LAST UPDATE | 12 hrs ago
A STATE OF emergency has been declared and more than 30,000 people have been told to evacuate their homes after a ferocious wildfire in Los Angeles devoured buildings in the region, as hurricane-force winds tore through the city overnight.
The fire forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people, some of whom abandoned their cars and fled on foot to safety with roads blocked.
A fire official told local television station KTLA that several people were injured, some with burns to faces and hands. The official added that one female firefighter had sustained a head injury.
The fire, which broke out about 10:30 (18:30 Irish Time) on Tuesday, rapidly spread in incredibly dry conditions and high winds in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Weather forecasters say that winds are predicted to continue fanning the flames down towards the city.
Over 1,400 California firefighters continue to battle the wildfires, as officials in the affluent Malibu area have told residents to be prepared to evacuate.
Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass said in a post on X that that the windstorm is “expected to worsen through the morning”.
“The city of Malibu urges all residents not currently under evacuation orders to be prepared to evacuate,” the city government said.
“If you require additional time to evacuate, or if you have pets or livestock, consider making preparations to leave now.”
Six evacuation shelters are in operation, three of which can take people with animals.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, who was in Southern California to attend the naming of a national monument by President Joe Biden, made a detour to the canyon to see “first hand the impact of these swirling winds and the embers”.
He said he found “not a few — many structures already destroyed”.
Officials did not give an exact number of structures damaged or destroyed in the Pacific Palisades wildfire but they said about 30,000 residents are under evacuation orders and more than 13,000 structures were under threat.
The blaze began shortly after the start of a Santa Ana windstorm that the National Weather service warned could be “life threatening” and the strongest to hit Southern California in more than a decade.
The exact cause of the fire was unknown and no injuries had been reported, officials said.
Further evacuation orders were issued about 25 miles north east in Altadena after another fire spread to more than 200 acres by Tuesday evening, the Angeles National Forest posted on the social platform X.
The Eaton fire in Altadena started near a nature preserve. The flames spread so rapidly that staff at a senior care centre had to push dozens of residents in wheelchairs and hospital beds down the street to a parking lot where they waited in their bedclothes for ambulances and other vehicles to take them to safety.
The winds were expected to increase overnight and continue for days, producing isolated gusts that could top 100mph in mountains and foothills — including in areas that have not seen substantial rain in months.
On Tuesday evening, 28,300 households were without power due to the strong winds, according to the mayor’s office.
About 15,000 utility customers in Southern California had their power shut off to reduce the risk of equipment sparking blaze. A half a million customers total were at risk of losing power pre-emptively.
Actor James Woods posted footage of flames burning through bushes and past palm trees on a hill near his home. The towering orange flames billowed among the landscaped yards between the homes.
“Standing in my driveway, getting ready to evacuate,” he said in the short video on X.
The erratic weather caused Biden to cancel plans to travel to inland Riverside County, where he was to announce the establishment of two new national monuments in the state.
He remained in Los Angeles, where smoke was visible from his hotel, and was briefed on the wildfires. The Federal Emergency Management Agency approved a grant to help reimburse California for the firefighting cost.
Biden said in a statement that he and his team are communicating with state and local officials and he has offered “any federal assistance that is needed to help suppress the terrible Pacific Palisades fire”.
Film studios cancelled two movie premieres due to the fire and windy weather and the Los Angeles Unified School District said it temporarily relocated students from three campuses in the Pacific Palisades area.
Recent dry winds, including the notorious Santa Anas, have contributed to warmer-than-average temperatures in Southern California, where there has been very little rain so far this season. Southern California has not seen more than 0.1 inches (0.25 centimetres) of rain since early May.
With additional reporting from Andrew Walsh
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