California: Synagogue destroyed and other Jewish institutions threatened by fire

California firefighters battled windswept wildfires that ravaged the Los Angeles area, destroying homes, blocking roads and forcing tens of thousands of people to flee. American authorities were preparing for a worsening of the situation on Wednesday morning.

The fires destroyed dozens of homes, businesses and other structures in three separate areas of Southern California.

At least one synagogue has been completely destroyed by fire and other Jewish institutions are under threat. The three fires were completely uncontained at the start of Wednesday.

In Pasadena, a fire dubbed the Eaton Fire consumed more than 1,000 acres, with flames racing down Eaton Canyon toward homes and health care facilities, forcing thousands of people to run for shelter. shelter, while the winds are expected to continue blowing until early morning.

Images showed Pasadena’s synagogue and Jewish center completely gutted, with most of the Spanish-style structure reduced to rubble. The Conservative congregation, founded in 1921, had occupied the building since 1941, according to its website.

The Torah scrolls that were in the sanctuary were reportedly removed before the fire reached the building.

“The fire is still burning inside,” confirmed KABC correspondent Jaysha Patel.

“It’s different every minute that goes by, because these embers keep taking over different parts of this complex. »

“Pieces of the building look like they’re about to fall, you can hear the aluminum cracking,” she added.

“The roof of this building, the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, completely collapsed,” Patel noted, as images showed the building being consumed by flames.

“This happened in just a matter of minutes,” she said.

The flames spread so quickly after the fire started Tuesday evening that staff at a senior living center had to push dozens of residents in wheelchairs and on hospital beds into the street, to a parking lot. Residents waited there in their beds as embers fell around them, until ambulances, buses and even construction vans arrived to take them to safety.

An even larger fire spread across nearly 1,200 acres in the seaside community of Pacific Palisades, where the rabbi of an Orthodox Chabad Lubavitch synagogue said flames damaged part of the property, posting a photo of Torah scrolls being removed Tuesday afternoon.

“Unfortunately our property was affected – our storage area suffered severe damage, as well as several cars in the parking lot. Although these losses are difficult to bear, we are very grateful that everyone is safe and sound, and we continue to pray for the protection of everyone in the affected areas,” Chabad said on Facebook early Wednesday.

Other structures near the Chabad center were seen on fire, including parts of Palisades Charter High School, which has been featured in numerous Hollywood productions, including the 1976 horror film “Carrie,” the remake of “Freaky Friday” from 2003 and the television series “Teen Wolf”.

Kehillat Israel, a Reconstructionist congregation further up Sunset Boulevard, was also threatened after a nearby high school caught fire. The condition of the synagogue building remains unclear.

The hillside area that runs along the coast is dotted with celebrity homes and memorialized by the Beach Boys in their 1960s hit, Surfin’ USA. In the rush, the roads became impassable as dozens of people abandoned their vehicles and fled on foot, some with suitcases.

Officials did not give an estimate of how many structures were damaged or destroyed by the Pacific Palisades fire, but they said about 30,000 residents were under evacuation orders and more than 13,000 buildings were threatened. A state of emergency has been declared.

In the evening, flames spread to the nearby town of Malibu, where several people were treated for burns, while a firefighter with serious head injuries was taken to the hospital, according to Captain Erik Scott of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

It is unclear whether the fire affected several Jewish sites that burned during a large wildfire that broke out in 2018.

Authorities have warned that the fire could also spread to the neighboring city of Santa Monica, where there is a large Jewish community.

The traffic jam on Palisades Drive prevented emergency vehicles from getting through. A bulldozer was therefore brought in to push the abandoned cars to the side of the road and create a path. Videos taken along the Pacific Coast Highway showed homes and businesses along the famous highway completely destroyed.

Pacific Palisades resident Kelsey Trainor said the only road in and out of her neighborhood was blocked. Embers fell all around residents as fires consumed both sides of the road.

“We looked across the road and the fire had jumped from one side to the other,” Trainor said.

“People were getting out of cars with their dogs and their babies and their bags, they were crying and screaming. »

A third fire broke out around 10:30 p.m. and quickly prompted evacuations in Sylmar, a San Fernando Valley community north of Los Angeles. The causes of these three fires are under investigation. As of Wednesday morning, the fire had burned more than 202 acres, according to CAL Fire.

The flames were pushed by Santa Ana winds, which reached 97 km/h in some places on Tuesday, and which increased to 112 km/h early Wednesday, according to information transmitted by the National Weather Service Los Angeles. These winds could reach 100 mph in the mountains and foothills, including areas that haven’t received significant rain in months.

The situation prompted the Los Angeles Fire Department to take the rare step of putting out a call for help to off-duty firefighters. The wind was too strong for firefighting planes to fly over the area, further complicating the situation. A high wind warning was in effect in the area until 6 p.m., according to the weather service.

“This is likely to be the most destructive windstorm since 2011, a storm that caused significant damage to Pasadena and the foothills of the San Gabriel Valley,” the weather service said in an alert to red flag, in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

On Wednesday morning, Governor Gavin Newsom posted on the social network X that a total of 1,400 firefighters had been deployed to California to fight the blazes. “Emergency officials, firefighters and first responders remained on deck throughout the night to do everything possible to protect lives,” Newsom said.

President Joe Biden had to cancel his trip to Riverside County, where he was to announce the creation of two new national monuments in the state. He remained in Los Angeles, where smoke was visible from his hotel, and was informed of the progress of the fires. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved a grant to help California reimburse firefighting costs.

As of Wednesday morning, more than 200,000 people were without power in Los Angeles County, according to the tracking website PowerOutage.us, due to high winds.

Recent dry winds, including the notorious Santa Anas, have contributed to higher than average temperatures in Southern California, where there has been very little rain so far. Since the beginning of May, only 0.25 centimeters of rain have fallen in Southern California.

Pacific Palisades, which borders Malibu about 20 miles west of downtown Los Angeles, features hillside streets where homes are crowded together along winding roads nestled against the Santa Mountains Monica and extend to beaches along the Pacific Ocean.

Will Adams, a Palisades resident for many years, said he immediately went to pick up his two children from St. Matthews Parish School when he heard the fire was getting closer. Meanwhile, embers flew into his wife’s car as she tried to evacuate the scene.

“She got out of her car and left it running,” Adams said. She and many other residents walked toward the ocean until they were out of danger.

Adams said he has never witnessed anything like this – he has been a local resident for 56 years. He saw the sky turn brown, then black, as houses began to burn. He heard loud bangs and bangs “like little explosions,” which he said was consistent with the transformers exploding.

“It’s crazy, they’re everywhere, in every nook and cranny of the Palisades. One house is safe, the other is on fire,” Adams said.

Actor James Woods posted photos of flames burning through bushes and palm trees on a hillside near his home. The immense orange flames spread into the gardens set up between the houses.

“I’m in my driveway getting ready to evacuate,” Woods said in the short video released on X.

Late Tuesday, some trees and vegetation on the grounds of the Getty Villa burned, but the museum’s staff and collection are safe, said Getty President Katherine Fleming in a statement. The museum, located on the east end of Pacific Palisades, is a separate campus from the famous Getty Museum, which is dedicated to the art and culture of ancient Greece and Rome.

Movie studios canceled two previews because of the fire and weather, and the Los Angeles Unified School District said it temporarily moved students from three campuses in the Pacific Palisades area.