UPDATED 11:27 A.M.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -A pair of massive wildfires menacing Los Angeles from the east and west were still burning uncontained on Thursday, two days after they ignited, but firefighters managed to beat back another fire scorching the Hollywood Hills.
The Palisades fire between Santa Monica and Malibu on the city’s western flank and the Eaton fire in the east near Pasadena are already the most destructive in Los Angeles history, burning nearly 28,000 acres so far – an area exceeding the size of Disney World – and turning entire neighborhoods to ash.
At least five people have been killed, thousands of structures have been incinerated and nearly 180,000 people have been ordered to evacuate their homes, officials said. The death toll is likely to rise, Los Angeles Sheriff Robert Luna told a press conference on Thursday morning.
The Eaton fire’s growth has been significantly stopped, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said, though it remains 0% contained. While still fierce, winds have slowed slightly since the 100-mile-per-hour gusts seen earlier in the week, permitting crucial aerial support for crews on the ground.
“We have a much better posture than we did on Tuesday and Wednesday,” said Marrone.
But officials warned that wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour were forecast to persist throughout the day, and Kristin Crowley, Los Angeles City Fire Department Chief, said residents should be prepared to evacuate if ordered.
“It is safe to say that the Palisades fire is one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history of Los Angeles,” Crowley said.
Firefighters, assisted by helicopters dropping retardants and water, managed to make gains overnight in battling the Sunset Fire, which had forced mandatory evacuations in Hollywood and Hollywood Hills – including famous show-business locations such as the TCL Chinese Theatre and the Hollywood Walk of Fame – late on Wednesday.
The fire was in retreat, shrinking to about 43 acres, and firefighters were making forward progress, Crowley said. No buildings were lost in the area, a city fire department spokeswoman said, and the evacuation order was lifted.
It was one of at least five separate wildfires burning in Los Angeles County on Thursday morning as powerful winds spread flames across parched ground that has seen no rain for months. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass described it as a “perfect storm” of dangerous conditions.
The two biggest conflagrations – the Palisades and Eaton fires – formed a pincer around the city so enormous that it was visible from space.
The homes of movie stars and celebrities were among those consumed by flames, which tore through some of the world’s most lavish real estate.
“We are heartbroken of course, but with the love of children and friends we will get through this,” said film star Billy Crystal and his wife Janice, announcing the Pacific Palisades home where they had lived since 1979 had been destroyed.
Media personality Paris Hilton said she was “heartbroken beyond words” after watching her beachfront house in Malibu “burn to the ground on live TV.”
The National Weather Service extended Red Flag warnings – issued when the risk for fire is high due to low humidity, high winds and warm temperatures – for Los Angeles and Ventura counties through 6 p.m. Friday.
Water shortages caused some hydrants to run dry in upscale Pacific Palisades, wedged between Malibu and Santa Monica, officials said on Wednesday.
U.S. President Joe Biden was briefed Thursday morning on the impact of the ongoing wildfires and will meet with top administration officials in the afternoon to discuss the federal response, the White House told reporters.
‘SOMETHING OUT OF A MOVIE’
Some residents ventured back to areas the fire had already swept through, where brick chimneys were left looming over charred waste and burnt-out vehicles. The remnants of a tattered and scorched American flag flapped from a pole.
“I had just come from my family home where my mother lives that was burned to a crisp … And then I came up to my home and – same thing. It’s completely dust,” said Oliver Allnatt, 36, wearing ski goggles and a filtered face mask as he took pictures of the ruins. “Basically just a chimney stack and a pile of ash. I mean, it’s something out of a movie.”
Thousands of Angelenos fleeing the flames sought refuge in temporary shelters. Foad Farid found refuge in the gym of the Westwood Recreation Center with nothing but his car and his phone. Neighbors dropped off blankets, clothing, water, pizza and pet food.
Jeff Harris arrived towing his Feisty Fish Poke food truck and began serving meals. “I’m just here to help,” he said.
Kevin Williams, at an evacuation center in Pasadena, said he knew it was time to run when gas canisters at his neighbors’ homes began exploding under the heat.
“The wind whipped up, the flames were up about 30 or 40 feet high, and you hear ‘pop, pop, pop.’ It sounded like a war zone.”
Aerial video by KTLA television showed block after block of smoldering homes in Pacific Palisades, the smoky grid occasionally punctuated by the orange blaze of another home still on fire.
The scale and spread of the blazes stretched exhausted firefighting crews beyond their capacity.
Firefighters from six other U.S. 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.
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.
(Reporting by Rollo Ross, Jackie Luna, Joe Brock, Matt McKnight, Jorge Garcia and Mike Blake in Los Angeles; additional reporting by Daniel Trotta, Doina Chiacu, Jonathan Allen, Brendan O’Brien, Rich McKay, Jeff Mason, David Ljunggren, Shubham Kalia, Gursimran Kaur, Kanishka Singh and Kanjyik Ghosh; Writing by Peter Graff and Joseph Ax; editing by Frank McGurty and Nick Zieminski)
UPDATED 9:56 A.M.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -A pair of massive wildfires menacing Los Angeles from the east and west were still burning unchecked early on Thursday, two days after they ignited, but firefighting crews made progress overnight in controlling a smaller blaze burning in the hills overlooking Hollywood Boulevard.
The Palisades fire between Santa Monica and Malibu on the city’s western flank and the Eaton fire in the east near Pasadena are already the most destructive in Los Angeles history, burning nearly 28,000 acres – an area exceeding the size of Disney World. At least five people have been killed and thousands of structures have been incinerated.
The twin blazes – part of a pincer around the city so expansive that it was visible from space – remained entirely uncontained as of 6:30 a.m. (1430 GMT), according to Cal Fire.
“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.
Firefighters, assisted by helicopters dropping retardants and water, managed to make gains in battling the Sunset Fire, which had forced mandatory evacuations in Hollywood and Hollywood Hills – including famous show-business locations such as the TCL Chinese Theatre and the Hollywood Walk of Fame – late on Wednesday.
The fire was in retreat, shrinking to about 43 acres from 60, authorities reported. No buildings were lost in the area, a city fire department spokeswoman said, and most of the evacuation order was lifted.
Overall, more than 100,000 people have been ordered to flee their homes as hurricane-force winds spread flames across parched ground that has seen no rain for months. At least five separate wildfires were burning in Los Angeles County on Thursday morning.
The homes of movie stars and celebrities were among those consumed by flames, which tore through some of the world’s most lavish real estate.
The National Weather Service extended Red Flag warnings – issued when the risk for fire is high due to low humidity, high winds and warm temperatures – for Los Angeles and Ventura counties through 6 p.m. Friday.
Humidity will remain at 10% to 20% through Friday, falling to bone-dry single digits at times. Winds are expected to be 40 miles (64 km) per hour with gusts up to 50 mph through the day and into Friday, the agency said, less than the 100-mile-per-hour gusts that fed the blazes earlier this week but still strong.
Water shortages caused some hydrants to run dry in upscale Pacific Palisades, wedged between Malibu and Santa Monica, 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 reporters on Wednesday.
Firefighters were doing what they could to save lives and then focused on what they could do to save structures, whether there was water in the hydrant or water had to be shuttled in, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson Captain Adam VanGerpen told CBS on Thursday morning.
The Palisades fire consumed 17,234 acres (6974 hectares) and hundreds of structures in the hills, racing down Topanga Canyon until reaching the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday.
“We are heartbroken of course, but with the love of children and friends we will get through this,” said film star Billy Crystal and his wife Janice, announcing the Pacific Palisades home where they had lived since 1979 had been destroyed.
Media personality Paris Hilton said she was “heartbroken beyond words” after watching her beachfront house in Malibu “burn to the ground on live TV.”
U.S. President Joe Biden was briefed Thursday morning on the impact of the ongoing wildfires and will meet with top administration officials in the afternoon to discuss the federal response, the White House told reporters.
‘SOMETHING OUT OF A MOVIE’
Some residents ventured back to areas the fire had already swept through, where brick chimneys were left looming over charred waste and burnt-out vehicles. The remnants of a tattered and scorched American flag flapped from a pole.
“I had just come from my family home where my mother lives that was burned to a crisp … And then I came up to my home and – same thing. It’s completely dust,” said Oliver Allnatt, 36, wearing ski goggles and a filtered face mask as he took pictures of the ruins. “Basically just a chimney stack and a pile of ash. I mean, it’s something out of a movie.”
Thousands of Angelenos fleeing the flames sought refuge in temporary shelters. Foad Farid found refuge in the gym of the Westwood Recreation Center with nothing but his car and his phone. Neighbors dropped off blankets, clothing, water, pizza and pet food.
Jeff Harris arrived towing his Feisty Fish Poke food truck and began serving meals. “I’m just here to help,” he said.
Kevin Williams, at an evacuation center in Pasadena, said he knew it was time to run when gas canisters at his neighbors’ homes began exploding under the heat.
“The wind whipped up, the flames were up about 30 or 40 feet high, and you hear ‘pop, pop, pop.’ It sounded like a war zone.”
SMOLDERING RUINS
Aerial video by KTLA television showed block after block of smoldering 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 (4,289 hectares), 1,000 structures, and killed at least five people, officials said.
“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.
The scale and spread of the blazes stretched exhausted firefighting crews beyond their capacity.
Firefighters from six other U.S. 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.
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.
(Reporting by Rollo Ross, Jackie Luna, Joe Brock, Matt McKnight, Jorge Garcia and Mike Blake in Los Angeles; additional reporting by Daniel Trotta, Doina Chiacu, Jonathan Allen, Brendan O’Brien, Rich McKay, Jeff Mason, David Ljunggren, Shubham Kalia, Gursimran Kaur, Kanishka Singh and Kanjyik Ghosh; Writing by Peter Graff and Joseph Ax; editing by Frank McGurty and Nick Zieminski)
UPDATE: 4:48 A.M.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The Hollywood Hills blazed uncontrollably on Thursday morning as the worst wildfires in the history of Los Angeles raged across the city and deep into the storied heartland of the American film industry.
A crescent of flame squeezed Los Angeles in a huge pincer visible from space. More than 100,000 people were ordered to evacuate as dry, hurricane-force winds hindered firefighting operations and spread the flames. At least five people have been killed since the fires erupted on Tuesday.
The homes of movie stars and celebrities were among those consumed by flames, which tore through some of the world’s most lavish real estate and above showbiz landmarks instantly recognisable around the world.
“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.
At least six separate wildfires were burning in Los Angeles County. Three of them were totally out of control, including a pair of huge conflagrations on the city’s eastern and western flanks and the smaller Sunset Fire raging in Hollywood Hills just above Hollywood Boulevard and its Walk of Fame.
The L.A. 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 for film, TV and music. The Hollywood Sign is across the freeway.
On the west side of Los Angeles, the Palisades fire consumed 15,832 acres (6,406 hectares) and hundreds of structures in the hills between Santa Monica and Malibu, racing down Topanga Canyon until reaching the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday.
“We are heartbroken of course, but with the love of children and friends we will get through this,” said film star Billy Crystal and his wife Janice, announcing the Pacific Palisades home where they had lived since 1979 had been destroyed.
Media personality Paris Hilton said she was “heartbroken beyond words” after watching her beachfront house in Malibu “burn to the ground on live TV”.
Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis posted on Instagram: “My community and possibly my home is on fire…. Pray if you believe in it and even if you don’t, pray for those who do.”
Thousands of Los Angelenos fleeing the flames sought refuge in temporary shelters.
Foad Farid found refuge in the gym of the Westwood Recreation Center with nothing but his car and his phone. Neighbors dropped off blankets, clothing, water, pizza and pet food. Jeff Harris arrived towing his Feisty Fish Poke food truck and began serving meals. “I’m just here to help,” he said.
Kevin Williams, at an evacuation center in Pasadena, said he knew it was time to run when gas canisters at his neighbors’ homes began exploding under the heat.
“The wind whipped up, the flames were up about 30 or 40 feet high, and you hear ‘pop, pop, pop’. It sounded like a war zone.”
SMOLDERING RUINS
Aerial video by KTLA television showed block after block of smoldering 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 (4,289 hectares), another 1,000 structures, and killed at least five people, officials said.
“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 on Wednesday night, so-called red flag conditions were expected to remain until Friday.
Large animals found shelter from the wildfires at a college equestrian center that opened its doors to horses, alpacas, llamas and even pigs.
“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 were without power in Los Angeles County, down from nearly 1 million earlier on Wednesday, according to PowerOutage.us. School was canceled throughout Los Angeles County at least through Thursday.
WATER WOES
The scale and spread of the blazes stretched exhausted firefighting crews beyond their capacity.
Firefighters from six other U.S. 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 reporters.
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.
(Reporting by Rollo Ross, Jackie Luna, Joe Brock, Matt McKnight, Jorge Garcia and Mike Blake in Los Angeles; additional reporting by Daniel Trotta, Doina Chiacu, Jonathan Allen, David Ljunggren, Shubham Kalia, Gursimran Kaur, Kanishka Singh and Kanjyik Ghosh; writing by Peter Graff, Joseph Ax and Daniel Trotta; editing by Mark Heinrich)
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Raging wildfires surrounding Los Angeles spread to the Hollywood Hills on Wednesday, 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.
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 (hectares) since they began on Tuesday.
“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 on Wednesday 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% 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 on Wednesday.
In between, the so-called Sunset Fire in Hollywood Hills scorched 50 acres (20 hectares) on Wednesday, Cal Fire said. Helicopter crews and ground teams appeared to be making progress impeding its rapid advance.
The L.A. 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 for the entertainment industry.
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, organizers 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 L.A. Fire Department said.
SMOLDERING RUINS
On the west side of Los Angeles, the Palisades Fire consumed 15,832 acres (6,406 hectares) and hundreds of structures in the hills between Santa Monica and Malibu, racing down Topanga Canyon until reaching the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday.
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 smoldering 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 (4,289 hectares), 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 $50 billion.
“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 on Wednesday night, so-called red flag conditions were expected to remain until Friday.
Horses and other large animals found shelter from the wildfires at a college equestrian center 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 on Wednesday, according to PowerOutage.us. School was canceled throughout Los Angeles County at least through Thursday.
WATER WOES
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 liters) 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.
By Wednesday afternoon, all three of those tanks and all 114 reservoirs throughout the city were refilled, 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 canceled an upcoming trip to Italy in order to focus on directing the federal response to the fires, the White House said.
(Reporting by Rollo Ross, Jackie Luna, Joe Brock, Matt McKnight, Jorge Garcia and Mike Blake in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Daniel Trotta, Doina Chiacu, Jonathan Allen, David Ljunggren, Shubham Kalia, Gursimran Kaur, Kanishka Singh and Kanjyik Ghosh; Writing by Joseph Ax and Daniel Trotta; Editing by Mary Milliken, Angus MacSwan, Mark Porter, Sandra Maler and Lincoln Feast.)
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