California fires: Hollywood Hills burns as LA engulfed by ‘the big one’

LOS ANGELES - The Hollywood Hills blazed uncontrollably on Jan 9 morning as the worst wildfires in the history of Los Angeles raged across the city and deep into the storied heartland of the American film industry.

A crescent of flame squeezed Los Angeles in a huge pincer visible from space.

More than 100,000 people were ordered to evacuate

as dry, hurricane-force winds spread flames across parched ground that has seen no rain for months.

At least five people have died since

the fires erupted on Jan 7.

The

homes of movie stars and celebrities were among those consumed by flames,

which tore through some of the world’s most lavish real estate and above showbiz landmarks instantly recognisable around the world.

“This firestorm is the big one,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told a press conference after rushing back to the city, cutting short an official trip to Ghana.

At least six separate wildfires were burning in Los Angeles County. Three of them were listed as “0 per cent controlled”, including a pair of huge conflagrations on the city’s eastern and western flanks and the smaller Sunset fire raging in Hollywood Hills just above Hollywood Boulevard and its Walk of Fame.

The LA Fire Department issued an evacuation order for people in an area within Hollywood Boulevard to the south, Mulholland Drive to the north, the 101 Freeway to the east, and Laurel Canyon Boulevard to the west – all iconic addresses for film, TV and music. The Hollywood Sign is across the freeway.

On the west side of Los Angeles, the Palisades fire consumed 6,406ha and hundreds of structures in the hills between Santa Monica and Malibu, racing down Topanga Canyon until reaching the Pacific Ocean on Jan 7.

“We are heartbroken, of course, but with the love of children and friends, we will get through this,” said film star Billy Crystal and his wife Janice, announcing that the Pacific Palisades home where they have lived since 1979 had been destroyed.

Media personality Paris Hilton said she was “heartbroken beyond words” after watching her beachfront house in Malibu “burn to the ground on live TV”.

Actor James Woods recounted fleeing in the face of the flames: “One day you’re swimming in the pool, and the next day it’s all gone,” he said in a TV interview.

He wept as he described a niece who “came out with her little Yeti piggy bank for us to rebuild our house”.

Some residents ventured back to areas the fire had already swept through, where brick chimneys were left looming over charred waste and burnt-out vehicles. The remnants of a tattered and scorched American flag flapped from a pole.

“I had just come from my family home where my mother lives that was burned to a crisp... And then I came up to my home and – same thing. It’s completely dust,” said Mr Oliver Allnatt, 36, wearing ski goggles and a filtered face mask as he took pictures of the ruins.

“Basically just a chimney stack and a pile of ash. I mean, it’s something out of a movie.”

Thousands of Los Angelenos fleeing the flames sought refuge in temporary shelters.

Mr Foad Farid found refuge in the gym of the Westwood Recreation Centre with nothing but his car and his phone. Neighbours dropped off blankets, clothing, water, pizza and pet food.

Mr Jeff Harris arrived towing his Feisty Fish Poke food truck and began serving meals. “I’m just here to help,” he said.

Mr Kevin Williams, at an evacuation centre in Pasadena, said he knew it was time to run when gas canisters at his neighbours’ homes began exploding under the heat.

“The wind whipped up, the flames were up about 30 or 40 feet high, and you hear ‘pop, pop, pop’. It sounded like a war zone.”

Smouldering ruins

Aerial video by KTLA television showed block after block of smouldering homes in Pacific Palisades, the smoky grid occasionally punctuated by the orange blaze of another home still on fire.

To the east, in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, the Eaton fire claimed another 4,290ha, another 1,000 structures, and killed at least five people, officials said.

“We’re facing a historic natural disaster. And I think that can’t be stated strong enough,” Mr Kevin McGowan, director of emergency management for Los Angeles County, told a press conference.

Even though forecasters said winds would subside briefly on the night of Jan 8, so-called red flag conditions were expected to remain until Jan 10.

The scale and spread of the blazes stretched exhausted firefighting crews beyond their capacity.

Firefighters from six other US states were being rushed to California, while an additional 250 engine companies with 1,000 personnel were being moved from Northern California to Southern California, Los Angeles County fire chief Anthony Marrone told a press conference.

Water shortages caused some hydrants to run dry in upscale Pacific Palisades, officials said.

“We pushed the system to the extreme. We’re fighting a wildfire with urban water systems,” Ms Janisse Quinones, chief executive of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, told reporters.

The fires struck at an especially vulnerable time for Southern California, which has not seen significant rainfall for months.

Then came the powerful Santa Ana winds, bringing dry desert air from the east towards the coastal mountains, fanning wildfires while blowing over the hilltops and down through the canyons. REUTERS