State of emergency: Huge fires are raging in California

Huge fires across Los Angeles, USA, have forced tens of thousands of residents to evacuate their homes. According to reports, the fires are consuming homes in prestigious areas, including the homes of many celebrities.

The unusual fire, known as “Palisades”, after one of the neighborhoods where it is raging, is driven by strong Santa Ana-type winds. The fire started in the Santa Monica Mountains on Tuesday morning and within an hour consumed about 809.4 hectares. By sunset it had spread to an area of ​​about 12 thousand dunams.

At this time five fires are raging in Los Angeles County in California, including in Pacific Palisades, Sylmar and near the city of Pasadena.

Focusing on evacuation and rescuing residents

According to media reports, the fires are not under control at all. California Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency, warning that the strongest winds are still ahead. As of Wednesday morning (California time) more than 30,000 residents are under evacuation orders and more than 200,000 residents in the county remain without power.

The chief of the Orange County Fire Department in California, Brian Pansey, stated in an interview with the Fox network that the strength of the winds does not allow the fires to be stopped, so the teams are focused on evacuating and rescuing residents. “Our main goal is to get people out of the way of the fires,” Pansey said. “There is not much that can be done except to evacuate people and then try to deal with the fire. This is what happens mainly in the Palisades.”

“It doesn’t look good”: Hollywood stars evacuated their homes

Hollywood stars, many of whose homes were damaged and many others evacuating for fear of the fire spreading, asked on social media for “prayers and strength” to deal with the raging fires.

Reality star Spencer Pratt and his wife Heidi Montag lost their home in the Palisades fire, they said on their social media. In a series of videos, Pratt, star of “The Hills,” documented how the fire quickly moved toward their property. “It doesn’t look good,” Pratt said as he filmed the fire approaching from the mountain behind his home. “First time I see the flames approaching. Oh, no. Well, I think I’ll pack.”

He later posted a video from his car saying he watched his house burn through the security cameras. Montag uploaded a video from inside a convenience store and said their house did burn, but they were safe.

Actor Chris Pratt published a post on the X network in which he asked the public to join him in praying for the “brave firefighters who sacrifice so much to save our homes and our city.” “Los Angeles is in a state of emergency, and more than 30,000 people have been asked to evacuate,” he wrote.

Maria Schreiber, Pratt’s mother-in-law and the former first lady of California – Arnold Schwarzenegger’s ex-wife – wrote on the social network: “In moments like these we realize what is really important – and that objects are just objects.”

Actress Denise Crosby, also in a post on the X Network, said she was safe with her husband and dog, but did not know if she still had a home.

The estimates at the moment are that the number of people that the authorities will have to evacuate by force will increase significantly because the fire brigade is unable to deal with the fire, and it spreads almost without interruption.