In the morning On January 7, the first of Los Angeles’ massive wildfires broke out in a wooded area near Topanga State Park on the northwest edge of the city. Conditions allowed the fire to spread very quickly: 100 mph winds, very low humidity and a landscape primed to burn after months of no rainfall combined to cause the fire to engulf the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, located between Santa Monica and Malibu.
A second fire broke out about 40 kilometers away in the Eaton area of Altadena. Along with several other smaller fires, the Pacific Palisades and Eaton fires have since burned more than 30,000 acres of land in Los Angeles County, destroying thousands of buildings and forcing 130,000 people to evacuate their homes.
As of Thursday morning, conditions in the Los Angeles area remained a high risk of wildfires starting and spreading. The fires have consumed entire neighborhoods, and the flames are now threatening some of the city’s famous landmarks, including its iconic Hollywood sign. Thousands of firefighters are trying to tame the flames.
Several movie premieres—such as the Robbie Williams biopic A better manJennifer Lopez vehicle Unstoppableand The wolf manstarring Julia Garner and produced by Ryan Gosling—were canceled due to hazardous conditions. On Thursday, California authorities ordered the evacuation of the Hollywood neighborhood after a fire broke out a few hundred meters from Hollywood Boulevard. The out-of-control situation also led the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to delay the announcement of Oscar nominations by two days.
US President Joe Biden is receiving information on the situation in real time and has offered “all federal assistance necessary” to fight the fire. “FEMA — the Federal Emergency Management Agency — has approved a wildfire management grant to support affected areas and help the state of California offset the immediate costs of fighting the wildfires,” the president said in a statement Wednesday. There were fires declared a major disaster by the president.
Despite the efforts, the largest fires — the Eaton and Pacific Palisades — were still zero percent contained Thursday, and firefighters were running out of water. Although wind speeds have decreased from the maximum values at the beginning of the week, the fires are expected to continue to spread and cause more destruction. They are already the most destructive in the history of California.