A MOTORIST HAS filmed a terrifying escape from wildfires in California.
More than 500 homes have so far been destroyed as a number of fires sweep across the state.
One family driving through the flames captured it all on camera.
CNN reports that the family missed the 4pm evacuation order, and instead waited until 8.30pm, leaving on the only road still open.
The family are now appealing for donations on a GoFundMe page after the fire destroyed their home.
“My mother-in-law’s full-time residence is located in Anderson Springs, outside of Middletown,” Julie Wolf writes.
“The house was built by her grandfather, my husband grew up there, and we were married by the creek.”
We barely escaped, but we are happy to be alive.
Authorities say 585 homes are known to be destroyed, and that number was expected to rise. Nine thousand homes remain threatened.
Some people still were unaccounted for Tuesday, but authorities said they could be staying with relatives, on vacation or elsewhere and not impacted by the fire.
At least one person has been killed in the fires.
The Lake County fire and another about 120 miles to the southeast have displaced 23,000 people and are the worst of a dozen wildfires burning in the state. The other blaze, in the Sierra Nevada foothills, has charred nearly 112 miles and was more than one-third contained Tuesday.
Still, 6,400 structures remained threatened with evacuations in Amador and Calaveras counties. The fire has destroyed nearly 200 homes and outbuildings and damaged a dozen more.
Additional reporting by The Associated Press.
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