A famous area of ​​Los Angeles is engulfed in wildfire

In Los Angeles’ affluent neighborhood of Pacific Palisades, it’s common for strangers to walk around trying to catch a glimpse of celebrity homes.

However, its streets are now filled with firefighters battling a 3,000-hectare wildfire that is ravaging the area.

Across the city, more than 30,000 people were forced to leave their homes as the wind sparked three fires. A state of emergency has been declared, causing people to flee on the roads.

Among them, a number of famous people were forced to leave their usually idyllic homes in California, including Star Wars star Mark Hamill and Sheets Creek actor Eugene Levy.

James Woods, who starred in films such as Nixon and Casino, described the evacuation of his home on social media and said he was unsure if it was still standing.

“It feels like losing a loved one,” he wrote.

According to Realtor.com, Pacific Palisades is known for its exclusivity, with an average home going for $4.5 million (£3.6 million) as of November 2024.

North Los Angeles is bordered to the south by a three-mile (4.8 km) stretch of beach on the Pacific Ocean, located between Malibu and Santa Monica.

It is a hub of trendy shops, cafes and a farmers market.

But the Palisades fire, which grew from 10 hectares to more than 2,900 hectares in a matter of hours, destroyed the idyllic nature of the area.

Mark Hamill, of Star Wars fame, called the fire “the worst fire since 1993,” which burned 18,000 acres and destroyed 323 homes in nearby Malibu, in an Instagram post.

He said he was evacuating his home in Malibu, “so at the last minute (there were) small fires on both sides of the road.”

Levy, who is best known for his role in the American Pie film series, told local media that he was forced to evacuate his home.

“The smoke looked pretty black and heavy over Temescal Canyon. I couldn’t see the flames, but the smoke was very dark,” he told the Los Angeles Times.

Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag, the stars of the reality show, lost their family home in a fire, his sister wrote on Instagram.

“I am heartbroken for my brother, Heidi and the children,” she said. – Even the fire station in Palisades burned down.

Miles Teller, best known for his role in Top Gun: Maverick, and his wife Kelly also live in the area.

Taking to Instagram, Mrs Teller shared a photo of the fires and a broken heart emoji. She urged people to leave bowls of water for animals when they evacuate their homes.

Meanwhile, actor Steve Guttenberg, of Police Academy fame, stayed behind to help firefighters by moving cars to make room for fire engines.

He urged residents to leave the keys to their abandoned cars so they could be moved out of the way of firefighters.

“We really need people to move our cars,” he told news agency KTLA, “It’s not a parking lot.”

Not only famous residents were affected by the fire – famous buildings in the area are also at risk.

Palisades Charter High School — which has served as a movie set and counts several famous people as former students — was damaged by fire, local media reported.

The fire-ravaged school has been used in movies, including the 1976 horror classics Carrie and Project X, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Former students include director JJ Abrams, musician Will Ayam, and actors Forest Whitaker and Cathy Sagal.

The Getty Villa is an art museum in the Palisades that has a large collection of artwork and artifacts, including works by Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet.

The museum confirmed on Tuesday that it was closed to the public and that some trees and vegetation on site had burned, but said “no structures are on fire and staff and the collection remain safe.”

Star events scheduled to take place in the area have also been cancelled.

Premieres of Unstoppable, The Best Man and The Wolf Man have been canceled, as has the Screen Actors Guild Awards live nominations event.