At least two people were killed as a trio of fast-growing wildfires raged out of control on Wednesday near Los Angeles, destroying hundreds of buildings, scorching hillsides and prompting officials to order some 70,000 people to evacuate their homes.
Fierce winds were hindering firefighting efforts and fuelling the fires, which have expanded unimpeded since they began on Tuesday.
The biggest blaze had consumed more than 5,000 acres in the picturesque Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, which lies east of Los Angeles between the beach towns of Santa Monica and Malibu and is home to many film, television and music stars. More than 1,000 structures have been destroyed, Los Angeles county fire chief Anthony Marrone said at a news conference on Wednesday.
Another fire, the Eaton fire, had grown to more than 2,000 acres as it burned some 50km inland in Altadena, near Pasadena. Two fatalities were reported there, though officials said they did not have further details.
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The Hurst fire, in Sylmar in the San Fernando Valley northwest of Los Angeles, had exceeded 500 acres. All three fires were 0 per cent contained, officials said. A “high number” of significant injuries had occurred among residents who did not need evacuation orders, Mr Marrone said.
Officials warned that the gusty winds were forecast to persist throughout the day.
“We are absolutely not out of danger yet, with the strong winds that continue to push through the city and the county today,” Los Angeles city fire chief Kristen Crowley said.
The skies above Los Angeles glowed red and were blanketed by thick smoke as the sun rose on Wednesday.
As the flames spread and residents began evacuating after the fires broke out on Tuesday, roads were so jammed that some people abandoned their vehicles to escape the fire. Emergency responders were going door-to-door to press evacuation orders.
California governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs said it is, along with the Irish Consulate in Los Angeles, “closely monitoring the situation and is providing consular assistance”.
It said it does not comment on individual cases but it said Irish citizens in the area should follow the advice of local authorities with those requiring consular assistance advised to contact the Irish Consulate in Los Angeles on 310 279 5380.
Approximately 100 of the 1,000 public schools in the Los Angeles unified school district were shut down, superintendent Alberto Carvalho told the press conference.
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,” Ms Festa said from her car.
David Reed said he had no choice but to leave his Pacific Palisades home when police officers showed up at his door.
“They laid down the law,” Mr Reed said.
He gathered his most important possessions and accepted a ride from officers to the evacuation centre at the Westwood Community Center.
“I grabbed my trombone and the latest book I’ve been reading, which is my Jack Kerouac anthology here, because I’m a beatnik,” he said, adding that he could see flames approaching his home.
Pacific Palisades is one of the most expensive neighbourhoods in the country. A typical home was valued at $3.7 million as of the end of 2023, according to Zillow, more than all but four other zip codes in the United States.
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.”
In the Pasadena area, the Eaton fire engulfed homes, a synagogue and a McDonald’s restaurant.
Almost 100 residents from a nursing home in Pasadena were evacuated, CBS News said. Video showed elderly residents, many in wheelchairs and on gurneys, crowded on to a smoky and windswept parking lot as fire trucks and ambulances attended.
Around 188,000 homes and businesses in Los Angeles county were without power on Wednesday, data from poweroutage.us showed.
Multiple burn victims were treated after walking toward Duke’s restaurant in Malibu in the evening, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing a fire official.
“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, said at the press conference.
Firefighting aircraft scooped water from the sea to drop it on the flames as they engulfed homes. Bulldozers cleared abandoned vehicles from roads so emergency vehicles could pass, television images showed.
The fire singed some trees on the grounds of the Getty Villa, a museum loaded with priceless works of art, but the collection remained safe largely because nearby bushes had been trimmed as a preventive measure, the museum said.
Before the fire started, the National Weather Service had issued its highest alert for extreme fire conditions for much of Los Angeles County from Tuesday through Thursday.
With low humidity and dry vegetation due to a lack of rain, the conditions were “about as bad as it gets in terms of fire weather,” the service said.
Newsom said the state had positioned personnel, fire trucks and aircraft elsewhere in Southern California because of the fire danger to the wider region. California had secured federal grants to suppress all three fires, he said on Wednesday.
US president Joe Biden said in a statement overnight that he had been briefed on the wildfires and had offered federal help. – Reuters