By Olaitan Ibrahim
Massive wildfires roaring through the Los Angeles area left neighborhoods in ruins Wednesday, killing at least two people and threatening landmarks made famous by Hollywood as desperate residents escaped through flames, hurricane-force winds and towering columns of smoke.
Three major blazes that erupted just a day earlier blanketed the city with a dangerous, thick cloud of smoke and ash and destroyed homes across the metropolitan area, from the Pacific Coast inland to Pasadena, home of the famed Rose Parade. One of the fires was the most destructive in the modern history of the city of LA.
With thousands of firefighters already attacking the flames, the Los Angeles Fire Department put out a plea for off-duty and out-of-state firefighters to help. The strong winds had temporarily stopped aircraft from dumping water from above until they were able to resume flights.
More than 1,000 structures were destroyed and numerous people were hurt in the fires, including first responders, said Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone.
Images of the devastation showed luxurious homes that collapsed in a whirlwind of flaming embers. Amid the debris was a toppled statue and a blackened motorcycle, its tires melted away.
“This morning, we woke up to a dark cloud over all of Los Angeles. But it is darkest for those who are most intimately impacted by these fires. It has been an immensely painful 24 hours,” LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said.
At least 70,000 people were ordered to evacuate — a number that kept changing because evacuation orders were continually being issued, officials said. The flames marched toward highly populated and affluent neighborhoods, including Calabasas and Santa Monica, home to California’s rich and famous. Hollywood stars, including Mark Hamill, Mandy Moore and James Woods, were among those forced to flee.
“We are prioritizing life over everything else,” Sheriff Robert Luna said.
The fires have consumed a total of about 22 square miles (56 square kilometers) — about half the size of the entire city of San Francisco.
Jennie Girardo, a 39-year-old producer and director from Pasadena, said she was alarmed when her neighbor came to check on her.
“When I opened my door, it smelled like I was living inside of a fireplace,” she said. “Then I also started to see the ash. And I’ve never seen that in my life. Like raining ash.”
Flames moved so quickly that many had little time to escape. Police sought shelter inside their patrol cars, and residents at a senior living center were pushed in wheelchairs and hospital beds down a street to safety in the foothills northeast of LA. On Wednesday, many of those residents were at the Pasadena Convention Center, waiting to hear where they would be staying.
One of the fires ripped through the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, a hillside area along the coast dotted with celebrity homes and memorialized by the Beach Boys in their 1960s hit “Surfin’ USA.” In the race to get to safety, roadways became impassable when scores of people abandoned their vehicles and fled on foot, some toting suitcases.