LOS ANGELES (AFP) – A ferocious wildfire in a Los Angeles suburb in the United States (US), home to many Hollywood celebrities, devoured buildings and sparked panicked evacuations on Tuesday, as hurricane-force winds tore through the region.
Frightened residents abandoned their cars on one of the only roads in and out of the upscale Pacific Palisades area, fleeing on foot from the almost 1,200-hectare blaze engulfing an area packed with multimillion-dollar homes in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Firefighters used bulldozers to push dozens of vehicles – including expensive models – to one side, leaving many crumpled and with their alarms blaring. Some celebrities posted comments and pictures on social media platforms. Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley said despite the chaotic evacuation, there were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries.
Hundreds of firefighters swarmed the area, attacking the blaze from the ground and the air, while crews worked through steep terrain to cut back vegetation and create firebreaks.
Around 30,000 people were ordered to evacuate the fast-spreading flames, which leveled multiple homes as powerful winds spread embers far and wide.
Velma Wright, 102, was evacuated from a care facility as embers and flames approached in Pasadena, an AFP photographer saw.
Trees and vegetation around the prestigious Getty Villa Museum were burned, but the structure and collections were spared, the museum said in a post on X.
The Getty, set up by US oil billionaire and collector J Paul Getty and one of the world’s richest art museums, houses Greek and Roman antiquities in a re-created Roman country home. Actor James Woods posted a video on X showing flames engulfing trees and bushes near his home as he got ready to evacuate and shortly afterward said all the fire alarms were going off.
