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'It Was A Moonscape': Losing Everything In The Lake Fire

A brush fire that broke out Wednesday afternoon grew to 6,000 acres in the first hour alone. (Courtesy LA County Fire Air Ops via Twitter)

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On a hot August afternoon, the Lake Fire broke out near Lake Hughes in the hills above Palmdale.

It moved quickly, through dense chapparal, made dry by a hotter than normal summer.

Michael Lacroix lived nearby, and it wasn't long before firefighters showed up, showered him and his home in red fire retardant, and told him he was running out of time to grab what he could before before he had to flee the property.

"I knew walking around that property that it would be super hard to defend ... because the growth was so heavy," he said. "I thought that they would be able to stop it before it got to the homes. Why I thought that, I don't know."

READ MICHAEL'S STORY

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