Holding back 'By the time we left, it was near the end'

In the past few months, Jon Oei's parents, who live in the Pacific Palisades Highlands neighbourhood, have received multiple wildfire evacuation orders, the most recent in the early hours of New Year's Eve.

- Lois Beckett

So when a wildfire broke out not far from the family's home, they did not immediately evacuate. By 10:30am, however, they could see "smoke coming over the top of the hill", the 35-year-old said.

Oei was staying with his parents, and he knew the one main road out of their neighbourhood would be snarled with traffic after the first evacuation order. Soon, news reports showed long traffic jams as residents tried to flee, empty cars lining some roads as people gave up and continued on foot.

"I think a lot of people ignore the first call," he said. "You get stuck. Then you see people abandoning their cars."