Los Angeles Wildfire Kills 5; Forces Thousands, Including Hollywood Stars, To Flee: Top Updates

A devastating wildfire ravaged Los Angeles, displacing over 30,000 and claiming five lives.

The wildfire through an upscale coastal area of Los Angeles has forced more than 30,000 people to evacuate their homes by car and on foot as flames engulfed homes and set hillsides ablaze. 

According to forecasters, three major fires have been ravaging, with wind storms and arid conditions fanning a blaze in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood and at least two others in the Los Angeles area. 

On Tuesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency while weather conditions were expected to deteriorate further, reported Reuters. 

At least five people have died in the raging wildfire, L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna told CNN affiliate KABC. Earlier, authorities had reported two casualties. 

• Officials said numerous buildings have been gutted and nearly 3,000 acres burned in Pacific Palisades, which lies between the beach towns of Santa Monica and Malibu. The area is home to many film and music stars. 


• Several Hollywood stars including Cary Elwes and Paris Hilton said they lost their homes in the Palisades fire while  Mark Hamill, Mandy Moore and James Woods were among those forced to evacuate. 


• Adam Sandler, Ben Affleck, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg are some of the celebrities who have homes in the same area and many are awaiting word on whether their homes survived the flames, reported Associated Press. 


• The Oscar nominations have also been delayed and the Film Academy has extended the voting window to accommodate members affected by the fire. 


• An evacuation order has been issued for tens of thousands of people living in the L.A. area affected by fire including that of Vice President Kamala Harris. She has a house in Brentwood that is under an evacuation order, her press secretary Ernie Apreza wrote earlier on X.


• "No one was in her home at the time," Apreza says. "She and the second gentleman are praying for the safety of their fellow Californians, the heroic first responders, and Secret Service personnel."


• Schools have been closed in Pasadena has around five of them were damaged in the fires. "The fire has substantially damaged five campuses," said Elizabeth Blanco of the Pasadena Unified School District, reported BBC. One school was alone damaged 80 per cent by fire, she added. 


• Winds have been posing as an obstacle in the firefighting operations with Pasadena Fire Chief Chad Augustin saying the fire's spread in recent times was fueled by "very erratic winds". 


• While the winds have decreased, they are still making the operations difficult. “It does seem to die down, and then all of a sudden you get hit with these 60, 70-mile-per-hour gusts, it changes everything again," California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Battalion Chief Brent Pascua told CNN. 


• US President Joe Biden has cancelled his trip to Italy in the final days of presidency to monitor the widlfires. He decided to cancel the trip and remain focused on directing the full federal response after returning from Los Angeles, said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.