in 1957, anything before 1976 is incredibly difficult to secure fire insurance for. Every time tried to get insurance, it was just denied. Hayden is just one of many California residents who couldn't even procure fire coverage. But Hayden's story is putting a spotlight on the insurance crisis, which has been years in the making. The 2018 Campfire was, at the time, the most destructive fire in California history, costing insurance companies billions and starting a reassessment of how they do business in the state. It's led to skyrocketing prices for homeowners to keep any policy and thousands thousands of canceled policies. As for Hayden, he has no choice but to figure out what he can do next. It's simply my home. I can't imagine living anywhere else. Well, David, right now, there's an estimated $20 billion in insured losses.

As you know, those fires are still burning. By the way, David, the homeowner we spoke to, Travis Hayden, he's currently staying with friends, like so many others, turning to friends, family, hotels, shelters. This, while he tries to figure out what to do next, how he's going rebuild his life without insurance, David. A really overwhelming road ahead, Mola. Thank you. When we come back here, what started out as a random act of kindness has now turned into a major, spontaneous relief effort tonight. This evening, how you can help as well And just moments ago, our station, K-A-B-C, up above yet another new flare up in the Santa Monica Mountains. Tonight, this is between Tarzana and the Pacific Palisades, prompting evacuation warnings in new neighborhoods, including Brentwood. And the winds, we have the new forecast right after the break. Well, tonight, there is growing concern about the forecast here in the Los Angeles area. Meteorologist Leslie Lopes from our station here in LA, K-A-B-C, is here. I mentioned earlier her own father, a longtime LA firefighter. Leslie, you grew up learning about these Santa Ana winds. Your father knew the danger all too well. What do you expect in the hours and days ahead here?

Yeah, David, thank you so much. He just worked down the street here, Fire station 42 in Eagle Rock, and we are expecting calm for the time being. But boy, that is going to change. Right now, we are now reissuing some fire weather watches. This is going to be extending from Temecula all the way out towards Thousand Oaks because Saturday night into Sunday, wind speeds will be reinvigorated by an area of high pressure. There you go, 43-mile-per-hour winds over into Thousand Oaks. We're going to move you off into Monday because this looks like it'll be the stronger of the wind events that will be taking place here over the next coming days. This will not be as extreme as the wind event that just Just passed. But again, this high pressure center will sit over the four corners, bringing with it another strong Santa Ana Monday into Tuesday. So again, that elevates our fire danger once more, likely bringing in some red flag warnings. David, back over your way. So watching closely right in the next Monday and Tuesday. Leslie, thank you. So many of you at home have been asking, how could there have been so many homes lost here?

Matt Rivers tonight on the perfect storm of severe drought and these record Santa Ana winds. Normally, the lush The large mountains and deep arroyos of the City of Angels are a gorgeous backdrop for the region. But this week, a combination of extreme weather and climate forces created a devastating scenario. All of this is a far cry from this same time last year when we saw historic flooding here in Los Angeles. We've had more than a month's worth of rain in just the last 12 hours. But in the months following that devastation, LA has been experiencing a severe clear drought. Experts call it hydroclimate whiplash. Rapid swings between intensely wet and dangerously dry weather. We're dealing with actually two record wet winters the last two years, which had kept fires low, but all of that water had actually helped our forests and our chaparral grow to create all this vegetation that then becomes dried out and flammable. Add to that, those extreme winds with speeds up to 100 miles an hour, and the result is a catastrophic weather event, with embers able to ride those gusts for miles, igniting new fires virtually anywhere, anytime. David, we've spoken to experts who tell us with the continued effects from climate change, increased winds, increased average temperature, increased severity of drought.

Unfortunately, situations like this will almost certainly be more common in the future. David? Matt Rivers with us here tonight as well. Matt, thank you. When we come back tonight, a remarkable act of kindness growing quickly tonight, and a major announcement from our parent company, Disney, and how you can help, too. Amid the heartbreak, something else has happened here. It began with a food truck at a single video, now seen by thousands. Kevin Oesbeck from our Houston station, KTRK, is here in Los Angeles. We're out here at the Rose Bowl lot I. We are giving away free food. It all started with a TikTok, letting people know help was available, gaining over 35,000 views, a beacon of hope for those who need help, but also inspiring those who can give. We brought some hot dogs, and we went live on TikTok. Guys, now as a team, let's load all this stuff up. One act of kindness inspired another, and then another. Yeah, the loss of our house, of everything hurt, but it meeting everyone together and just knowing that everyone is here for us, we're not alone. David, take a look at this. We are now at the third location where this pop-up donation site has had to move and take a look at this.

There are now donations as far as the eye can see. Lines of shoes, piles of clothes, hot meals. If you lost your home in a fire, this is the place to come. This is now in a huge parking lot in Arcadia. This is what SoCal Strong looks like. David? I don't think we've quite done any-Let's keep it going. Thanks, Kevin. When we come back here, how you can help at home. Before we go, the family is in need. Tonight, Disney, the parent company of ABC, donating $15 million to Wildfire Relief, offering support to the Red Cross, the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. If you'd like to help, go to redcross. Org or salvationarmyusa. Org.