Surreal scenes unfold as a fire ‘like Armageddon’ barrels toward West Hills
At Zuma Beach, the Pacific Ocean was obscured by smoke. Horses, dogs and Southern Californians displaced by raging wildfires Friday sought refuge on the sand. The dress code called for protective face masks, not wetsuits. In Thousand Oaks, many of those still reeling from Wednesday’s mass shooting at Borderline Bar and Grill fled their homes with whatever they could grab on their way to safety. Crowded shelters turned away panicky evacuees for lack of space. Freeways were closed. Pepperdine University students awoke to texts ordering them to shelter in place. People like Shirley Hertel turned on television sets in horror and watched the homes they’d fled catch fire. “It was so surreal,” the Thousand Oaks resident said, shaken. “I left thinking everything would be OK. You don’t think your house will burn down.” Fire officials said that more than 150 homes had been destroyed in Southern California, casualties of the Hill and Woolsey fires, blazes that barreled into Malibu an