Hollywood, CA (WROC) — An alert on her phone told Chloe Corcoran a fire had broken out near her home in Hollywood. She ran up to her rooftop and saw for herself flames sprinting across Runyon Canyon. “So I went back down and made sure I had everything in my bags that I needed to, put my medications et cetera in there, checked in with a couple people in the building to let them know they should probably go... and said, you know what, if I don't get out of here now I might not get out of here, so let's just get going on the road,” Corcoran, who grew up in Rochester and is getting her doctorate through UR, said. Throughout her drive to safety she could smell the smoke. Elle Young and her daughter could see it. How did the wildfires in Los Angeles start? Young, who also grew up in Rochester, has evacuated her home in Sylmar twice since the wildfires started raging in Los Angeles County. The first time out, she says, the sight was apocalyptic. “My daughter pointed out the mountains were on fire and she's like, mommy, look the mountains are on fire,” Young recalled. “And they truly were on fire as as well, embers were hitting the windshield as we were driving out.” Both took shelter in hotels miles away from their neighborhoods and both say their homes are still standing. Photos capture wildfires ravaging Southern California “There are people that have lost homes that are literally just homeless that came out with what's on their backs,” Young said. Both women expect to return home soon as evacuation orders are lifted. “I'm just thankful for the firefighters working so hard, some working 24 hours straight trying to keep everybody safe,” Corcoran said.