Ravaging fires are hitting Los Angeles, pushing celebrities, including a Star Wars legend, to flee as the city faces a “worst-case scenario.”
A state of emergency has been declared, ordering at least 30,000 residents to leave their homes, as multimillion-dollar homes are burned to the ground.
Four separate fires broke out in Los Angeles, the largest in the upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood, which started on Tuesday.
Apocalyptic scenes show the Palisades fire destroying homes, forcing residents to flee with only their most precious possessions.
According to the Los Angeles County Fire Department, this fire is currently “zero percent” contained.
Celebrities including Mark Hamill, Spencer Pratt, Heidi Montag and Travis Barker’s children have all evacuated their homes.
The region is also home to many stars like Ben Affleck, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg.
The Palisades Fire has now ravaged about 3,000 acres, fueled by wind gusts reaching 100 mph, and has affected popular celebrity hotspots in Malibu and Santa Monica.
Malibu has ordered all its residents to prepare to evacuate as the inferno descends from the hillside towards the popular beach community.
Hundreds of firefighters, accompanied by several fire trucks, are battling the flames, while off-duty firefighters are being called upon to lend a hand.
Forecasters announce that the “worse is yet to come”, with a dry wind expected to persist for several days.
A second fire broke out in the north Altadena neighborhood, a third in Pasadena and a fourth in Sylmar.
Firefighters are struggling to control the fires, unable to use air support due to violent gusts of wind.
Homes in gated communities have caught fire, while trees and bushes at the Getty Villa Museum are also engulfed in flames.
Schools are closed, with thick black smoke billowing into the air and burn victims being treated in restaurants.
Mayor Karen Bass declared a state of emergency, and Gov. Gavin Newsom visited the site of the Palisades fire.
Two Hollywood movie premieres have been canceled, including the Robbie Williams biopic and the wrestling film Unstoppable starring Jennifer Lopez.
Ash is falling from the sky and roads are blocked, while around 13,000 buildings are threatened.
The Palisades fire, believed to have been caused by dry vegetation, started around 10:30 a.m. (6:30 p.m. GMT) Tuesday, according to Los Angeles spokesman Erik Scott.
It quickly grew in size, spanning 200 acres in less than an hour and continuing to spread rapidly.
Residents in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood were ordered to evacuate, and sections of the Pacific Coast Highway were closed.
The Los Angeles City Fire Department warned: “People in the Palisades area should evacuate immediately due to a fast-moving wildfire.”
“Put all of your belongings and pets in 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.”
Desperate residents on Palisades Drive abandoned their still-running cars to escape the fast-spreading flames.
This caused a traffic jam preventing emergency vehicles from passing, with a bulldozer having to intervene to clear the road.
Roads were clogged in both directions as evacuees fled to the Pacific Coast Highway, while others asked for help returning to collect their pets.
The neighborhood, bordering Malibu, has narrow hillside streets where houses are crowded together along winding mountain roads.
Will Adams, a longtime Palisades resident, said he immediately went to pick up his two children from school when he learned the fire was close.
He said embers escaped into his car while his wife tried to evacuate, causing her to abandon the vehicle while it was still running.
-Adams said, “She and many other residents walked toward the ocean until it was safe.”
According to him, he had never witnessed such a situation in 56 years of living in the region.
He watched as the sky turned brown then black, hearing loud crackling noises, some of them transformers exploding.
“It’s crazy, it’s everywhere, in every corner of the Palisades. One house is safe, the other is on fire,” Adams said.
The fire also threatens cultural buildings, such as the famous Getty Villa Museum in Los Angeles which houses Greek and Roman artifacts dating back to 6,500 BC.
Getty President Katherine Fleming said in a statement: “Some trees and vegetation on the grounds of the Getty Museum were burned late Tuesday, but the museum staff and collection remain safe.”
Star Wars actor Mark Hamill shared that he was evacuated from Malibu.
In an Instagram post, he said: “Personal fire update: 7 p.m. – Evacuated from Malibu so late that there are small fires on both sides of the road as we approached the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway ).”
From there, he traveled to his daughter Chelsea in Hollywood, with his wife Marilou and their dog Trixie.
He added: “8:15 p.m. – Marilou, Trixie and I arrive at Chelsea in Hollywood. The most horrible fire since ’93. Stay safe.”
The Eaton Fire, in Altadena, had burned more than 1,000 acres by midnight local time (8 a.m. GMT) after starting at 6 p.m. (midnight GMT).
Residents were desperately fleeing the fire into the hills, some taking horses with them, CBS reports.
Evacuation orders have been issued for Altadena, Arcadia, Pasadena and Sierra Madre, but it is unclear how many of them are affected by these orders.
The fires are aggravated by hot, dry winds blowing up to 160 km/h.
Forecasters said the system could become the worst windstorm in a decade.
President Joe Biden was scheduled to deliver a speech in the nearby Coachella Valley, where he was expected to announce the creation of two national monuments.
However, Biden canceled his speech due to the fire.
“This is pretty much a worst-case scenario for firefighting,” David Ortiz of the LAFD told KTLA.
The Los Angeles Fire Department released a statement on the NotifyLA alert system.
“The Palisades Fire is burning near Palisades Drive,” he said.
“People nearby should prepare for a potential evacuation by gathering supplies and loved ones.”
The flames are now being fueled by dangerous wind conditions, threatening to create a deadly windstorm.
Actor James Woods, known for providing the voice of Hades in the 1997 animated film Hercules, shared terrifying video of the fire approaching his home.
“I’m in my driveway waiting to evacuate,” he said on X as planes flew over the advancing flames.
“I hope everyone comes out safe and sound,” he added in another post.
Video shared by FoxLA reporter Matthew Seedorff shows several homes engulfed in flames on Shadow Mountain Drive in Pacific Palisades.
Actor Steve Guttenberg, who lives in the Pacific Palisades, urged people who abandoned their cars to leave their keys so they could be moved to make room for fire trucks.
“It’s not a parking lot,” Guttenberg told KTLA. “I have friends up there and they can’t evacuate. I walk as much as possible to move cars.”
