A family from the Netherlands was visiting in California when they discovered that the 101 Freeway they were on took them through the Solimar Fire burning on both sides of the highway just northwest of Ventura, California.
The fire caused havoc among motorists when some of them made U-turns on the blocked divided highway, fleeing from the fire through opposing traffic, much to the surprise of the unaware oncoming drivers.
Below is an excerpt from an article at NBC news that has more details about the tourists who filmed the above video:
…Maaike Maks, who is visiting California from the Netherlands for the holidays with her family, was driving through Ventura from Los Angeles on Christmas night when they spotted the blaze.
“We already saw the fire 30 minutes before we actually passed it, but we didn’t realize it was this big and frightening,” she told NBC News after posting a video of the massive dancing flames on Twitter.
“There was nobody stopping us as we got closer and closer. So we thought it was totally safe for us to drive past it,” Maks said. “Then all of the sudden all these sparks and a burning bush hit our car and we couldn’t see anything of what was around us because of all the smoke … We were very lucky.
More information on Wildfire Today about the Solimar Fire.
