Movie, TV stars flee homes as Los Angeles wildfires burn

(Reuters): Film and television stars including Jamie Lee Curtis, Mandy Moore and James Woods were among those forced to evacuate and left wondering whether their homes survived the out-of-control wildfires burning around Los Angeles.

 

The day after Woods evacuated his house in Pacific Palisades, an affluent neighborhood that sits between the beach towns of Santa Monica and Malibu, he described the scene as an "inferno" where "every house around us was on fire."

 

"We were literally in the exact epicenter of the fire as it started," Woods, an award-winning actor known for roles in "Salvador," "Ghosts of Mississippi" and "Any Given Sunday," said on CNN on Wednesday. "There was so much chaos. It was like an inferno."

 

Strong, dry winds have fanned the blaze burning around Pacific Palisades, and the area's narrow, winding streets combined with the rush of thousands of people ordered to evacuate have created long delays and traffic jams for those trying to escape the wildfire. Some evacuees abandoned their cars on Tuesday.

 

Among those caught in the traffic was actor Eugene Levy of the television series “Schitt’s Creek.”

 

“I couldn’t see any flames but the smoke was very dark,” he told the Los Angeles Times.

 

Mandy Moore, known for her role in the television series "This is Us," posted on Instagram that she and her family had evacuated because of the proximity of the flames.

 

“So gutted for the destruction and loss,” she said. “Don’t know if our place made it.”

 

Reality TV stars Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag lost their Pacific Palisades home in the wildfire, according to TMZ, which added that the couple was able to safely evacuate with their children earlier in the day.

 

Pratt shared a video on Instagram earlier in the day of a plane dropping water on a mountainside engulfed with smoke.

 

Pacific Palisades, dotted with palatial hillside estates, is bordered by the Pacific Ocean and buffeted by the Santa Monica Mountains. With its median home price of $4.5 million, it is home to many film and music stars as well as the Getty Villa, one of the most popular museums in Los Angeles.

 

Several other fires - along with the Palisades blaze - are burning around the city.

 

California Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency and officials have warned that the wildfires are unpredictable and remain out of control.

"This is a dynamic situation," Kathryn Barger, a member of Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, said at a news conference on Wednesday. "We've got fires throughout the entire county, which are spreading our resources very short."

The wildfires prompted organizers of Hollywood's Screen Actors Guild Awards to cancel a live announcement of its nominations on Wednesday. City authorities also blocked public access to the famous Hollywood sign in the hills above Los Angeles.

 

Actor Mark Hamill, known for playing Luke Skywalker in the "Star Wars" films, said the blaze was the “most horrific” since 1993.

 

He said on Instagram that he evacuated his home in Malibu around 7 p.m. on Tuesday with his family.

“There [were] small fires on both sides of the road as we approached,” the Pacific Coast Highway, he said.