---
title: "Man Saves His 1961 Chevy Corvette From Fast-Moving California Wildfire"
description: "Your house, your family, or your shiny red C1 'Vette—take your pick."
date: "2017-06-30"
modified: "2017-06-30"
authors:
  - name: "Kyle Cheromcha"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kyle-cheromcha"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/watch-this/12046/man-saves-his-1961-chevy-corvette-from-fast-moving-california-wildfire"
categories:
  - "Chevrolet News"
  - "News"
  - "News by Brand"
  - "Watch This"
tags:
  - "California"
  - "Chevrolet"
  - "Corvette"
  - "Coupe"
  - "emergency"
  - "fire"
  - "los angeles"
  - "sports car"
---

# Man Saves His 1961 Chevy Corvette From Fast-Moving California Wildfire

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/06/corvette-fire.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Ah, Southern California. The land of pretty people, beautiful weather, and of course, the sweet smell of chaparral going up in flames every summer. That's especially the case this year—the winter's record precipitation laid down a thick blanket of fresh vegetation, all of which has wilted and dried *nicely* in the late-June sun.

At least six [wildfires](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/6236/driving-through-a-tennessee-wildfire-looks-like-hell-on-earth>) blazed across the region this week, one of which came pretty close to torching [this neighborhood](<https://www.google.com/maps/place/Viewcrest+Dr,+Burbank,+CA+91504/@34.2049972,-118.3179818,31a,35y,328.31h,78.91t/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x80c295204d8d6497:0xfd9e2cabf3585ed1!8m2!3d34.2095566!4d-118.3206735>) nestled in the hills just outside Burbank, California on Wednesday. Those are no doubt some really expensive homes, but one resident apparently decided to get the hell out in the one precious thing he could save—his Roman Red 1961 [Chevrolet Corvette](<https://www.thedrive.com/muscle-cars/6687/why-i-sold-my-chevy-corvette>) convertible.

David Steele, director of the American Hot Rod Foundation and the man who took the video, happened to be in the area when he noticed smoke starting to fill the air.

"I went outside, climbed up a short ridge and saw the fire. Then I saw the guy in the Corvette, you can’t tell it from the video but he was really moving," [Steele told *Autoweek.*](<https://autoweek.com/article/car-news/guy-saves-61-corvette-flames-approach-house>)

The fire worked its way down the hillside, but fortunately firefighters [were able to contain it](<https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Brush-Fire-Burns-Burbank-Hillside-431397653.html>) before any homes (or classic cars) were lost. Evacuation orders were lifted last night, so hopefully both man and Corvette are home safe at this point.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BV6Zh7IAZz7

## Author
Overseeing an expert staff of writers and editors from his lair in Los Angeles, Kyle shapes The Drive’s singular approach to covering the automotive industry and car culture. He’s been with the site as a writer since 2017, taking over as editor in 2019. On a daily basis, Kyle is responsible for directing The Drive's editorial news and car review content strategies, setting special coverage priorities, managing complex reporting projects, and ensuring what you read on the page meets our high internal standards for quality and trustworthiness. He is also the executive producer of The Drive's YouTube channel, which was relaunched in February 2024 to great acclaim and has accumulated over 14M new views in its first year back on the scene. He hosts a biweekly series on the channel where he breaks down fascinating and complicated stories from the automotive world.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/kylecheromcha.bsky.social>)  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/kylecheromcha>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-cheromcha-1550248a/>)