On an afternoon when the National Weather Service issued Flash Flood Warnings for Malibu, Topanga State Park and Pacific Palisades, an NBC News crew documented the unfortunate result of several inches of intense rain near the Palisades Fire scar. 

According to Los Angeles Fire Department Public Information Officer Eric Scott, at 5:02 p.m. an “LAFD member had his vehicle swept off the road and into the ocean by a large debris flow along Big Rock Road in Malibu.” An NBC News crew covering the storm was there to capture the moment.

The video shows the LAFD SUV already over the edge of the precipice that separates PCH from the beach below. A literal flood of black water roaring off the highway is seen rolling the vehicle and pushing it into the surf line. It eventually becomes stuck bumper deep in water and sand.

Video shown later on NBC4 also caught the moment the firefighter exited the vehicle during a lull in the surf.

Scott later wrote on X, “Fortunately, the member was able to exit his vehicle and reach safety with minor injuries. He was transported to a local hospital as a precaution.”

Video shown on Fox11 at just about the same time showed a similar cataract a few hundred yards up the coast washing out PCH in front of Duke’s restaurant.

The LAFD vehicle was still stuck in the surf after nightfall as rescue crews struggled to locate its exact location amid the rain and debris flows. Luckily, they were able to use the NBC News video to ID the location – in the 19600 block of PCH, an area that has repeatedly been the site of flooding mudflows – and begin to extricate the wreck.