Los Angeles CW affiliate KTLA was covering the Erskine fire in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains near Bakersfield when the flames got a little too close.
Reporter Steve Kuzj recorded video on his cellphone as he and photojournalist Victor Vargas hustle to get the gear in the news van and get out of there.
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Vargas told the station the fire went from 100 to 50 to 30 yards away in less than a minute.
“The heat became unbearable,” he said. “The heat was too much that I couldn’t get in the truck through the driver side.”
“You don’t realize how fast a fire moves until you’re breathing hot, ashy air and the panic starts to set in.”