Reporting by Jem Aswad, Matt Donnelly, Angelique Jackson, Elsa Keslassy, Gene Maddaus, Marc Malkin, Pat Saperstein, Michael Schneider, Tatiana Siegel, Jazz Tangcay, Chris Willman and K.J. Yossman. Before mid-afternoon on Jan. 7, the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles was a salt-air oasis tucked into the second-largest city in the country.