Schools burned and memories lost: How the California wildfires are impacting children

Lillian Davies, 11, witnessed the devastating flames engulfing the sky on Tuesday as the California wildfires continued to roar through communities.

So far, 100,000 people have been evacuated, 420,000 customers are without power and over 1,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed throughout Los Angeles County, according to city officials. For children in these areas, that means homes, schools and memories are gone forever.

Lillian told ABC News she was with her mother, Julie Davies, when the fires began to spread in the Pacific Palisades community. They said they were visiting a residence in the neighborhood to potentially call their new home, when they received an alert to evacuate.

The mother-daughter duo said they rushed to their car, heading down the one main road in the area, and started filming the views from their window. In the video reviewed by ABC News, an orange sky and clouds of smoke fill the air as the two drove down the hilly road of Pacific Palisades toward Sunset Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway.

Lillian says in the video, "Look at the sun, it's red. We are literally driving into the fire."

"It was really scary," Lillian later told ABC News. "I didn't know if my friend's school, houses or places that I love were going to burn. I didn't know if we were going to have to get out and go to the ocean."

Suddenly, they found themselves among a buildup of cars, increasing their wait-time to safety to over an hour.

"The longer we were there, the more panic struck in of, 'Are we going to need to abandon our car and head to the ocean by foot?'" Julie said.

As they were waiting, Julie said all she could do was to attempt to keep her daughter calm.

"She was saying, 'Calm down, we'll be OK and just keep praying,'" her daughter said.

The two were able to leave safely in their vehicle, but said they know of many who had to walk away from their cars to escape the approaching flames. While their current home has not experienced any damage, Julie said the family's old residence from Lillian's childhood burned down completely.

Along with the destruction of houses, all schools in the area are closed, including universities like UCLA, who have cancelled classes for the rest of the week.

Superintendent of the Los Angeles School District Alberto Carvalho said that as of Tuesday, 300 schools are shut down and 90 are on a modified schedule due to the unhealthy air quality.

"The biggest enemy at this point, beyond the imminent threat of the fires and the loss of property, is the air quality in and around our schools," Carvalho said. "It's our highest priority to protect our workforce, our students and their families."

On top of closures, Carvalho said two elementary schools in Pacific Palisades are burned down and the famous Pacific Palisades Charter High School, featured in many movies including the 1976 film "Carrie," is 30% burned.

Carvalho said the team plans on utilizing community resources to facilitate short-term housing for those in need.

"We are working with state entities and federal entities for the appropriate resources to rebuild these schools," Carvalho said. "But our first priority is bringing the social and emotional support, financial aid and the empathy our students, families and our workforce require."

Actress Heather Lawless told ABC News the schools for her three daughters all burned down and they are uncertain of the status of their home in Pacific Palisades. When her daughter Poppy, 7, was asked how she felt about the situation, she simply said, "Sad."

"We're trying to piece together as much normalcy as we can amid the devastation and the chaos," Lawless said. "We're trying to have happy moments with the girls and stay connected as a family as we are waiting in anticipation to see what our next steps are."