Furious residents have blasted their mayor for traveling to Africa while the city burns
Raging wildfires that broke out in various regions of Los Angeles, CA, Tuesday and Wednesday are spreading across the region due to extreme winds, causing historic destruction of homes and displacing thousands of people.
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11:42 PM PT — The Palisades Fire has now increased to 17,243 acres. Over 30,000 people have been ordered to evacuate the area. The Palisades Fire alone is the most destructive in the history of Los Angeles. This tragic distinction is all the more horrific due to the multiple simultaneous fires across Southern California blazing with no end in sight.
10:27 PM PT — The firefighters knocked down the four-story structure in the Studio City fire.
9:54 PM PT — The Associated Press has a video cam showing the Sunset Fire erupting. Iconic Hollywood landmarks — the Walk of Stars, the Chinese Theater, the Dolby Theater, the Capitol Records Building, etc. — remain in the evacuation areas. The fire area has also threatened structures like the famous Hollywood Bowl. The landmarks that represents what Los Angeles means to the world as “Tinseltown” are threatened by this fire. If a fire can break the heart of a city, this one — if not contained — surely will.
National Guard called in as LA fires spread to Studio City after forcing evacuation of iconic Hollywood Boulevard: California fights demonic blaze on SIX fronts as 2,000 structures are reduced to ash
Hollywood Boulevard is evacuated as wildfires erupt in celebrity epicentre: Another 100,000 told to escape NOW
Hollywood Boulevard has been evacuated with 100,000 people told to flee with six wildfires raging as the apocalyptic skies of Los Angeles continue to fill with smoke.
Two new blazes broke out overnight in the Hollywood Hills and Studio City – forcing first responders to redeploy their already-scarce resources to the burnt landscape.
The National Guard has been deployed and could send in military personnel to assist, amid revelations that heroic firefighters are ‘triaging’ homes and neighborhoods.
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 in showbiz.
The latest fires mean huge swathes of iconic southern California real estate from Malibu to Santa Monica, and from Pacific Palisades to Runyon Canyon, are ablaze – impacting millions caught off guard by the unprecedented spread and carnage.
At least five people have lost their lives in the disaster so far – with 2,000 structures obliterated and thousands of people left with nothing but ash across the city.
More than 130,000 people are under evacuation orders while Mandy Moore, Cary Elwes and Paris Hilton are among the stars who said they had lost homes. Billy Crystal and his wife Janice lost their home of 45 years in the Palisades Fire.
And Gavin Newsom became emotional when asked about Donald Trump placing the blame on him for the disaster, after the president-elect referred to the California Governor as ‘Gavin Newscum’.
It comes as raging wildfires surrounding Los Angeles spread to the Hollywood Hills last night after other fires in the area killed at least five people, destroyed hundreds of homes and stretched firefighting resources and water supplies to the limit.
More than 100,000 people were ordered to evacuate as dry, hurricane-force winds hindered firefighting operations and spread the fires, which have burned thousands of acres since they began yesterday.
‘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.
But furious residents have blasted their mayor for traveling to Africa while the city burns, despite having ample warning about ‘critical’ weather conditions in the days before.
She was cornered by journalist David Blevins from Sky News at the airport upon her return with an assistant, who both refused to answer his questions.
He asked: ‘Fire chiefs say that they’re really stretched to the limit and running out of water, what have you got to say to that? Have you no response to that?
‘Do you owe your citizens an apology for being absent while their homes were burning? Do you regret cutting the fire department by millions of dollars, Madam Mayor? Have you nothing to say today?’
A new fire broke out in the parched Hollywood Hills yesterday evening, Fire Chief Kristin Crowley told a press conference, forcing more evacuations and raising the number of wildfires burning in Los Angeles County to at least six.
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.
Within that area is the Dolby Theater, where the Oscars are held. Next week’s Oscar nominations announcement was already postponed by two days because of the fire, organisers said.
Though relatively small, the Sunset Fire burned just above Hollywood Boulevard and its Walk of Fame. It would need to cross the 101 Freeway to endanger the Hollywood sign and Griffith Observatory further up in the hills.
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