Uber passengers say they could ‘feel the heat’
Bethany Ellis and her husband, Craig, were taking an Uber to the airport from their home in Encino, Calif., when a turn in the road revealed an unimaginable sight. The Sepulveda Pass, a sweeping hillside running along the 405 Freeway near Mullholland Drive, was awash in roaring flames.
Ellis, who managed to make it past the wildfire before officials closed the highway running through Bel-Air in both directions, told the Herald’s Owen Boss about their terrifying experience, during which she said she and her husband could “feel the heat” as the vehicle they were riding in drove past the blaze:
It was about 5:20 in the morning and we had an Uber driver pick us up to take us to the airport. I had just checked the traffic before we left and everything looked great and as we got on the highway, we looked off to the horizon and we said, ‘That looks like a fire but that seems like an odd place for it to be.’
Then, as we got onto the 405 south, near the Sepulveda Pass, we realized it was right there in front of us.
Having an Uber driver, we were able to take out our phones and film it as we went by, and that’s when we realized the northbound side was closed.
It was shocking. We were our Uber driver’s first pickup of the day, and his last. He decided he was going to give up after that.
This was the closest we’ve ever been to a wildfire like this ... We don’t typically get them in the middle of a city that’s full of cement.
We had no idea how large the fire was. On the horizon, it looked like just a glow, but when we turned the corner and it was right there, it was quite stunning.
As we drove by, we started to feel the heat through the car, even though it was on the other side of the freeway. That was the scariest part for us.