A Los Angeles celebrity spot has been ravaged by wildfires

Los Angeles’ wealthy neighborhood of Pacific Palisades often has strangers walking by, trying to catch a glimpse of celebrity homes.

However, its streets are now full of firefighters battling a 3,000-hectare wildfire that is ravaging the area.

Across the city, more than 30,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes as winds controlled three fires. A state of emergency was declared, leaving roads closed as people fled.

Among them, a number of famous faces were forced to flee their familiar California homes, including Star Wars’ Mark Hamill and Schitt’s Creek actor Eugene Levy.

James Woods, who has acted in films including Nixon and Casino, explained his exit on social media, saying he is not sure if it is still on.

“It feels like losing a loved one,” he wrote.

Pacific Palisades is known to be the only one, with a house worth $4.5m (£3.6m) on average as of November 2024, according to Realtor.com.

The northern part of LA is bordered to the south by three miles (4.8 km) of beaches on the Pacific Ocean, located between Malibu and Santa Monica.

It is a hub of fashion shops, cafes and a farmers market.

But the Palisades fire — which grew from 10 acres to more than 2,900 acres in a matter of hours — devastated the area’s natural environment.

Mark Hamill, of Star Wars fame, called the fire “the worst fire since ’93” — which burned 18,000 acres and destroyed 323 homes in nearby Malibu — in a post on Instagram.

He said he left his home in Malibu “at the last minute there.” [were] small fires on both sides of the road”.

Levy, who became famous for his role in the American Pie film series, told the media that he was forced to leave his home.

“The smoke looked very dark and thick over Temescal Canyon. I didn’t see any flames but the smoke was very black,” reported the Los Angeles Times.

Reality star Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag lost their family home in a fire, her sister wrote on Instagram.

“My heart aches for my brother, Heidi and the children,” she said. “Even the Palisades firefighters got burned.”

Miles Teller, best known for his role in Top Gun: Maverick, and his wife Keleigh, also live in the property.

Taking to Instagram, Mrs Teller shared a photo of the flames and a heartbreaking emoji. He urged people to leave water bowls for the animals as they leave their homes.

Meanwhile, actor Steve Guttenberg, known for Police Academy, stayed to help the firefighters by moving cars to make room for incoming fire trucks.

He urged the residents to leave the keys of the cars they left behind so that they could be removed from the path of the firefighters.

“We really need people to move their cars,” he told KTLA news: “This is not a parking lot.”

It’s not just famous residents who have been affected by the bushfire – landmark buildings in the area are also at risk.

Palisades Charter High School — which has served as a movie set and counts several notable alumni — was damaged by fire, local media reported.

The burned-out school has been used in films including the 1976 horror film Carrie and Project X, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Past students include director JJ Abrams, singer Will.i.am, and actors Forest Whitaker and Katey Sagal.

The Getty Villa is an art museum in the Palisades with a large collection of works of art and artifacts, including works by Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet.

The museum confirmed on Tuesday that it had closed to the public and that some trees and vegetation in the area had burned – but said “no buildings have burned, staff and the collection are safe”.

The star-studded events that were supposed to take place in this area have also been cancelled.

The premieres of Unstoppable, Better Man and Wolfman were canceled, as was the live nomination ceremony for the Screen Actors Guild Awards.