The Los Angeles wildfires continue to grow rapidly Thursday, engulfing homes in the Pacific Palisades and other neighborhoods, including star-studded Studio City, Calabasas and Altadena.
The fires spread in 48 hours across more than 28,000 acres. Flames have been fanned by a fierce windstorm known as the Santa Ana winds, and officials are warning the situation could get worse as three of the four main blazes stand at zero percent containment.
The Los Angeles Fire Department confirmed five deaths as the fast-moving blazes forced some 150,000 residents to evacuate their properties across California. Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses have been left in blackout conditions with schools in impacted areas closing their doors.
Multiple injuries have been reported from residents who did not evacuate and officials say more than 1,000 structures have been damaged. A new blaze erupted in the Hollywood Hills on Wednesday night, prompting further evacuation orders.
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that more than 7,500 local, state and federal firefighting personnel and 1,200 fire trucks have been deployed in a bid to grasp a handle on the fast-moving fires.
The first and most major fire is burning in the Pacific Palisades, an affluent coastal neighborhood on the west of Los Angeles, having started in 10.30 a.m. local time Tuesday. By Thursday morning the fire covered more than 17,200 acres.
The blaze caused flaming embers to rain onto trees and rooftops in the neighborhood, with residents rushing to escape. It also created a traffic jam on Palisades Drive, blocking emergency vehicles from getting through. Crews used a bulldozer to push the abandoned cars off to the side, the Associated Press reported.
Later on Tuesday at around 6:30 p.m., the Eaton fire erupted in the Altadena area, north of Pasadena, and has engulfed 10,600 acres, as of Thursday morning. Both the Palisades and Eaton fires are at zero percent containment.
The Hurst fire in the San Fernando Valley has burned about 855 acres and it is at 10 percent containment. The Tyler fire in Coachella, home to the world-famous music festival near to Joshua Tree National Park, burned about 11 acres before it was contained late on Wednesday.
A new blaze erupted in the Hollywood Hills on Wednesday night called the Sunset fire, whcih has ripped through 60 acres and is at zero percent containment.
More than 150,000 residents are reported to have been evacuated across southern California, according to NBC News.
Many of the evacuations were in the Pacific Palisades area, but others were in parts of Santa Monica and Altadena, with a mandatory evacuation order in place for the region between Piedra Morada Drive and Pacific Coast Highway due to dangerous conditions.
Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said that areas north of the highway, south of Mulholland Drive and east of Topanga County Boulevard were also being evacuated.
About 30,000 residents were under evacuation orders from the Palisades fire on Wednesday and more than 13,000 structures were under threat, authorities said. Several Hollywood stars – including Ben Affleck, Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson and Mark Hamill, have been forced to flee.
