Hollywood stars including Mark Hamill and Mandy Moore were among the thousands of residents sent fleeing as raging wildfires tore through affluent neighbourhoods in Los Angeles, consuming homes, threatening iconic buildings and bringing the heart of the film industry to a halt.
Two people have been killed and more than 1,000 structures have been destroyed, Los Angeles County fire chief Anthony Marrone said Wednesday.
Actor Mark Hamill shared on Instagram that he evacuated Malibu “so last-minute there were small fires on both sides of the road,” calling it the “most horrific fire” he had seen since the Kinneloa fire of 1993.
Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag, a married couple that starred in the reality TV series The Hills, lost their home in the blaze that consumed the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, the couple confirmed on their Snapchat accounts Tuesday.
Singer and actor Mandy Moore said in an Instagram story that she had evacuated safely with her kids, dog and cat.
“Praying for everyone in our beautiful city,” she wrote. “So gutted for the destruction and loss.”
Canadian actor Eugene Levy, who is honorary mayor of the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, told the LA Times he had to flee through dark smoke.
At least three separate blazes are still burning in the metropolitan area, from the Pacific Coast inland to Pasadena, fanned by a intense winds. Around 30,000 residents are under evacuation orders.
James Woods, known for The Virgin Suicides and Disney’s Hercules, shared numerous videos of the blaze on X taken before he evacuated, including one where flames crackled through a neighbour’s home.
Leaving <a href=”https://t.co/yJDQ8xIhbI”>pic.twitter.com/yJDQ8xIhbI</a>
—@RealJamesWoods
‘Most unbelievable fire’
Actor Steve Guttenberg described a scene of chaos as he helped people scrambling to evacuate his Pacific Palisades neighbourhood on Tuesday.
“The fire was coming. Police said, ‘get out of your cars,’ so everybody left their cars in the middle of the street,” he said, adding that some panicked residents locked their cars when they abandoned them, instead of leaving their keys so fire crews could move them.
The actor, known for films such as Police Academy and Three Men and a Baby, said that bulldozers had to be brought in to shift the cars so fire trucks could get through.
When he drove down Sunset Boulevard, his home was nearly unrecognizable, with burning trees falling into the street and local landmarks consumed by flames.
Steve Futterman, reporting from the Pacific Palisades area of L.A., says high winds are driving raging wildfires — and causing issues for fire crews trying to contain the dangerous fires.
“The Pierson Playhouse, which is our live theatre playhouse, is on fire. The woman’s club is on fire,” he said.
“This is the most unbelievable fire that I’ve ever — anybody’s ever seen.”
SAG nominations, movie premieres cancelled
Universal Studios Hollywood said on X that it was closed Wednesday, as well as Universal CityWalk near Los Angeles, due to “the extreme winds and fire conditions.”
The Screen Actors Guild Award nominations were released Wednesday by press release after an in-person announcement hosted by actors Joey Kind and Cooper Koch was cancelled due to the fires.
As the flames advance, there’s been a rolling set of cancellations for film and TV premieres slated to take place in Los Angeles.
Amazon pulled the plug on the premiere for Jennifer Lopez’s Unstoppable and Universal cancelled the world premiere for the Blumhouse horror film Wolf Man, both slated to take place Tuesday night.
Since then, Paramount has also cancelled its Wednesday night L.A. premiere for Better Man, a Robbie Williams biopic, and the upcoming Max medical drama series The Pitt cancelled its red carpet in Los Angeles, which was set to take place on Wednesday.
Mansions belonging to the rich and famous aren’t the only structures being destroyed. Iconic film locations such as Topanga Ranch Motel, which has featured in a dozen films, were being threatened by fire, local media reported.
Flames were also seen by NBC Los Angeles crews at Palisades Charter High School, known for its use in Carrie, Teen Wolf and Freaky Friday. The high school had previously announced on its website that the building was closed because of the ongoing fires.
Residents mourning
“My community and possibly my home is on fire,” Oscar-award winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis said in a post on Instagram, adding that while her family is safe, many of her friends may lose their homes in the “terrifying situation.”
Derek Hough of Dancing With the Stars shared on Threads that his family packed up to evacuate as winds hit around 160 kilometres per hour on Tuesday, thanking “the incredible firefighters risking everything to keep us safe.”
“The neighbourhood I grew up in is burning to the ground,” Chet Hanks, the son of Tom Hanks, wrote on Instagram.
