Hollywood Boulevard has been evacuated with 100,000 people told to flee with six wildfires raging as the apocalyptic skies of Los Angeles continue to fill with smoke.
Two new blazes broke out overnight in the Hollywood Hills and Studio City – forcing first responders to redeploy their already-scarce resources to the burnt landscape.
The National Guard has been deployed and could send in military personnel to assist, amid revelations that heroic firefighters are ‘triaging’ homes and neighborhoods.
The LA Fire Department issued an evacuation order for people in an area within Hollywood Boulevard to the south, Mulholland Drive to the north, the 101 Freeway to the east and Laurel Canyon Boulevard to the west – all iconic addresses in showbiz.
The latest fires mean huge swathes of iconic southern California real estate from Malibu to Santa Monica, and from Pacific Palisades to Runyon Canyon, are ablaze – impacting millions caught off guard by the unprecedented spread and carnage.
At least five people have lost their lives in the disaster so far – with 2,000 structures obliterated and thousands of people left with nothing but ash across the city.
More than 130,000 people are under evacuation orders while Mandy Moore, Cary Elwes and Paris Hilton are among the stars who said they had lost homes. Billy Crystal and his wife Janice lost their home of 45 years in the Palisades Fire.
And Gavin Newsom became emotional when asked about Donald Trump placing the blame on him for the disaster, after the president-elect referred to the California Governor as ‘Gavin Newscum’. The wildfires continued to burn as:
It comes as raging wildfires surrounding Los Angeles spread to the Hollywood Hills last night after other fires in the area killed at least five people, destroyed hundreds of homes and stretched firefighting resources and water supplies to the limit.
A firefighting helicopter drops water as the Sunset Fire burns in the Hollywood Hills last night
Flames from the Palisades Fire burn a building on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles last night
A car burns as the Eaton Fire moves through the area of Altadena in California yesterday
More than 100,000 people were ordered to evacuate as dry, hurricane-force winds hindered firefighting operations and spread the fires, which have burned thousands of acres since they began yesterday.
‘This firestorm is the big one,’ Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told a press conference after rushing back to the city, cutting short an official trip to Ghana.
A new fire broke out in the parched Hollywood Hills yesterday evening, Fire Chief Kristin Crowley told a press conference, forcing more evacuations and raising the number of wildfires burning in Los Angeles County to at least six.
Four of them were 0 per cent contained according to state officials, including a pair of major conflagrations on the eastern and western flanks of the city that continued to grow as night fell yesterday.
Wind conditions have eased enough to allow aircraft in the skies to help fight the Hollywood Hills fire
The sun is seen behind smoke above charred structures which fell victim to the Palisades fire
The LA Fire Department issued an evacuation order for people in an area within Hollywood Boulevard to the south, Mulholland Drive to the north, the 101 Freeway to the east and Laurel Canyon Boulevard to the west – all iconic addresses in showbiz
Residents embraced one another in an emotional moment as a home burned down in the Eaton fire
Apocalyptic scenes were visible from Hollywood on Wednesday night
The front gate and mailbox of a home stand intact in front of the ruins of a home
In between, the so-called Sunset Fire in Hollywood Hills scorched 50 acres yesterday, Cal Fire said. Helicopter crews and ground teams appeared to be making progress impeding its rapid advance.
The LA Fire Department issued an evacuation order for people in an area within Hollywood Boulevard to the south, Mulholland Drive to the north, the 101 Freeway to the east and Laurel Canyon Boulevard to the west.
Within that area is the Dolby Theater, where the Oscars are held. Next week’s Oscar nominations announcement was already postponed by two days because of the fire, organisers said.
Though relatively small, the Sunset Fire burned just above Hollywood Boulevard and its Walk of Fame. It would need to cross the 101 Freeway to endanger the Hollywood sign and Griffith Observatory further up in the hills.
Nearby, a structure fire claimed at least two homes and spread to brush in Studio City, live television footage showed. More than 50 firefighters extinguished the fire with no injuries reported, the LA Fire Department said.
Firefighters are also still battling the out-of-control Palisades fire
Water bombing aircraft are working in the darkness to control the blaze
Fire was visible from Hollywood up in the hills of Runyon Canyon
On the west side of Los Angeles, the Palisades Fire consumed 15,832 acres and hundreds of structures in the hills between Santa Monica and Malibu, racing down Topanga Canyon until reaching the Pacific Ocean yesterday.
A home reportedly belonging to Hollywood actors Leighton Meester and Adam Brody was one of the buildings destroyed.
Aerial video by KTLA television showed block after block of smouldering homes in Pacific Palisades, the smoky grid occasionally punctuated by the orange blaze of another home still on fire.
To the east, in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, the Eaton Fire claimed another 10,600 acres, another 1,000 structures, and killed at least five people, officials said.
Three people had been arrested for looting, law enforcement officials said.
Private forecaster AccuWeather estimated initial damage and economic loss at more than $50billion (£40billion).
The hellish, fast-moving inferno sweeping through the Hills triggered the urgent evacuation order at 6pm local time on Wednesday – impacting at least 20 acres already near Runyon Canyon
A home burns during the Palisades Fire, which is not yet under control
Residents forced to flee as emergency services work to put out blaze at home
The charred remains of a car pictured
A couple looks on at their now destroyed home after the Eaton Fire
This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows burning and destroyed houses
‘We’re facing a historic natural disaster. And I think that can’t be stated strong enough,’ Kevin McGowan, director of emergency management for Los Angeles County, told a press conference.
Even though forecasters said winds would subside briefly last night, so-called red flag conditions were expected to remain until tomorrow.
Horses and other large animals found shelter from the wildfires at a college equestrian centre that opened its doors to horses, alpacas, llamas and even pigs, whose owners were under evacuation orders.
‘I think they sense the fire and so I really had to lead them in a way that they understood that they were being taken somewhere safe,’ said Jaye Riedinger, 37, a creative director from Topanga, who left her home with her mustang horses.
Nearly 300,000 homes and businesses lost power in Los Angeles County, down from nearly 1 million earlier yesterday, according to PowerOutage.us. School was cancelled throughout Los Angeles County at least through today.
The Hollywood sign has been enveloped in thick smoke from the blaze
Hollywood Hills is now on fire, sparking fears for tourist hotspots
Hollywood Hills is ablaze in yet another fire
A man walks past a fire-ravaged business after the Eaton Fire
The scale and spread of the blazes stretched exhausted firefighting crews beyond their capacity.
Firefighters from six other states were being rushed to California, while an additional 250 engine companies with 1,000 personnel were being moved from Northern California to Southern California, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone told a press conference.
Water shortages caused some hydrants to run dry in upscale Pacific Palisades, officials said.
‘We pushed the system to the extreme. We’re fighting a wildfire with urban water systems,’ Janisse Quinones, chief executive of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, told a press conference.
Pacific Palisades relies on three tanks that hold about a million gallons (3.78 million litres) each, and the demand for water to fight fires at lower elevations was making it difficult to refill water tanks at higher elevations, she said.
This entire beachside strip in Malibu was decimated from the fire
Homes damaged by the Palisades Fire are seen along the beach
Pictured: The destruction near Eaton Canyon
Vehicles left behind have been leveled
U.S flag flies as fire engulfs a structure while the Palisades Fire burns during a windstorm
Fire-ravaged businesses are seen after the Palisades Fire swept through
By yesterday afternoon, all three of those tanks and all 114 reservoirs throughout the city were refilled, Ms Quinones said in a later press conference.
The fires struck at an especially vulnerable time for Southern California, which has not seen significant rainfall for months.
Then came the powerful Santa Ana winds, bringing dry desert air from the east toward the coastal mountains, fanning wildfires while blowing over the hilltops and down through the canyons.
President Joe Biden, who declared the fires a major disaster, joined California Governor Gavin Newsom at a Santa Monica fire station to get a briefing on firefighting efforts.
In his final days as president before handing off to President-elect Donald Trump on Jan. 20, Biden cancelled an upcoming trip to Italy in order to focus on directing the federal response to the fires, the White House said.
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