Haunting before and after images of LA buildings razed to the ground show extent of devastating fires
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Haunting before-and-after images of buildings, including a senior center, places of worship, and businesses, razed to the ground show the extent of the devastation caused by the wildfires in Los Angeles.
At least six people have been killed so far as the fast-moving wildfires sweep across the L.A. area, with thousands of firefighters attempting to extinguish the blazes.
The Palisades Fire — now one of the most destructive L.A. has seen — has burned more than 17,200 acres, while the Eaton fire has scorched some 10,600 acres. The Sunset Fire in Hollywood has engulfed 60 acres.
At a press conference on Thursday morning, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said that the growth of the Eaton fire has been “significantly stopped.”
But officials told citizens to “proceed with caution” as winds are forecast to pick up again.
An estimated 2,000 buildings have been destroyed and 130,000 residents ordered to evacuate, including more than 60,000 in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood. More than 330,000 people are without power throughout the region, according to PowerOutage.us.
Eerie images, contrasted with pictures taken before the fires on Google Street View, show the entrance to the Altadena Town and Country Club burned to the ground from the Eaton fire, with the American flag still flying in front of the building.
And firefighters were pictured battling a blaze at the Town and Country Liquor Market at Fair Oaks Avenue and Calaveras Street in Altadena.
Pictures of the Altadena Senior Center being evacuated contrast with an image from 2022 of the facility against a blue sky.
Residents were rushed into the street and some into ambulances as the fires broke out overnight on Tuesday.
The iconic Bunny Museum, hailed as “the world’s only” for “everything bunny,” was burned to the ground Wednesday during the devastating Eaton fire.
Pictures showed the museum partially collapsed and ablaze. The museum housed nearly 50,000 bunny-related artifacts for nearly three decades.
A heartbroken and tearful Steve Lubanski, the co-owner of the museum, told KCAL News: “All of the old town, the iconic Altadena Old Town. Sorry…is gone.”
“I mean seeing that it’s gone that will hit me in a while, you know.
“It took my wife and I almost 40 years to put it together – [it’s] the way it is, so we’ll go on,” Lubanski added.
Dramatic pictures of the Altadena Community Church on East Aldena Drive show the place of worship ablaze, in stark contrast to a Street View image of it on a regular sunny day in L.A.
A branch of a Chase bank in the Palisades was also pictured ablaze.
Hundreds of families have lost their homes in the devastating fires.
Among the celebrities to lose their homes was Billy Crystal, who revealed that the property he had lived in for 46 years was completely destroyed, with only a tennis court left standing.
In a joint statement with his wife, Janice, the When Harry Met Sally star said: “Words cannot describe the enormity of the devastation we are witnessing and experiencing. Janice and I lived in our home since 1979. We raised our children and grandchildren here.”
Paris Hilton shared her heartbreak after witnessing news footage of her $8.4 million Malibu oceanfront home “burn to a crisp.”
Married actors Adam Brody and Leighton Meester also saw their home destroyed, just days after attending the Golden Globes. Oscar-winning actor Anthony Hopkins, 87, is also believed to have lost his $6 million home. Haunting images appear to show only the property’s gate still standing.
