Should you stay or flee: As fire grows, Porter Ranch neighbors have to make tough choice

Porter Ranch is getting some hot grilling this season with thick fires lapping it up. The fires also sort of turned fatal. News reports of at least one motorist was killed when a tow truck and a passenger vehicle crashed on the crowded (118) Ronald Reagan freeway near Porter Ranch. The roadway has been inundated by thick black smoke from the Sesnon fire.

The accident occurred about 12:30 p.m. as hundreds of residents were trying to flee due to the 2,000 acre brush fire that is threatening homes and causing traffic congestion in the area. The crash happened near where the fire jumped the freeway.

Some residents parked their cars and ran to their homes, where they grabbed things such as paintings, computers and medicine. Some pulled pillowcases off their beds and stuffed them with belongings.

Roadways were jammed as more and more residents fled. Traffic came to a standstill in some areas.

One person was killed in a fiery head-on collision while trying to use a freeway on ramp to exit the closed Simi Valley Freeway. TV news helicopters showed vehicles turning around and driving against traffic to escape the traffic jam via the on ramp.

Meanwhile, in an eery scene no more than a mile and a half from the fire, people played golf at the Porter Valley Country Club and trash trucks went through the neighborhood collecting garbage.

In houses just above the golf course, some people packed belongings.

Numbers from the Porter Ranch wildfire:

• No word on how much is contained.
• 2,000 acres burned

Mandatory evacuations:

• Box Canyon
• Woolsey Canyon
• Bell Canyon
• Lake Manor
• Dayton Canyon
• Brown Canyon
• Twin Lakes
• An area in the city of L.A. north of Bell Canyon and west of Valley Circle Blvd.

I have tried to add pictures showing the Porter Ranch Fires below.