A state of emergency has been issued with at least 30,000 locals ordered to leave their homes with multi-million dollar mansions being gutted.
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The Palisades Fire has caused 30,000 to evacuate their homes
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Flames engulf a building in the Eaton Fire
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Firefighters battle the Palisades Fire
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Four named fires have erupted in LA – with the largest in the western neighborhood of Pacific Palisades starting on Tuesday.
Apocalyptic scenes have seen the Palisades Fire gut homes and sent locals running for their lives with only their most prized possessions.
That fire is currently “zero per cent” contained, according to the LA County Fire Department.
Celebrities like Mark Hamill, Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag, and Travis Barker’s kids Alabama and Landon have all evacuated their homes.
The area is also home to dozens of A-listers like Ben Affleck, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg.
It comes as…
Four wildfires have erupted in LA sending tens of thousands fleeing
State of emergency issued and all firefighters called to help
Celebrities have been forced to flee homes as one inferno rips through affluent neighborhood
Clip taken from a plane shows the huge scale of blaze
Fires made worse by dry conditions and 100mph gusts
Reality TV stars Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag lose home to fire
Horror video shows huge flames just feet from house as two men and dog inside
The Palisades Fire has now spread some 3,000 acres backed by 100mph gusts and reached the neighboring celeb haunts of Malibu and Santa Monica.
Malibu has issued a prepare to evacuate order for all its residents as the inferno moves down the hills towards the iconic beachside community.
Some 1,400 firefighters and dozens of engines are fighting the fires with a plea going out to off-duty firefighters to help.
Watch California wildfires rip through Hollywood neighbourhoods
And weather forecasters think the “worst is yet to come” as a dry windstorm is expected to last for days.
A second blaze has now started in the city’s northern Altadena neighborhood, while a third has started in Pasadena, and a fourth in Sylmar.
Firefighters are desperately trying get the fires under control but are unable to use air support as hurricane-strength winds are too strong.
Homes inside gated communities have caught fire while trees and shrubs at the The Getty Villa Museum are also ablaze.
Some 200,000 people have also lost power, while schools have been closed as thick black smoke is sent into the air, and evacuation shelters have been opened.
Mayor Karen Bass has issued a state of emergency while Governor Gavin Newsom has visited the Palisades Fire.
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A playground burns during the Eaton FireCredit: AFP
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Residents of a care home are evacuated during the fire
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Residents of the Pacific Palisades are running for their lives from the blazeCredit: AP
Two Hollywood premieres have been cancelled, including Robbie Williams’ biopic and the wrestling flick Unstoppable with Jennifer Lopez.
Ash is falling from the sky and roads are blocked with some 13,000 buildings thought to be under threat.
Multiple burn victims were treated at one restaurant after they couldn’t get to a hospital, the LA Times reports.
Reports are also emerging that firefighters are running out of water with hydrants in Pacific Palisades becoming dry.
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A car and home burn during the Eaton Fire
LA developer Rick Caruso, who owns Palisades Village, told the LA Times: “There’s no water in the fire hydrants.”
“The firefighters are there [in the neighborhood], and there’s nothing they can do — we’ve got neighborhoods burning, homes burning, and businesses burning. … It should never happen.”
Ash is falling from the sky and roads are blocked with some 13,000 buildings thought to be under threat.
The Palisades Fire, which is believed to have caught in dry vegetation near North Piedra Morada Dr, started around 10.30am (6.30pm GMT) on Tuesday, according to Los Angeles spokesperson Erik Scott.
It quickly grew in scale, covering an area of 200 acres in under an hour and rapidly continued to spread.
Residents in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood were told to evacuate and sections of the Pacific Coast Highway were closed.
The Los Angeles City Fire Department said: “People in the area of Palisades need to evacuate now due to a rapidly moving wildfire.
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Spencer Pratt watching the wildfire as it approaches his family home in PalisadesCredit: The Mega Agency
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Actor Ben Affleck drives through Los Angeles as the fires rageCredit: BackGrid
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Smoke could be seen rising into the sky as Affleck drove towards his homeCredit: BackGrid
“Pack all people and pets into your vehicle and leave the area immediately.
“If you are not in the mandatory evacuation zone, stay off the roads to allow first responders and evacuees to move quickly.”
But desperate residents on Palisades Drive abandoned their still-running cars to get away from the rapidly spreading flames.
That caused a traffic jam preventing emergency vehicles from driving, so a bulldozer was brought in to shunt aside the cars.
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A tree burns outside a McDonald’s in Pacific PalisadesCredit: AFP
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Bulldozers are shunting aside abandoned cars
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A fire burns at the Getty Villa Museum as flames spread out of controlCredit: Reuters
Roads were clogged in both directions as evacuees fled down toward the Pacific Coast Highway while others begged for rides back up to their homes to rescue pets.
The neighborhood, which borders Malibu, includes hillside streets of tightly packed homes along winding mountain roads.
Actor Eugene Levy, known for his role in the American Pie films and Schitt’s Creek TV show, found himself stuck as he tried to flee.
He told the LA Times: “The smoke looked pretty black and intense over Temescal Canyon… I couldn’t see any flames but the smoke was very dark.”
Long-time Palisades resident Will Adams said he immediately went to pick his two kids up from school when he heard the fire was nearby.
He said embers flew into his wife’s car as she tried to evacuate causing her to flee it while it was still running.
Adams said: “She and many other residents walked down toward the ocean until it was safe.”
Adams said he had never witnessed anything like this in the 56 years he’s lived there.
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Mark Hamill issued an update on how he had evacuated the fireCredit: Instagram
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Landon Barker, son of Travis Barker, shared an update on evacuating the Palisades FireCredit: Instagram
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Landon’s sister Alabama also evacuatedCredit: Instagram
He watched as the sky turned brown and then black and could hear loud popping and bangs noises, which he said he believes were the transformers exploding.
“It is crazy, it’s everywhere, in all the nooks and crannies of the Palisades. One home’s safe, the other one’s up in flames,” Adams said.
The fire is also starting to threaten cultural buildings – like Los Angeles’ famous Getty Villa Museum which hosts notable Greek and Roman artefacts that date back to 6,500 BC.
Getty President Katherine Fleming said in a statement: “Some trees and vegetation on the grounds of the Getty Villa were burned by late Tuesday, but staff and the museum collection remain safe.”
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A helicopter flies over homes threatened by the wind-driven Palisades FireCredit: AFP
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A helicopter drops water around homes threatened by the fireCredit: AFP
Star Wars actor Mark Hamill has said he was evacuated from Malibu.
In an Instagram post, he said: “Personal Fire Update: 7pm – Evacuated Malibu so last-minute there small fires on both sides of the road as we approached PCH (Pacific Coast Highway).”
From there he went to his daughter Chelsea’s house in Hollywood with his wife Marilou and their dog Trixie.
He said: “8:15pm – Marilou, Trixie & I arrive at Chelsea’s house in Hollywood. Most horrific fire since ’93. Stay safe.”
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Flames overtake the intersection of Temescal Canyon and Pacific Coast HighwayCredit: AFP
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A firefighter tackles the raging infernoCredit: EPA
The second largest fire, the Eaton Fire in Altadena, had burned more than 1,000 acres by midnight local time (8am GMT) after starting at 6pm (midnight GMT).
Locals were desperately running from the fire in the hills with some bringing horses with them, CBS reports.
The blaze erupted so quickly that workers at a care home had to push residents in wheelchairs and hospital beds down the road to safety.
Evacuation orders have been issued for Altadena, Arcadia, Pasadena and Sierra Madre, but it is unclear how many are affected by the orders.
The fires are being aggravated by hot, dry winds that are gusting up to 100mph.
The causes of all the fires are under investigation.
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Cars were ablaze after owners abandoned still-running vehicles in the roadCredit: AP
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Flames from the Palisades Fire approach homesCredit: AFP
Forecasters said the system could develop into the worst windstorm in a decade.
President Joe Biden was scheduled to give remarks in the nearby Coachella Valley, where he would announce the creation of two national monuments.
However, Biden abruptly cancelled the speech because of the fire.
In a post on X, he addressed the fire saying: “I am being frequently briefed on the wildfires in west Los Angeles.
“My team and I are in touch with state and local officials, and I have offered any federal assistance that is needed to help suppress the terrible Pacific Palisades fire.
“Earlier tonight, FEMA approved a Fire Management Assistance Grant to support areas that are impacted and help reimburse the state of California for the immediate firefighting costs.
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Firefighters work to extinguish flames as the McDonald’s in PasadenaCredit: Reuters
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A home was gutted by the flamesCredit: AP
“My Administration will do everything it can to support the response.
“I urge the residents of the Pacific Palisades and the surrounding areas of Los Angeles to stay vigilant and listen to local officials.”
The UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office issued a warning to Brits travelling in the area saying they should monitor local media and follow official advice.
Flames are now being fanned by dangerous wind conditions, threatening to create a d.e.adly wind storm.
“This is pretty much the worst possible scenario for a firefight,” LAFD’s David Ortiz told KTLA.
Actor James Woods, known for voicing Hades in the 1997 animated film Hercules, shared a terrifying video of the fire approaching his home.
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A van in flames on the road in the woods around Pacific PalisadesCredit: EPA
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A sunbather watches smoke pouring over the Pacific PalisadesCredit: AP
“I’m standing in my driveway waiting to evacuate,” he said on X as planes zoomed over the encroaching blaze.
“Hope everybody gets out safely,” he said in another post.
Video shared by Matthew Seedorff, a FoxLA reporter, shows multiple houses engulfed in flames on Shadow Mountain Drive in Pacific Palisades.
