Out-of-control wildfires are ravaging parts of Los Angeles this week, ripping through neighbourhoods and enclaves many Hollywood stars call home, including the Pacific Palisades, Malibu and Altadena.
California firefighters are battling wind-whipped fires tearing across the area as the quick-moving flames destroy homes and critical infrastructure.
The Pacific Palisades neighbourhood is a hillside area along the coast dotted with celebrity residences and memorialized by the Beach Boys in their 1960s hit Surfin’ USA. In the frantic haste to get to safety, roadways became impassable when scores of people abandoned their vehicles and fled on foot, some toting suitcases.
As of Thursday morning, the wildfires continued to ravage Los Angeles County, with the latest blazes hitting the prestigious Hollywood Hills — home to numerous celebrities — on Wednesday evening.
Some reports claim the fires are also inching closer to the iconic Hollywood sign.
Ferocious winds that drove the flames and led to chaotic evacuations have calmed somewhat and were not expected to be as powerful during the day. That could provide an opportunity for thousands of firefighters to make progress reining in blazes that have hopscotched across the sprawling area.
Some 130,000 people have been put under evacuation orders as fires have consumed a total of about 42-square miles (108 square kilometres) — nearly the size of the entire city of San Francisco. The Palisades Fire is already the most destructive in Los Angeles history.
Approximately 2,000 structures have been destroyed, and upwards of 130,000 residents ordered to evacuate. Hundreds of thousands of people are without power in the region.
Here’s how celebrities have been impacted by the fires burning in and around Los Angeles.
Eugene Levy
Canadian actor Eugene Levy’s home was destroyed in the blaze, and he told the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday that he got trapped in traffic due to other fleeing residents attempting to leave the Pacific Palisades area. (Levy is also the honorary mayor of Pacific Palisades.)
“The smoke looked pretty black and intense over Temescal Canyon,” he said. “I couldn’t see any flames but the smoke was very dark.”
He hasn’t commented publicly about the destruction of his home.
Billy Crystal
Comedian Billy Crystal and his wife, Janice, confirmed they lost their home of 46 years.
“Words cannot describe the enormity of the devastation we are witnessing and experiencing. We ache for our friends and neighbors who have also lost their homes and businesses in this tragedy,” the Crystals said in a statement to media.
“Janice and I lived in our home since 1979. We raised our children and grandchildren here. Every inch of our house was filled with love. Beautiful memories that can’t be taken away. We are heartbroken of course but with the love of our children and friends we will get through this.
“We pray for the safety of the fire fighters and first responders. The Pacific Palisades is a resilient community of amazing people and we know in time it will rise again. It is our home.”
Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag
Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt announced Wednesday that their home was destroyed due to the blaze, with Pratt taking to TikTok to show the flames in the area.
Later on, in an emotional post, Pratt shared on Instagram that the “one positive sign” of the fire was that his son’s bed “burned in the shape of a heart,” posting a photo captured on home surveillance as the fire took over a bedroom.
The Hills alum concluded, “A sign of how much love was in this house so thankful for all the years and memories there with our family.”
On his Instagram Story Wednesday, Pratt shared that his parents’ house was destroyed in the fires, too.
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis said on Instagram Wednesday that her family is safe, but suggested her neighbourhood, and possibly her home, was impacted by the fire. She said many of her friends lost their homes.
“It’s a terrifying situation and I’m grateful to the firefighters and all of the good Samaritans who are helping people get out of the way of the blaze.”
Later in the day she shared the good news that her home had been spared, but that “so many others have lost everything.”
Leighton Meester and Adam Brody
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It’s surreal to think that Adam Brody and Leighton Meester walked the red carpet at the Golden Globes just a few days ago, unaware they were about to lose their home.
According to photos obtained by Page Six, the couple’s lavish, five-bedroom house burned down.
The couple has yet to publicly address the loss.
Chet Hanks
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson’s son, Chet, shared a heartfelt Instagram story on Wednesday as the wildfire continued to grow.
“The neighborhood I grew up in is burning to the ground rn. Pray for the Palisades,” he wrote.
His parents have not yet issued a statement on the fires or confirmed if they lost their home.
Mandy Moore
Mandy Moore said her family evacuated, too, and she’s been trying to shield her kids from the “immense sadness and worry” that she currently feels.
“So gutted for the destruction and loss,” she posted in her Instagram story earlier on Wednesday. “Don’t know if our place made it.”
Later in the day, she drove around her neighbourhood of Altadena, showing almost everything either on fire or destroyed by the inferno.
On Thursday, Moore posted an update to Instagram.
“Miraculously, the main part of our house is still standing. For now,” she wrote. “It’s not livable but mostly intact. We lost Taylor [her husband] and griffin’s studio with every instrument and piece of equipment they’ve ever owned. We lost our garage and back house. Everyone we know lost everything.”
James Woods
James Woods posted footage Tuesday of flames burning through bushes and past palm trees on a hill near his home. The towering orange flames billowed among the landscaped yards between the homes.
“Standing in my driveway, getting ready to evacuate,” Woods said in the short video on X. Later, he confirmed he had evacuated and added: “It tests your soul, losing everything at once, I must say.”
In a separate tweet, Woods thanked “all the wonderful people” who reached out to him and his family, and shared that they were “able to evacuate successfully.”
He concluded, “I do not know at this moment if our home is still standing, but sadly houses on our little street are not.”
Jennifer Love Hewitt
911 star Jennifer Love Hewitt shared a photo to Instagram Wednesday of her driving past flames on the side of the road, writing, “I have no words.”
“Only prayers and holding as much hope as I can for our home and our kids while we watch everything burn,” she continued, thanking first responders.
Anna Faris
Actor Anna Faris’ home burned down in the fires, her representative confirmed on Wednesday.
“Anna and her family are safe and very grateful,” she said.
Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton’s Malibu mansion burned down Wednesday and she took to social media to share the details of the loss.
“Heartbroken beyond words.💔 Sitting with my family, watching the news, and seeing our home in Malibu burn to the ground on live TV is something no one should ever have to experience,” she wrote.
“This home was where we built so many precious memories. It’s where Phoenix took his first steps and where we dreamed of building a lifetime of memories with London,” she continued. “While the loss is overwhelming, I’m holding onto gratitude that my family is safe.”
Maria Shriver
Maria Shriver, the former first lady of California and ex-wife of Arnold Schwarzenegger, shared a devastating video of the destruction caused by the fire in Pacific Palisades.
Video posted to her account Wednesday shows almost everything along a main road burned down.
“Our neighborhood, our restaurants. All our friends have lost everything. We have evacuated, but are safe. But people have lost everything.”
“The firefighters have and are doing their best, but this fire is massive and out of control, and now there are multiple fires burning across Los Angeles,” she continued.
“We in this city will put our arms around one another.”
Ricki Lake
Ricki Lake revealed she lost her “dream home” in the Pacific Palisades fire Wednesday, sharing an emotional post to Instagram detailing how much the property had meant to her and her husband Ross Burningham.
“After a valiant and brave effort by our friend and hero @kirbykotler_ Ross and I lost our dream home.”
She added: “This description ‘dream home’ doesn’t suffice. It was our heaven on earth. The place where we planned to grow old together.
“We never took our heavenly spot on the bluff overlooking our beloved malibu for granted, not even for one second. I shared our sunset views almost daily with all of you,” she continued, adding that the home held special meaning as it was the site where she and Burningham married three years ago.
Sandra Lee
Sandra Lee, the cookbook author and television host, shared that her Malibu home was destroyed by wildfires.
In an Instagram post on Wednesday, speaking from a hotel, she expressed her heartbreak over the loss of her residence that had been her sanctuary.
In a separate post later that day she detailed the confusion and anxiety she feels over not knowing how badly her house is damaged, citing conflicting reports from neighbours and her real estate agent.
“I FEEL AT SUCH A LOSS,” Lee wrote. “I can’t see my house, I don’t know if my friends and family’s homes or my own home stands. I’m completely anxiety ridden, I’m totally emotional and I feel incredibly overwhelmed, but the most important thing is that everybody is OK.”
Mark Hamill
Star Wars actor Mark Hamill provided a first-hand account of how he and his family evacuated their home in Malibu amid the raging fires, painting a picture of a narrow escape.
He recalled that they left Malibu “last-minute” on Tuesday night while encountering small fires on either side of the road as they approached the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH.)
Cary Elwes
Princess Bride star Cary Elwes filmed his Tuesday night evacuation from Malibu, posting video of flames covering the mountainside with a caption “#Biblical.”
On Wednesday, he shared an update that his family had lost their home but that “we are grateful to have survived this truly devastating fire.”
Cameron Mathison
Canadian soap opera star Cameron Mathison shared on Instagram Wednesday that he lost his Pasadena home in the fires.
“We are safe,” Mathison captioned a video on Instagram, “but this is what’s left of our beautiful home. Our home where our kids were raised and where they wanted to raise their own someday.”
In the video, he shows what remains of his house, and a lone water feature that was left standing.
The fires are ongoing, with thousands of firefighters working to quell the spread.
— With files from The Associated Press
