LOS ANGELES – More than 30 000 people evacuated their homes as a wildfire ripped through an upscale coastal area of Los Angeles overnight, with Hollywood celebrities among those fleeing by car and on foot as flames engulfed homes and set hillsides ablaze.
Weather conditions were expected to deteriorate further throughout Wednesday as a wind storm and arid conditions fanned a blaze in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood and at least two others in the Los Angeles area, forecasters said.
California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Tuesday.
Numerous buildings were destroyed and nearly 3 000 acres (1 200 hectares) burned in Pacific Palisades, which lies between the beach towns of Santa Monica and Malibu, officials said. The area is home to many film and music stars.
Roads were jammed with people fleeing the inferno, some abandoning their cars as flames licked the edges and plumes of smoke and flames rose in the night sky over Los Angeles and its suburbs.
Actor Steve Guttenberg told KTLA television that friends of his were impeded from evacuating because others had abandoned their cars in the road.
“It’s really important for everybody to band together and don’t worry about your personal property. Just get out,” Guttenberg said. “Get your loved ones and get out.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Wednesday morning urged residents to follow evacuation and parking orders, using shelters set up by authorities if needed.
“Stay vigilant and stay safe,” she wrote in a post on X, saying the windstorm was expected to worsen through the morning.
The National Weather Service said in an advisory: “This is a particularly dangerous situation for portions of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties!”
Pacific Palisades resident Cindy Festa said that as she evacuated, fires were “this close to the cars,” demonstrating with her thumb and forefinger.
“People left their cars on Palisades Drive. Burning up the hillside. The palm trees – everything is going,” Festa said from her car.
Several people were injured in the Palisades Fire, some with burns to faces and hands, a fire official told KTLA. One female firefighter had suffered a head injury. No deaths have been reported however.
Hollywood actor James Woods said on X he was able to evacuate his Pacific Palisades house but he added: “I do not know at this moment if our home is still standing.” (Reuters)
