By Jorge Garcia and Mike Blake
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A wildfire raged through an upscale part of Los Angeles on Tuesday, destroying homes and causing traffic jams as 30,000 people evacuated under huge plumes of smoke that blanketed much of the city.
At least 1,262 hectares (510 acres) of the Pacific Palisades between Santa Monica and Malibu have burned, officials said, after already warning of extreme fire danger from strong winds that arrived after prolonged dry weather.
The fire grew rapidly in the hours as officials warned that the worst winds were expected overnight, leading to concerns that more neighborhoods could be forced to flee. Flying embers ignited a palm tree at the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway.
Witnesses reported a large number of houses on fire with flames nearly incinerating their cars as people fled the hills of Topanga Canyon, as the fire spread from there to the Pacific Ocean.
“We feel very blessed at this point that there are no reported injuries,” Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said at a news conference.
Firefighters in airplanes scooped water from the sea to drop it on the nearby flames. Houses were engulfed in flames and bulldozers were removing abandoned vehicles from roads to allow emergency vehicles to pass, television images showed.
With only one main road leading from the canyon to the coast and only one coastal highway leading to safety, traffic came to a standstill, forcing people to flee on foot.
One man said he was trying to get things from his home when he was stopped by firefighters as burning debris fell onto the road.
“It seemed to me, let’s get out of here. Whatever I lose, I lose. There’s nothing I can do,” said a man who identified himself only as Peter.
Cindy Festa, another Pacific Palisades resident, said as she evacuated the canyon, the fires were “this close to the car,” indicating with her thumb and forefinger.
“People have left their cars on Palisades Drive. The hillside is burning. The palm trees – anything goes,” Festa said from her car.
Before the fire, the National Weather Service issued its highest severe fire warning for much of Los Angeles County Tuesday through Thursday, predicting wind gusts of 50 to 80 mph (80 to 130 km/h) with isolated gusts of 80 to 100 mph (130 to 160 km/h) in the mountains and foothills.
Combined with low humidity and dry vegetation from a lack of rain, conditions were extremely dangerous, authorities said.
“In other words, this is as bad as it gets fire-wise,” the National Weather Service’s Los Angeles office said on X.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state began moving firefighting resources from northern to southern California as early as Saturday due to weather warnings. Many of those personnel, fire trucks and aircraft remained stationed elsewhere in Southern California because of the fire danger to the wider region, he added.
“We hope we’re wrong, but we anticipate that other fires will happen at the same time. And that’s just the previous experience we’ve had with these kinds of winds,” Newsom said at a news conference.
Known as the Santa Ana winds, strong, dry westerly winds originate from inland deserts, are more common in the fall, but can affect Southern California at any time of the year.
Pacific Palisades is home to several Hollywood stars. Actor James Woods said on X that he was able to evacuate, but added: “At this point I don’t know if our home is still standing.”
More than 25,000 people in 10,000 homes were at risk, Crowley said, which equates to nearly the entire population of Pacific Palisades. Nearly 5% of Pacific Palisades’ 23,431 acres (9,482 hectares) burned.
