Los Angeles wildfires spread as Hollywood Boulevard evacuated | World | News

A fast-moving fire has broken out in the Hollywood Hills threatening one of Los Angeles’ most iconic landmarks as firefighters battle to get three major blazes under control.

Wildfires have killed five people, put 130,000 people under evacuation orders and ravaged communities from the Pacific Coast to inland Pasadena.

The Hollywood Hills fire was burning near the Hollywood Bowl and about a mile from the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Streets around Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and Madame Tussauds were packed with traffic as sirens blared and low-flying helicopters soared overhead on their way to dump water on the flames.

People could be seen lugging suitcases from hotels on foot, while some onlookers walked towards the flames, recording the blaze on their phones.

Winds eased on Wednesday, a day after hurricane-force winds blew embers through the air, igniting building after building.

Hundreds of firefighters from outside California have arrived to help, but the six fires burning out of control show the danger is far from over.

More than half a dozen schools in the area were either damaged or destroyed, including Palisades Charter High School, which has been featured in many Hollywood productions, including the 1976 horror movie Carrie and the TV series Teen Wolf.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said air operations were dousing flames and warned they still faced “erratic winds” though not like Tuesday evening when aircraft had to be grounded, hampering efforts to douse the flames.

Nearly 1,900 structures have been destroyed in fires in the Eaton and Palisades neighbourhoods and the number is expected to increase.

In Pasadena, Fire Chief Chad Augustin said the city’s water system was stretched and was further hampered by power outages. Even without those issues, firefighters would not have been able to stop the fire due to the intense winds fanning the flames.

A huge fire levelled entire blocks on the Pacific Coast west of central Los Angeles, reducing grocery stores and banks to rubble in the Pacific Palisades, a hillside area studded with celebrity homes and memorialised by the Beach Boys in their 1960s hit Surfin’ USA.

The Palisades fire was the most destructive in the Los Angeles history, with at least 1,000 structures burned.

California Mission Style homes and bungalows were reduced to cinders, leaving just the charred remains of stone fireplaces and blackened archways. Swimming pools were blackened with soot and sports cars slumped on melted tires.

As flames moved through his neighbourhood, Jose Velasquez sprayed down his family’s Altadena home with water as embers rained down on the roof.

He managed to save his home, but others weren’t as lucky. Many of his neighbours were at work when they lost their homes.

The flames raged in populated and affluent neighborhoods, including Calabasas and Santa Monica, which are home to California’s rich and famous.

Mandy Moore, Cary Elwes and Paris Hilton are among the stars who said on Wednesday that they had lost homes. Billy Crystal and his wife Janice lost their home of 45 years in the Palisades Fire.

The couple said in a statement: “We raised our children and grandchildren here. Every inch of our house was filled with love. Beautiful memories that can’t be taken away.”

In Palisades Village, a public library, two grocery stores, two banks and several boutiques were destroyed.

Dylan Vincent returned to the neighbourhood to retrieve some things and saw his elementary school had been burned down to the ground.

He said: “It’s just really weird coming back to somewhere that doesn’t really exist anymore.”

California’s wildfire season is starting earlier and ending later because of rising temperatures and decreased rainfall linked to climate change, according to recent data.

Rains which usually end the state’s fire season are often delayed, meaning fires can burn through the winter months, according to the Western Fire Chiefs Association.

Dry winds, including the notorious Santa Anas, have contributed to warmer-than-average temperatures in southern California, which has not seen more than 2.5mm of rain since early May.

The winds increased to 80 mph on Wednesday, according to reports received by the National Weather Service. Forecasters predicted wind gusts of 35-55 mph, which could rise higher in the mountains and foothills. Fire conditions could last until Friday.

US President Joe Biden signed a federal emergency declaration after arriving at a Santa Monica fire station for a briefing with Governor Gavin Newsom, who dispatched National Guard troops to help.

Several Hollywood studios suspended production and Universal Studios closed its theme park between Pasadena and Pacific Palisades.

As of Wednesday night, more than 456,000 people were without power in southern California, according to the tracking website PowerOutage.us.