A massive wildfire fanned by high winds has swept through a Los Angeles hillside lined with celebrity homes – has declared a state of emergency.
The massive fire in Pacific Palisades forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people, some of whom abandoned their cars, blocked roads and fled to safety on foot.
Firefighters battling the blaze, which burned about five football fields a minute, warned they were running out of water and supplies, and evacuation warnings spread to Malibu and Calabasas.
Water-filled anchors remained dousing the volcano from the sky throughout the afternoon, but all aircraft were later grounded amid deteriorating wind conditions and visibility.
Residents were warned that the worst was yet to happen. More than 2,900 acres of land in Los Angeles have been burned at an extraordinary rate due to severe wildfires.
At least 30,000 residents are now under mandatory evacuation orders, and many more have been warned to prepare to evacuate, after a foothills fire near Eaton Canyon started and grew to 1,000 acres within six hours.
A third brush fire has broken out in Sylmar in the San Fernando Valley, with recent estimates at about 100 acres.
The Hearst Fire is estimated at 300 acres and has a ‘rapid rate of spread’ this morning and mandatory evacuations. Governor Gavin Newsom announced earlier this morning that the state has received federal funding to fight the fire.
Homes in Pacific Palisades, home to other Hollywood luminaries including Chris Pratt, Reese Witherspoon and Miles Teller, have already been reduced to rubble.
Many other celebrities, including the Kardashians, call Calabasas and Pasadena home.
Photos of the fire in the center of the volcano show that homes worth millions have been completely destroyed by the blaze. A spiral staircase and a luxurious art gallery wall are said to have caught fire.
Firefighters, who said there was no hope of bringing the blaze under control overnight, are now focused on keeping residents safe.
Las Lomas Avenue in the Palisades was reportedly hit by direct fire, with “dozens” of homes “lost” on that street alone, witnesses said.
As brave firefighters battle the blaze on at least two fronts, the Los Angeles Fire Department has issued an emergency call for off-duty officers to help.
According to scanners in the area, those on the ground are starting to run out of supplies, especially water, to fight the intense fire.
Evacuation orders have now been extended to parts of Santa Monica.
As panicked residents fled on foot, the city used bulldozers to clear abandoned, gleaming cars from the streets, clearing a path for first responders to access the hillside where the fire was burning.
Tesla, BMW, Porsche and Mercedes were all filmed sleeping on Tuesday afternoon – with horrified millionaire locals saying the natural disaster felt like a ‘firestorm’.
The Palisades fire started shortly after a Santa Ana windstorm that the National Weather Service warned could be the most ‘life-threatening’ to hit Southern California in more than a decade.
The Eaton Fire in Altadena started near a nature reserve. The flames spread so fast that staff at an elderly care center had to push dozens of people in wheelchairs and hospital beds into a street parking lot, where they waited for ambulances and other vehicles to take them to safety.
A third wildfire started around 10:30 p.m. and prompted evacuations in the San Fernando Valley community of Sylmar, north of Los Angeles. The cause of all three fires is under investigation.
Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Christine Crowley said despite the chaotic evacuations, there were no immediate reports of deaths.
