Los Angeles wildfires: 5 dead, new blaze in Hollywood Hills prompts evacuation
At least five people have died as out-of-control wildfires continue to rage across Los Angeles, leaving a trail of widespread destruction and residents being forced out of their homes. Meanwhile, a new blaze, dubbed the Sunset fire, has erupted in the Hollywood Hills, home to the iconic Hollywood sign.
According to the Los Angeles Fire Department, Sunset fire’s current size has increased to 20 acres and is burning between Runyon Canyon and Wattles Park.
Besides the iconic Hollywood sign, the Dolby Theatre, where the Oscar Awards ceremony is held annually, is also being threatened by the Sunset Fire. Other Los Angeles landmarks, including the Hollywood Bowl outdoor amphitheatre and the Hollywood Walk of Fame, are also in the line of danger.
On Wednesday evening, mandatory evacuation orders were issued for parts of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Mulholland Drive, all the way south to Hollywood Boulevard — famous for celebrity residences — as a result of the new blaze.
Evacuation orders also remained in place near the Palisades fire west of Los Angeles, while residents have been asked to leave their homes in the San Fernando Valley near the Hurst fire.
Also in the evacuation zone were parts of Santa Monica and Altadena due to the Eaton fire.
There are now at least six fires raging in Los Angeles and its neighbouring Ventura county. According to officials, the Woodley fire has decreased in size, while the rest were 0 per cent contained.
The Palisades Fire, which was the first to erupt on Tuesday, has been named as the most destructive in Los Angeles’s history.
The number of people evacuated so far has increased to more than 137,000, while about 17 million people living across Southern California are under smoke and dust advisories expected to remain in place until Thursday.
As of Wednesday afternoon, more than 1.5 million customers were without electricity, according to tracking site PowerOutage.us.
Over half of the roughly 334,000 customers in Ventura County were without power, along with more than 957,000 customers in Los Angeles County.
On Wednesday, officials in Pasadena said that issues with power hampered their ability to fight the deadly Eaton fire. In Los Angeles, firefighters were also experiencing a shortage of water and resorted to taking water from swimming pools and ponds.
Many Hollywood celebrities, including actors Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore, Jamie Lee Curtis and Paris Hilton, have lost their homes due to the raging wildfires, while Adam Sandler, Ben Affleck, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg also have residences in the affected areas.
TRUMP SLAMS BIDEN, CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR
President-elect Donald Trump has slammed President Joe Biden and California Governor Gavin Newsom for failing to contain the destructive wildfires.
Trump, who is slated to return to the White House on January 20, accused Biden of leaving him without the necessary resources to combat the ongoing wildfire crisis.
In a series of posts on his social media platform, Truth Social, the President-elect said, “No water in the fire hydrants, no money in FEMA. This is what Joe Biden is leaving me. Thanks, Joe!”
Regarding the California Governor, Trump said that Newsom “wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt, by giving it less water (it didn’t work!), but didn’t care about the people of California”.
Biden has cancelled a proposed trip to Italy and has formally signed off on a federal disaster declaration that allows for federal funding to be made available to impacted individuals.
