Firefighters were scrambling to extinguish a rapidly spreading blaze in the Los Angeles hills, dotted with celebrity homes, as a powerful windstorm hit Southern California on Tuesday, fueling a blaze that forced thousands of residents to flee.
A fire that quickly engulfed part of the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in West Los Angeles forced residents to flee onto the congested Pacific Coast Highway. About 30,000 residents are under evacuation orders and more than 13,000 buildings are at risk from the fire, Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said.
California Governor Gavin Newsom says many buildings have already been destroyed.
One resident described how people cried and screamed as they fled, carrying their children and animals.
Forecasters warn that the worst may still be to come, as the storm is expected to last for several days and produce isolated gusts that may reach speeds of up to 160 km/h in the mountains and foothills, including in areas that have not seen significant rainfall for months. About half a million utility customers were at risk of having their power cut to reduce the risk of equipment causing a fire.
To assist with evacuations, sections of Interstate 10 and the scenic Pacific Coast Highway were closed to all non-essential traffic. But other roads were blocked. Some residents jumped out of vehicles to avoid danger and waited to be picked up.
Firefighters worked to contain a rapidly spreading blaze in the Los Angeles hills, dotted with celebrity homes, as high winds hit Southern California on Tuesday, fanning the blaze. Traffic outside the area was blocked as residents tried to escape, and forecasters warned the worst was yet to come as the storm was expected to last for several days.
Resident Kelsey Trainor said the only road in and out of her neighborhood was completely blocked. Ash fell around them and fires burned on both sides of the road.
“We looked across and the fire had moved from one side of the road to the other,” Trainor said. “People were getting out of cars with dogs, children and bags, crying and screaming. The road was just blocked, completely blocked for an hour.”
An Associated Press journalist saw the roof and chimney of one home in flames and another home with walls on fire. The neighborhood bordering Malibu, about 20 miles west of downtown Los Angeles, features hillside streets lined with tightly packed homes along winding roads set against the backdrop of the Santa Monica Mountains and stretching to beaches along the Pacific Ocean.
Residents flee on foot
Longtime Palisades resident Will Adams said he was in town when the fire broke out and immediately went to pick up his two children from St. Patrick's Parish School. Matthews, which is currently on the fire line.
His wife, who was at home, was driving on the main evacuation route for residents in the upper part of the neighborhood when embers fell into her car.
“She left the car and left it running,” Adams said. She and many other residents continued toward the ocean until it was no longer safe.
Adams said in 56 years of living in the area, he has never seen a fire this low in the area.
Actor James Woods posted footage of flames burning in bushes and palm trees on a hill near his home. Tall, orange flames swirled among the landscaped yards between the houses.
“I'm standing in the driveway getting ready to evacuate,” Woods said in a short video on X.
Actor and area resident Steve Guttenberg urged people who abandoned their cars to leave their keys behind so they could be moved to make room for the fire trucks.
“This is not a parking lot,” Guttenberg told television station KTLA. “I have friends there and they can't evacuate. I go there as far as I can, carrying cars.”
Unsettled weather caused U.S. President Joe Biden to cancel plans to travel to inland Riverside County, California, where he was scheduled to announce the creation of two new national monuments in the state. Instead, Biden will deliver his remarks in Los Angeles.
The wind raises the flames higher
The National Weather Service said the winds, expected to peak early Wednesday, could be the strongest Santa Ana storm in more than a decade to hit Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
The winds will act as an “atmospheric dryer” for vegetation, creating a long period of fire danger, said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles and the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
“We really haven't seen a season as dry as this one, after a season as wet as last year,” Swain said Monday.
Recent dry winds, including the infamous Santa Anas wind, have contributed to higher than average temperatures in Southern California, where there has been very little rain this season.
Southern California has not received more than 0.25 centimeters of rain since the beginning of May. According to the US Drought Monitor, much of the region is experiencing moderate drought. Meanwhile, there were multiple heavy storms in the north.
Areas where gusts could cause extreme fire conditions include the charred trail of last month's wind-blown Franklin Fire, which damaged or destroyed 48 structures, mostly homes, in and around Malibu.