Tens of thousands flee as wildfires tear through Los Angeles area

Los Angeles: A wildfire raged across an upscale section of Los Angeles on Tuesday, destroying homes and creating traffic jams as 30,000 people evacuated beneath huge plumes of smoke that covered much of the metropolitan area.

At least 1,262 acres (510 hectares) of the Pacific Palisades area between Santa Monica and Malibu had burned, officials said, after they had already warned of extreme fire danger from powerful winds that arrived following extended dry weather.

The fire grew rapidly in a matter of hours as officials warned the worst wind conditions were expected to come overnight, leading to concerns that more neighborhoods could be forced to flee. Flying embers set alight a palm tree at the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway.

Witnesses reported a number homes on fire with flames nearly scorching their cars when people fled the hills of Topanga Canyon, as the fire spread from there down to the Pacific Ocean.

"We feel very blessed at this point that there's no injuries that are reported," Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley told a press conference.

Firefighters in aircraft scooped water from the sea to drop it on the nearby flames. Flames engulfed homes and bulldozers cleared abandoned vehicles from roads so emergency vehicles could pass, television images showed.

With only one major road leading from the canyon to the coast, and only one coastal highway leading to safety, traffic crawled to a halt, leading people to flee on foot.

One man said he was attempting to retrieve items from his home when he was stopped by firefighters as flaming debris landed in the road.

"So it seemed to me, let's get out of here. Whatever I lose, I lose. There's nothing I can do about it," said the man who identified himself only as Peter.

Almost 100 residents from a nursing home in Pasadena were evacuated, CBS News said. Video showed elderly residents, many in wheelchairs and on gurneys, crowded onto a smoky and windswept parking lot as fire trucks and ambulances attended.

Fire officials said a third blaze named the Hurst Fire had started in Sylmar, in the San Fernando Valley northwest of Los Angeles, prompting evacuations of some nearby residents.

More than 220,000 homes and businesses in Los Angeles county were without power late on Tuesday, data from PowerOutage.us showed.

PALISADES FIRE

Witnesses reported a number of homes on fire with flames nearly scorching their cars when people fled the hills of Topanga Canyon as the fire spread from there down to the Pacific Ocean.

Local media reported the fire had also spread north, torching homes near Malibu. Parts of Malibu and Santa Monica are under evacuation orders.

Multiple burn victims were treated after walking toward Duke's restaurant in Malibu in the evening, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing a fire official.

Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley had earlier told a press conference that more than 25,000 people in 10,000 homes were threatened.

Firefighting aircraft scooped water from the sea to drop it on the flames as they engulfed homes. Bulldozers cleared abandoned vehicles from roads so emergency vehicles could pass, television images showed.

The fire singed some trees on the grounds of the Getty Villa, a museum loaded with priceless works of art, but the collection remained safe largely because nearby bushes had been trimmed as a preventive measure, the museum said.

Before the fire started, the National Weather Service had issued its highest alert for extreme fire conditions for much of Los Angeles County from Tuesday through Thursday.

With low humidity and dry vegetation due to a lack of rain, the conditions were "about as bad as it gets in terms of fire weather," the service said.

Governor Newsom said the state had positioned personnel, firetrucks and aircraft elsewhere in Southern California because of the fire danger to the wider region.

The powerful winds changed President Joe Biden's travel plans, grounding Air Force One in Los Angeles. He had planned to make a short flight inland to the Coachella Valley for a ceremony to create two new national monuments in California.

"I have offered any federal assistance that is needed to help suppress the terrible Pacific Palisades fire," Biden said in a statement.

A federal grant had already been approved to help reimburse the state of California for its fire response, Biden said.

Actor Steve Guttenberg told KTLA television that friends of his were impeded from evacuating because others had abandoned their cars in the road.

"It's really important for everybody to band together and don't worry about your personal property. Just get out," Guttenberg said.

"Get your loved ones and get out."