TV Reporter Describes ‘Cataclysmic' Scene as Wildfires Torch L.A., Including His Childhood Home (Exclusive)

• NBC News correspondent Jacob Soboroff, who has been reporting on the Southern California wildfires, grew up in the now-devastated Pacific Palisades

• He found the home he once lived during his youth destroyed by the fire

• “It’s a really awful situation,” he tells PEOPLE

For NBC News correspondent Jacob Soboroff, reporting from the devastation in the Pacific Palisades amid the raging wildfires around Los Angeles is not just a job — it’s also painfully personal because it's where he grew up.

“It’s a really awful situation,” he tells PEOPLE in an interview one day after the fire erupted in the L.A. neighborhood, now one of seven blazes burning through parts of the area as strong winds and other conditions fan the flames.

“I was born and raised here," Soboroff says, "and it’s really devastating to see.”

As of Wednesday, Jan. 8, the Palisades fire has burned nearly 16,000 acres and destroyed 300 structures, according to state officials, while forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of people. The nearby Eaton fire has been nearly as destructive. Neither of them are contained.

Five people have been confirmed dead so far, according to the Associated Press.

Related: Here's What to Do If You Are Under a Fire Evacuation Order: Prep, Packing and More

Soboroff, who has been delivering reports from the Palisades for NBC — on Today, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, on NBCNews.com — describes the scenes he's witnessed as "cataclysmic."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“The idea that the entire [neighborhood] could be destroyed as we know it within 24 hours is really a remarkable thing," he says. "As I’m talking to you now, I’m watching another structure go up in flames. This has been going on for 24 hours — and it shows no signs of letting up.”

Soboroff remembers the neighborhood pre-fire as a small town in a big city: “a patchwork of different communities."

"There are families who lived here for generations and there are lots of young, new families who’ve moved in and worked there. It’s a very special place," he says. "You can live a life where you can walk into the village and walk into the grocery stores or the pharmacy or the library.”

He hasn't been back to his old childhood home in many years. But when he did, for his reporting on Wednesday afternoon, Soboroff found it had burned down.

Related: UCLA Student Posts Video of Flames from Palisades Fire Visible from Her Dorm Room as She's 'Trying to Stay Calm' (Exclusive)

“It’s very tough,” he says. "I don’t live here anymore, but there are thousands of people who do. There was a small part of me inside that felt a tiny fraction of what everybody else is going through — to see the house that I knew from my childhood. Basically [just] the chimney is left standing by itself.“

Soboroff says that his younger brother and sister-in-law, who live in the Palisades, were evacuated but the status of their home is unknown.

He spoke with one fire official who told him the blaze has been the most devastating the official had ever seen in California.

“Until the winds let up, this is gonna keep going,” says Soboroff. “The idea of these hurricane force wind gusts in Los Angeles is not something a lot of us are used to, especially when fires are raging like this.“

Related: Woman Near L.A. Wildfire Says 'You Can Literally See It Move Across the Mountain' Due to the Winds (Exclusive)

Soboroff says he’s previously covered conflict areas in his job, but the Palisades fire has been a different kind of story for him.

“Imagine the place where you grew up disintegrating overnight,” he says. “That’s what happened here … It’s very personal for me, too."

"I just hope," he adds, "that it bounc[ing] back takes months. Not years.”

Click here to learn more about how to help the victims of the L.A. fires.

Read the original article on People