‘Third fire of my lifetime’: KCRW staffer flees Palisades home

KCRW staffer Adria Kloke is evacuating her home near Sunset Blvd. and PCH as the Palisades Fire has broken out. With four suitcases and her cat, she’ll be staying at a friend’s Marina Del Rey home.

“[I’m] pretty rattled. … This is my third fire of my lifetime. Lost two homes already, so I know what to do, which puts me into at least a slightly better position than some of my neighbors,” she says.

For others considering leaving, Kloke advises them to take video documentation of all rooms in their homes: “Open every cabinet, and … talk about your possessions. What are they? Where did they come from? Just get it all out. … Having a totally exhaustive video of each room, of all your possessions, that will really help you, if you ever, God forbid, have to file an insurance claim after losing all your possessions, like my family did twice over. No one wants to be in this position, but if you have to be, you want to be as prepared as possible.”

She adds, “Yesterday, as soon as we got those alerts telling us about it being high fire danger along with the high wind advisory, I'll tell you, I was total ball of anxiety since yesterday around 5 p.m. So the best thing we can do if we're going to choose to live in these areas is know what to watch out for. And I honestly wish I'd listened to my gut a little and started packing last night.”

*Read part two of this story .