Living in New York City, my understanding of the fires in Los Angeles is totally mediated by images on the internet.

Pictures of embers swirling in the wind.

A kid's video of his devastated neighborhood with the caption,

Thy House, and of course, the maps.

But it wasn't until I called up Gabriel Cannon from over the Guardian

that I realized how universal the fear is in L.A.

We talked back on Friday.

I was on the fireline for much of yesterday in the day before, but you kind of duck out to check in and get service and or file copy. And so I'd be

like in some little cafe, like using the bathroom and trying to get cell service. And then

everyone's phones collectively would start wailing that another evacuation order had been extended.

And so I think people are just getting hammered because it feels like you really have nowhere to go or it feels completely safe.

Gabrielle's been staying with her mom, helping to get her go bag ready.

Her day job, though, is as an extreme weather correspondent.

The first person to have that title at her paper, so this fire is definitely her area of expertise.

It's rare in my line of work with my beat for me to be left speechless.

But that's how it felt.

I mean, walking through this community that was, you know, people described to me as a sanctuary

for families.

And it's gone.

It's completely gone.

Even if your house is saved, there's little left for you there if your community's gone. I mean...

Yeah, what are you going back to?

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