7 Flames Rip Through California As Satellite Captures Destruction

Trump also claimed that environmental policies in California, which divert fresh water to preserve wetlands and wildlife, were to blame for hydrants running dry in Los Angeles. He wrote: “I will demand that this incompetent governor allows beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA! He is the one to blame for this.” He also called on the governor to resign.

The Palisades Fire
It is currently the largest fire and was approaching 17,000 hectares by Wednesday evening.

The Eaton fire
After starting in the hills above Pasadena, it is the deadliest fire, killing five people. It covers more than 10,000 acres.

The Hurst fire
It began at 10.10pm on Tuesday and has grown to about 855 acres. Located just north of San Fernando.

The Woodley fire
It started at 6:15 a.m. local time on Wednesday and covers about 30 acres. The LA Fire Department said it has now been contained.

The Lidia fire
It erupted Wednesday afternoon in the mountainous Acton area north of Los Angeles. It has been contained 40 per cent.

The sunset bonfire
The fire in the Hollywood Hills ignited at 6pm on Wednesday.

The Olivas fire
It is burning in Ventura county, northwest of Los Angeles, and has now been 100 percent contained.

A home belonging to actor and comedian Billy Crystal was among more than 1,000 buildings destroyed by wildfires raging across Los Angeles, including one that started in the Hollywood Hills.

Crystal and his wife, Janice, said in a statement that they had lived in their Pacific Palisades home since 1979. “We are devastated, of course, but with the love of children and friends, we will get through this,” they said.

Leighton Meester and Adam Brody were also reported to have lost their $6.5 million home. Brody, star of Nobody wants thisand Meester, who was there Gossip Girlbought their Pacific Palisades home in 2019, according to the Associated Press.

Jamie Lee Curtis and Maria Shriver were among several forced to evacuate. Shriver, the former first lady of California when she was married to Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former governor, said the destruction was devastating. “Everything is gone,” she added.

The fire in the Hollywood Hills is “rapidly growing,” David Acuna, a battalion chief with the California Fire Department, told the BBC. Today program.

He added that firefighters across the Los Angeles area have again been hampered by high winds overnight and progress in containing the fires “is nil”.

“The wind has been blowing steadily at 60-100 mph since yesterday morning,” he said. “It actually blew harder last night.”

Acuna added that more evacuation orders already affecting 130,000 people would be drawn up.

Five people have been killed by the fires sweeping through Los Angeles, but officials have warned that the death toll will rise.

Announcing the deaths, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said more deaths are feared. Another official said all five who were killed died in the Eaton fire.

At a news conference, Los Angeles Police Chief James McDonnell said, “This is a tragic time in our history here in Los Angeles, but a time where we are really being tested and seeing who we really are.”

As the flames spread, more than 130,000 people across the Los Angeles area have now been evacuated.

A fire broke out Tuesday morning in Pacific Palisades, one of Los Angeles’ wealthiest neighborhoods.

By Wednesday evening (local time), it had consumed more than 25,000 acres and was at “0 percent containment.” It is likely the most devastating fire in Los Angeles history, according to the Wildfire Alliance, with estimated economic losses exceeding $50 billion.

The Los Angeles Fire Department reported “a high number of significant injuries,” mostly burns, along with the five deaths associated with the Eaton fire.

Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, declared a state of emergency as officials warned that red flag fire conditions with tornado winds were expected to continue into Thursday, posing a danger to all of Los Angeles County’s 9.6 million residents.

• Read the whole thing: How the strong wind caused the fire to spread quickly

In the span of 12 hours Tuesday, three separate wildfires ignited in Los Angeles with about 30 miles between them.

Twenty-four hours after the first spark, thousands had been forced to flee and hundreds of homes were destroyed as flames swept across large areas.

It’s not only unprecedented — the most devastating wildfires in Los Angeles history — but unexpected: Although Southern California endures thousands of fires each year, they usually occur between July and November.

This is how the fires spread in the first 12 hours:

• Read the whole thing: It started in the Pacific Palisades – then the ‘devil’s wind’ whipped wildfires across Southern California

Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex faced power outages at their Montecito mansion and the prospect of evacuation if wildfires reached their neighborhood.

A large swath of Montecito, located in Santa Barbara County, has been deemed a “high fire risk” area. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex may have to flee the $22 million home they share with their two children, Archie, five, and Lilibet, three.

The Southern California Edison Company has indicated that power outages are being considered in Santa Barbara.

Although the nearest fire is in Malibu, about 70 miles away from the Sussexes’ home, neighborhoods in Santa Barbara – home to other celebrities including Oprah Winfrey and Gwyneth Paltrow – are still considered at risk.

Karen Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles, has returned to the wildfire-ravaged city amid criticism of her ill-advised diplomatic mission to Ghana.

When the mayor arrived back in the United States on Wednesday, he faced questions about the city’s handling of the fires.

At the airport, a Sky News reporter pressed her on whether she had to apologize to Angelenos for leaving just as the National Weather Service began issuing warnings about the incoming wind storm — and whether she regretted cutting the fire department’s budget earlier this year .

The mayor remained silent during the questioning.

One of the five people killed in fires in Los Angeles died trying to save his home from the flames, his sister said Wednesday.

Victor Shaw, 66, told his sister, Shari Shaw, that he wanted to stay back and fight the flames when she made the painful decision to leave their family home in the Altadena area.

“When I went back in and called his name, he didn’t answer back,” Shari Shaw told local television station KTLA. “I had to get out because the embers were so big and flew like a firestorm that I had to save myself. I looked behind me and the house started to go up in flames and I had to leave.

Al Tanner, a friend of Shaw’s, later found her body in the driveway with a garden hose still in her hand. “It looked like he was trying to save the home that his parents had for almost 55 years,” he told KTLA.

There are at least six fires in Los Angeles and its neighboring states.

A new fire broke out in the Hollywood Hills, near Runyon Canyon, Wednesday night, Fire Chief Kristin Crowley told a news conference, forcing multiple evacuations.

Four of those were 0 percent contained, according to state officials, with the two largest combined burning nearly 27,000 acres in the Palisades and Eaton since Tuesday.

At least 137,000 people have been forced to evacuate from the Palisades and Eaton fires alone.

The other fires are the Hurst Fire, which broke out in the Sylmar neighborhood north of San Fernando, and the Sunset Fire.

Fires burning in and around Los Angeles have claimed the homes of several celebrities, including singer Mandy Moore and reality star Paris Hilton.

Moore lost his home in the Altadena neighborhood about 30 miles east of the Palisades. “Honestly, I’m in shock and numb to everything so many have lost, including my family. My children’s school is gone. Our favorite restaurants, leveled. So many friends and loved ones have lost everything too,” Moore wrote on Instagram along with a video of destroyed streets in the foothill suburb.

Hilton shared a news clip on social media that included video of her destroyed Malibu home.

Cary Elwes, the star of princess bride, said his family was safe, but their home had burned in the Coastal Palisades Fire. “Unfortunately we lost our home, but we are grateful to have survived this truly devastating fire,” Elwes wrote on Instagram.

President Biden has canceled his upcoming trip to Italy to focus instead on the federal response to the fires.

“After returning this evening from Los Angeles, where earlier today he had met with police, fire and emergency personnel … President Biden made the decision to cancel his upcoming trip to Italy in order to remain focused on leading the full federal response in the coming days.” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

Biden had been on his way to visit Rome and the Vatican from Thursday to Sunday, in what was likely to be his last overseas trip as president.