Los Angeles wildfires spread out of control, forcing 70,000 to evacuate
‘We are prioritising life over everything else’
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Your support makes all the difference.At least four fast-growing wildfires raged out of control around Los Angeles on Wednesday, destroying hundreds of homes and prompting evacuation orders for 70,000 residents.
Fierce winds hindered efforts to contain the blazes, which have spread rapidly through residential areas including the Pacific Palisades district between Santa Monica and Malibu where many celebrities live.
Two people have already been killed and many more injured as authorities pleaded with Californians to heed warnings to leave their homes.
Governor Gavin Newsom said the state has deployed more than 1,400 firefighters and, in a rare plea, the Los Angeles Fire Department asked all off-duty firefighters in the city to help.
“We are prioritising life over everything else,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.
Flames in the Eaton fire, which broke out near a nature reserve north east of LA, spread so rapidly that staff at a nursing home had to push dozens of residents in wheelchairs and hospital beds down the street.
Residents as old as 102 waited in their bedclothes as embers fell around them until ambulances, buses and construction vans arrived to take them to safety.
The biggest blaze has consumed more than 5,000 acres in Pacific Palisades, destroying 1,000 structures and threatening many more, including the $15.6m home of Hollywood star Chris Pratt.
He thanked emergency workers and urged neighbours to “support one another” amid the destruction.
He posted on Instagram: “Thank you to the brave firefighters and first responders who are working tirelessly to protect lives, homes, and wildlife… you are true heroes, and we are endlessly grateful for your sacrifice and courage.”
Star Wars actor Mark Hamill said he was evacuated from Malibu amid the wildfires and told residents to “stay safe”.
The home of Vice-President Kamala Harris in Los Angeles was included in one of the evacuation zones although no one was there, according to a spokesperson.
The Hurst fire and the Woodley fire, both in the San Fernando Valley northwest of Los Angeles, were also spreading out of control. None of the fires was contained by Wednesday afternoon.
Images of the devastation showed homes that had collapsed in a whirlwind of flaming embers. The tops of palm trees whipped against a glowing red sky.
Sheriece Wallace was unaware there was a fire burning around her until her sister called at the moment a helicopter made a water drop over her house.
“I was like, ‘It’s raining,"’ Ms Wallace said. “She’s like, ‘No, it’s not raining. Your neighborhood is on fire. You need to get out."’
“As soon as I opened my door, it was like right there,” she said. “The first thing I did was looked at the trees to see where the wind was blowing. Because it hit me. It blew me back.”
Pacific Palisades resident Kelsey Trainor said the only road in and out of her neighborhood was blocked. Ash fell all around while fires burned on both sides of the road.
“We looked across and the fire had jumped from one side of the road to the other side of the road,” Ms Trainor said. “People were getting out of the cars with their dogs and babies and bags. They were crying and screaming.”
Motorists on Palisades Drive abandoned vehicles to flee the flames, leaving emergency vehicles unable to get through, and a bulldozer was brought in to push the cars to the side of the road.
California’s wildfire season typically begins in June or July and runs through October, according to the Western Fire Chiefs Association, but January wildfires are not unprecedented. There was one in 2022 and 10 in 2021, according to CalFire.
The season is beginning earlier and ending later due to rising temperatures and decreased rainfall tied to climate change, according to recent data.
Rains that usually end fire season are often delayed, meaning fires can burn through the winter months, the association said.
“This will likely be the most destructive windstorm seen [since a] 2011 windstorm that did extensive damage to Pasadena and nearby foothills of the San Gabriel Valley,” the weather service said.
It comes less than a month after residents in Malibu were evacuated from a wind-driven blaze dubbed the Franklin fire, which saw more than 4,000 acres burn and stars including Dick Van Dyke, Cher and Jane Seymour forced to leave their homes.
Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report
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