reporter josh einiger is in the devastated pacific palisades section of l.a. here in that pacific palisades neighborhood, there is destruction and devastation everywhere you look. >> although there are pockets where things seem to have emerged unscathed from this firestorm. case in point this vintage thunderbird, which seems to have gone through this without barely a scratch. of course, there is a lot of destruction, a lot of heartbreak in this community, and homeowners learned it will be days before they're allowed to come back to begin to pick up the pieces. the sun set through clear, smoke free skies and the moon rose over a community. the firestorm all but wiped off the map. pacific palisades, the once vibrant place not far from the sea, now an ashen hellscape. memories mercilessly devoured by a hurricane of fire. >> it's not about the goods, but it's about family heirlooms. like my grandfather's handwritten books. it's almost like this is a second revolution for us. >> but tash esfandiari fled iran in the 1980s and made a life in pacific palisades. last w

abc news reporter josh einiger is in altadena for us and joins us live with the latest. josh. >> kristen. the damage here in l.a. county is it's actually hard to describe and we make a living describing things. but i'll just show you this is just one building. it's on a corner. it's probably 3 or 4 different small businesses, but you really can't tell because it's been burned beyond recognition. clearly, people lost it all. all their investments, all their livelihoods. here. here's somebody's car. let's look across the street. there's a gas station that's destroyed. to the right of the gas station is a church that's destroyed. and this is just one tiny stretch of altadena drive. in fact, we drove nearly two miles in the other direction, and we saw basically nothing but destruction. there isn't a lens wide enough to capture the extent of what happened in altadena, california. thousands of homes have all but vanished. now there are row after row of ash, very established homes and established communities, generational family homes that have been passed down. >> and it's extr

josh einiger, abc seven news. >> oh, gosh, josh, thanks so much.an't even imagine if this flares up again and they have more trouble. just terrible. thank you so much. >> all right. right now we have some live pictures for you from los angeles. this is our sister station, kabc. s chopper over the palisades fire, and you can see some power lines there. tower fire investigators are really trying to zero in on where the fire may have started. the origin possibly in the palisades highlands community, but atf, nrt, they're all there doing this investigation. dan. >> yeah, and they don't have much time because there may be another big firefight coming in the next few hours as the winds kick up again down south. but they are trying while they can, to take advantage of this moment and see if they can figure out a little bit more about where these fires may have started. so what are the conditions right now near the fires, and what will they be like in the net few hours? yeah. >> critical information. and spencer christian is here now with the forecast. spe

josh einiger, abc seven news.isten. >> yeah, well, let's hope that the winds stay more calm. uh- by the mountains. it's going to be obviously stronger. josh, i was just wondering, listening to the interview that you did with that woman, is that the sentiment that you're hearing from a lot of people? because some want to rebuild and try to get that done, and others are just like, i've had enough of these fires in california. >> you know, it's so varied in terms of what people are thinking. some people are itching to get back and they really want to see. some people want to move forward. in fact, the owners of this coffee shop told us they're ready to rebuild. they want to reopen, they want to serve their community. so i think it's very variable. and people are, quite frankly, still in shock. you know, they're they're working toward the essentials just to kind of get them going a day. that's what they're up to right now. toilet paper, diapers, dog food. we're talking about the rest of their lives here. and in many c

josh einiger, abc seven news. kristen. >> josh, i'm glad to hear that. you know, winds have not been quite as fast as they feared. but of course we'll wait and see. all right. thank you so much. we're staying on top of all the developments coming out of the wildfire in los angeles county. get updates as they happen on abc seven news.com and the abc seven bay area app. those wildfires are producing hazardous smoke. we want to learn more about the health impacts ahead, the risks (discouraged) so expensive. i mean, i'm helping my mom out, i don't have that kinda cash. - ugh, i know. but you can get financial help now through covered california. it's totally affordable. you'd be surprised. they've got this calculator thing that shows how much you'll pay. - for real? - yeah! what are you doing not having health insurance, man? - hey, i know, i know... - here, let me show you... - we all have questions. covered california has answers and can find a health plan that's right for you. covered california. this way to health insurance. bay area that smoke presents