Hollywood thrown into chaos as wildfires rip through L.A., forcing evacuations, cancelling premieres
Critics Choice Awards, other film events postponed
Hollywood stars including Mark Hamill and Mandy Moore were among the thousands of residents sent fleeing as raging wildfires tore through affluent neighbourhoods in Los Angeles, consuming homes, threatening iconic buildings and bringing the heart of the film industry to a halt, with numerous film events cancelled or postponed.
Two people have been killed and more than 1,000 structures have been destroyed, Los Angeles county fire chief Anthony Marrone said Wednesday.
Actor Mark Hamill shared on Instagram that he evacuated Malibu "so last-minute there were small fires on both sides of the road," calling it the "most horrific fire" he had seen since the Kinneloa fire of 1993.
Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag, reality TV stars known for The Hills, lost their home in the blaze that consumed the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, the couple confirmed on their Snapchat accounts Tuesday.
Singer and actor Mandy Moore said in an Instagram story that she had evacuated safely with her kids, dog and cat, adding that she was "gutted for the destruction and loss."
Canadian actor Eugene Levy, who is honorary mayor of the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, told the LA Times he had to flee through dark smoke.
At least four separate blazes are still burning in the metropolitan area, from the Pacific Coast inland to Pasadena, fanned by intense winds. Around 70,000 residents are under evacuation orders.
James Woods, known for The Virgin Suicides and Disney's Hercules, shared numerous videos of the blaze on X taken before he evacuated, including one where flames crackled through a neighbour's home.
Leaving <a href="https://t.co/yJDQ8xIhbI">pic.twitter.com/yJDQ8xIhbI</a>
—@RealJamesWoodsWoods told CNN on Wednesday that his family had evacuated in just 17 minutes, "with the clothes on our back."
He said he alerted the fire department to check if another neighbour, who was 94 years old, had gotten out safely. Fire crews found his neighbour still in the house.
"[They] got him out, and the house burned down about an hour later," Woods said.
Choking up, he added, "He would've been in there alone."
'Most unbelievable fire'
Actor Steve Guttenberg described a scene of chaos as he helped people scrambling to evacuate his Pacific Palisades neighbourhood on Tuesday.
Some panicked residents locked their cars when they abandoned them on the road, instead of leaving their keys so fire crews could move them, he said, adding that bulldozers had to be brought in to shift the cars so fire trucks could get through.
When the actor, known for films such as Police Academy and Three Men and a Baby, drove down Sunset Boulevard, his home was nearly unrecognizable, with burning trees falling into the street and local landmarks consumed by flames.
"The Pierson Playhouse, which is our live theatre playhouse, is on fire. The woman's club is on fire," he said.
"This is the most unbelievable fire that I've ever — anybody's ever seen."
Critics Choice Awards postponed, film premieres cancelled
As the flames advance, there's been a wave of cancellations for film and TV events and premieres slated to take place in Los Angeles.
The Critics Choice Awards, which were slated to take place on Sunday, have been postponed until Jan. 26, a spokesperson told CBC News. The event will still occur at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, as originally planned.
The American Film Institute has announced that the annual AFI Awards luncheon has been postponed.
"Given the tragedies that prevail in Los Angeles, the spirit of community we strive for at AFI AWARDS will be unachievable on Friday," a spokesperson told CBC News in a statement.
The Screen Actors Guild Award nominations were released Wednesday by press release after an in-person announcement hosted by actors Joey Kind and Cooper Koch was cancelled due to the fires.
Amazon pulled the plug on the premiere for Jennifer Lopez's Unstoppable and Universal cancelled the world premiere for the Blumhouse horror film Wolf Man, both slated to take place Tuesday night. Paramount has also cancelled its Wednesday night L.A. premiere for Better Man, a Robbie Williams biopic, and the upcoming Max medical drama series The Pitt cancelled its red carpet in Los Angeles, which was set to take place on Wednesday. The premiere of The Last Showgirl, scheduled for Thursday, has also been cancelled by its studio, Roadside Attractions.
The annual BAFTA Tea Party, a celebrity-filled stop on the Oscar circuit originally intended to occur on Jan. 11, has been cancelled "in light of the dangerous winds and wildfires in Los Angeles," BAFTA North America said in a statement on X.
Mansions belonging to the rich and famous aren't the only structures being destroyed. Iconic film locations such as Topanga Ranch Motel, which has featured in a dozen films, were being threatened by fire, local media reported.
Flames were also seen by NBC Los Angeles crews at Palisades Charter High School, known for its use in Carrie, the TV series Teen Wolf and the 2003 remake of Freaky Friday. The high school had previously announced on its website that the building was closed because of the ongoing fires.
Shooting has been paused for numerous TV shows as well, according to The Associated Press. Universal Studios has cancelled shooting for shows including Hacks and Suits: L.A., while Walt Disney cancelled production on several series, including Grey's Anatomy and Doctor Odyssey.
Residents mourning
The Pacific Palisades, a star-studded hillside community where the median home listing price is $4.6 million US, has been a backdrop for a long list of films and TV shows, and once had its famous waves celebrated by The Beach Boys in Surfin' U.S.A.
"My community and possibly my home is on fire," Oscar-award winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis said in a post on Instagram, adding that while her family is safe, many of her friends may lose their homes in the "terrifying situation."
Other stars who have homes in the area include Adam Sandler, Ben Affleck, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg.
Derek Hough of Dancing With the Stars shared on Threads that his family packed up to evacuate as winds hit around 160 kilometres per hour on Tuesday, thanking "the incredible firefighters risking everything to keep us safe."
The impact is being felt across the city.
Shaun Majumder, a Canadian actor best known for his work on This Hour Has 22 Minutes, shared a video to his Instagram showing the intense winds still whipping through L.A. High winds have made it too dangerous for firefighting aircraft to fly, officials have said, severely impacting the firefighting response.
"It's an eerie feeling in Los Angeles right now," he said, adding that although there's no fire near his location right now, there's so much dry kindling in the vicinity that it's like a "tinderbox."
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With files from The Associated Press