A massive wildfire whipped up by extreme winds has swept through a Los Angeles hillside dotted with celebrity homes – with a state of emergency declared.
The enormous blaze in the Pacific Palisades forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people, some of whom abandoned their cars and fled on foot to safety with roads blocked.
Firefighters battling the blaze, which is burning through about five football fields a minute, warned they were running out of water and supplies, as evacuation warnings spread to Malibu and Calabasas.
Tankers full of water had been dousing the inferno from the skies all afternoon, but all aircraft were later grounded amid deteriorating wind conditions and visibility.
Residents were warned the worst is still yet to come as the raging wildfire burns through more than 2,900 acres of Los Angeles land at an extraordinary rate.
At least 30,000 residents are now under mandatory evacuation orders with more still warned they should be prepared to leave, after a fire that broke out in the foothills near Eaton Canyon has grown to 1,000 acres in just six hours since it began.
A third brush fire broke out in Sylmar in the San Fernando Valley, which is estimated to be around 100 acres in size.
The Hurst Fire was estimated at 300 acres with a ‘rapid rate of spread’ and mandatory evacuations this morning. Governor Gavin Newsom announced early today that the state had secured federal funding to help with the fire.
It comes as Pacific Palisades, where houses have already been reduced to rubble, is a celebrity enclave home to Chris Pratt, Reese Witherspoon and Miles Teller among other Hollywood A-listers.
Even more celebrities call Calabasas and Pasadena home, including the Kardashians.
Hellish photos from the inferno’s epicenter show once-decadent million-dollar homes completely obliterated by the wildfire. A spiral staircase and opulent art gallery wall were seen burned to cinders.
Firefighters, which have said there is no hope of containing the fires overnight, are now focusing their efforts on helping residents get to safety.
Las Lomas Avenue in the Palisades was reportedly caught in the direct line of fire, and witnesses say ‘dozens’ of homes on that street alone ‘are gone.’
As brave firefighters battle the inferno on at least two fronts, the Los Angeles Fire Department has issued an urgent call out for any off-duty officers to help out.
According to scanners in the area, those on the ground battling the intense blaze are starting to experience shortages in their supplies, particularly water.
