Nearly 2,000 L.A. homes burned by out-of-control wildfires

A fast-moving fire broke out in the Hollywood Hills on Wednesday night, threatening one of Los Angeles’s most iconic spots.

This happened as firefighters battled to control three other major blazes that killed five people, put 130,000 people under evacuation orders and ravaged communities from the Pacific Coast to inland Pasadena.

The Sunset Fire was burning near the Hollywood Bowl and about 1.6 kilometres from the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The streets around Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and Madame Tussauds wax museum were packed with stop-and-go traffic as sirens blared and low-flying helicopters soared by on their way to dump water on the flames. People toting suitcases left hotels on foot, while some onlookers walked toward the flames, recording the fire on their phones.

Winds somewhat eased Wednesday, a day after hurricane-force winds blew embers through the air, igniting block after block, and hundreds of firefighters from other states have arrived to help.

Classes cancelled

But the four fires burning out of control showed that the danger is far from over. 

More than half a dozen schools in the area were either damaged or destroyed, including Palisades Charter High School, which has been featured in many Hollywood productions, including the 1976 horror movie Carrie and the TV series Teen Wolf, officials said. Meanwhile, the University of California, Los Angeles cancelled classes for the week.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said air operations were dousing flames. She warned they still faced “erratic winds,” though not like Tuesday evening, when aircraft had to be grounded and much of the destruction occurred. 

Nearly 2,000 structures have been destroyed in the Eaton and Palisades fires, and the number is expected to increase.

In Pasadena, fire Chief Chad Augustin said the city’s water system was stretched and was further hampered by power outages, but even without those issues, firefighters would not have been able to stop the fire due to the intense winds fanning the flames.

“Those erratic wind gusts were throwing embers for multiple miles ahead of the fire,” he said.

Blackened pools, burned sports cars

On the Pacific Coast west of downtown Los Angeles, a major fire levelled entire blocks, reducing grocery stores and banks to rubble in the Pacific Palisades, a hillside area along the coast dotted with celebrity homes and memorialized by the Beach Boys in their 1960s hit “Surfin’ U.S.A.”

The Palisades Fire was the most destructive in Los Angeles’s history, with at least 1,000 structures burned.

The scope of the destruction was just becoming clear: Block after block of California Mission Style homes and bungalows were reduced to nothing but charred remains dotted by stone fireplaces and blackened arched entryways. Ornate iron railing wrapped around the smoldering frame of one house.

The apocalyptic scenes spread for miles. Swimming pools were blackened with soot, and sports cars slumped on melted tires.

Neighbours share bad news

As flames moved through his neighbourhood, Jose Velasquez sprayed down his family’s Altadena home with water as embers rained down on the roof. He managed to save their home, which also houses their family business of selling churros, a Mexican pastry.

Others weren’t so lucky. Many of his neighbours were at work when they lost their homes. 

“So we had to call a few people and then we had people messaging, asking if their house was still standing,” he said.

“We had to tell them that it’s not.”

Beyond the burned areas, residents worked wearing N95 masks, unable to escape the toxic smoke wafting over huge sections of the city.

Actors lost homes

The flames marched toward highly populated and affluent neighbourhoods, including Calabasas and Santa Monica, home to California’s rich and famous.

Mandy Moore, Cary Elwes and Paris Hilton are among the stars who said Wednesday they lost homes. 

Billy Crystal and his wife Janice lost their home of 45 years in the Palisades Fire.

“We raised our children and grandchildren here. Every inch of our house was filled with love. Beautiful memories that can’t be taken away,” the Crystals wrote in the statement.

Abandoned cars block roads

In Palisades Village, the public library, two major grocery stores, a pair of banks and several boutiques were destroyed.

“It’s just really weird coming back to somewhere that doesn’t really exist anymore,” said Dylan Vincent, who returned to the neighbourhood to retrieve some items and saw that his elementary school had burned down and that whole blocks had been flattened.

The fires have consumed a total of about 108 square kilometres — nearly the size of the entire city of San Francisco.

Fast-moving flames allowed little time to escape.

Police sought shelter inside their patrol cars, and residents at a senior living centre were pushed in wheelchairs and hospital beds down a street to safety.

In the race to get away in Pacific Palisades, roadways became impassable when scores of people abandoned their vehicles and fled on foot.

Higher temperatures and less rain mean a longer fire season California’s wildfire 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, according to the Western Fire Chiefs Association.

Studios suspend production

U.S. President Joe Biden signed a federal emergency declaration after arriving at a Santa Monica fire station for a briefing with Gov. Gavin Newsom, who dispatched National Guard troops to help.

Several Hollywood studios suspended production, and Universal Studios closed its theme park between Pasadena and Pacific Palisades. 

As of Wednesday evening, more than 456,000 people were without power in southern California, according to the tracking website PowerOutage.us.