A massive amount of rainwater and mud was unleashed onto Pacific Coast Highway on Thursday, sweeping an L.A. Fire Department vehicle off the iconic coastal route and prompting an indefinite road closure roughly from Santa Monica to the Malibu Pier.

A new atmospheric river is slamming California, including fire-ravaged Los Angeles, where residents are bracing for the possibility of mudslides and landslides.

A Los Angeles Fire Department member was able to escape a close call Thursday after his vehicle was swept into the ocean by fast-moving mud along Pacific Coast Highway.

FILE - Residents evacuate past damaged vehicles after storms caused a mudslide, Feb. 5, 2024, in the Beverly Crest area of Los Angeles. The strongest storm of the year brought dangerous debris flows and slides across Southern California on Feb. 14, 2025.

Southern California was primed for more mudslides and flooding on Friday, especially in areas scorched by last month's devastating wildfires, even as heavy rains that have saturated the Los Angeles area this week tapered off.

Mudslides blocked roads around Los Angeles on Friday after heavy rain pounded areas burned by last month's wildfires, sending denuded hillsides tumbling.