Palisades fire evacuees escape to the desert

For Melanie Bonhomme, the life she built for herself and her five-year-old son in Pacific Palisades is now unrecognizable after the Palisades Fire ravaged through her community.

"All of these places destroyed, down to the ground, blackened across the street. There was an assisted living facility and condos gone. There's gas stations on my block, gone, grocery store on my block, gone. Like everything, everything. The library gone."

A series of wildfires have plagued Los Angeles county since Tuesday, evacuating 150,000 people and destroying over 10,000 structures.

And now some evacuees are seeking refuge in the desert.

Bonhomme and her friend, Lindsay Caspi, evacuated to Palm Springs shortly after the fires began.

"This just felt safe. It wasn't that far. It was outside of like the extreme danger risk. It wasn't near any active fires," Caspi said.

While Bonhomme’s home was saved from the fire, she says water and smoke damage have ruined everything inside her apartment.

And now just days away from returning home, the future is uncertain.

"Seeing all these images and like, all over the place is beyond comprehension, you know, like the mass trauma that comes from these types of, like, huge natural disasters and hundreds of people being displaced all at once, entire communities being wiped off the ground. These things take decades to repair."

If you'd like to donate to Bonhomme, visit her Gofundme at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/Melanie-and-Atlas-888