The fires that are pressing in the crescent shape of Los Angeles, including a huge blaze between Santa Monica and Malibu on the west side of the city and a fire to the east near Pasadena, have spread so much that they look like giant pincers from the air, reports Al Jazeera.
This is super dangerous. This is the sunset fire, that started in Hollywood hills, right now. Getting very close to Hollywood boulevard and West Hollywood. This is an extremely dense population area of LA. This is very close to the Hollywood Walk of Fame.. Dolby theater where the… pic.twitter.com/dOtYdReFNP
— Dhruv (@dhruv2038) January 9, 2025
More than 100,000 people have been evacuated as dry, hurricane-force winds fan flames across parched ground that hasn’t received rain in months. At least five people have died since the fires broke out on Tuesday.
The flames also destroyed the houses of movie actors and stars, passing through some of the most luxurious properties in the world and everywhere recognizable landmarks of show business in the Hollywood Hills.
– This firestorm is big – Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said at a press conference after she rushed back to the city, cutting short her official visit to Ghana.
At least six separate fires were burning in Los Angeles County Thursday morning.
Three were rated as “zero percent contained,” including the Palisades fire to the west, the Eaton fire to the east and the smaller Sunset fire in the Hollywood Hills.
The National Weather Service’s red warnings have been extended for Los Angeles and Ventura counties until 6 p.m. Friday due to extremely low humidity and strong winds.
Adam VanGerpen, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department, told the television program “CBS Mornings” on Thursday that unpredictable winds are a source of concern as wind gusts spread the embers.
Live coverage by ABC7 of the Sunset/Hollywood Hills fire. An LA County Fire Ch-47 Chinook is doing a water drop. This is actually a good thing because it means that the Santa Ana winds have subsided to a point where fire fighting aircraft can be flown. Please pray for the victims… pic.twitter.com/IOoNoP03JK
— TM (@GeorgeBurdell57) January 9, 2025
The lack of water left some fire hydrants dry in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood between Malibu and Santa Monica, officials said.
VanGerpen said that the firefighters are doing everything in their power to save lives, and
then they focused on saving the building.
– We have to be ready for anything – he said.
Overnight, the city fire station largely lifted the evacuation order issued for the Sunset fire above Hollywood Boulevard. No part of that fire, which burned about 17 hectares Thursday morning, was contained.
The Palisades Fire on the west side of Los Angeles has burned about 6,974 acres and hundreds of buildings in the hills, descending from Topanga Canyon all the way to the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday.
– Our hearts are broken, of course, but with the love of our children and friends we will overcome this – said movie actor Billy Crystal and his wife Janice, announcing that their home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood where they had lived since 1979 was destroyed.
Media personality Paris Hilton said she was “heartbroken beyond words” after watching her Malibu beach house “burn to the ground live on television”.
Actor James Woods recalled how he fled the flames: “One day you’re swimming in the pool, and the next day it’s all gone,” he said in a television interview.
Kevin Williams of the Pasadena Evacuation Center said he knew it was time to start running when fuel tanks in neighboring homes began exploding from the heat. “The wind got stronger, the flames were ten meters high and you could hear ‘pop, pop, pop’. It sounded like a war zone”.
Aerial footage from KTLA television showed street after street of smoldering homes in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, with orange flames occasionally visible in the smoke from homes still burning, Al Jazeera reports.
The Eaton Fire has burned an additional 4,289 acres and 1,000 buildings to the east, and at least five people have died, officials said.
– We are facing a historic natural disaster. And I don’t think that can be emphasized enough – said Kevin McGowan, head of crisis management in Los Angeles County, at a press conference.
The scale of the fire stretched already exhausted firefighters beyond their capacity.
Firefighters from six other US states rushed to California, and an additional 1,000 firefighters are being moved from northern to southern California, Los Angeles Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said at a news conference.
– We took the system to the extreme. We are fighting the forest fire with the city’s water supply system – Janisse Quinones, head of the city’s water and electricity department, told reporters.
View from the sky above LA.
Pacific Palisades and Malibu engulfed in flames. Absolutely Horrific. pic.twitter.com/Q5O8XgEHng— Dan Hellie (@DanHellie) January 8, 2025
The fires broke out at a particularly vulnerable time for Southern California, which hasn’t rained in months. Then came the powerful Santa Ana winds, which brought dry desert air from the east to the coastal mountains, spreading wildfires.
(Vijesti.ba / FENA)
