CNN reporter Nick Watt narrowly missed being struck by a piece of debris catapulted in his direction by a collapsed burning building during his live on-the-ground coverage of the wildfires raging through California.
Tens of thousands of people have been ordered to leave their homes in the Pacific Palisades, where a fast-moving fire has destroyed properties and forced many residents to abandon cars in the coastal strip between Malibu and Santa Monica—both under evacuation orders as well.
Meanwhile, per CNN, the Palisades fire is surging at a pace of five football fields per minute and has already burned more than 2,900 acres. Los Angeles has declared an emergency amid warnings that “tornado-like” winds could make firefighting efforts even harder. Two more fires have ignited across Los Angeles County: the 100-acre Hurst fire north of San Fernando and the Eaton fire in Altadena—now covering 1,000 acres.
Watt was broadcasting from Palisades Village on Tuesday night and speaking to host Polo Sandoval, who was in the studio, showing viewers an apartment building across from him that was engulfed in flames.
“You know, we’ve spent most of the day up in the [Hollywood] Hills, the beautiful little windy streets, the beautiful multi-million dollar homes, some of which are no more. We’ve now come down into Palisades village, the center of this community,” he explained.
Without notice the disintegrating building spat debris toward the CNN team.
“That was an apartment
Gathering himself, Watt continued: “All of these embers that you can see. Polo. That’s the problem. These embers on that wind. Any of these embers can cause another fire. And that’s what’s been happening all day. That’s what’s been happening all day and will continue to happen all night, because the wind is only going to get worse.”
Watch above via CNN.