In the morning on January 7, the first of Los Angeles' extensive wildfires broke out in a wooded area near Topanga State Park on the city's northwest edge. Conditions allowed the fire to spread so quickly: 100 mph winds, extremely low humidity, and a landscape ready to burn after months without rain combined to cause the fire to tear through the Pacific Palisades, located between Santa Monica and Malibu.
About 40 kilometers away in the Eaton area in Altadena, a second fire broke out. Along with several other small fires, the Pacific Palisades and Eaton fires have since burned more than 30,000 acres of land in Los Angeles County, destroyed thousands of buildings and forced 130,000 people to evacuate their homes.
As of Thursday morning, conditions in the Los Angeles area continue to present a high risk for fires starting and spreading. The fire has engulfed entire neighborhoods, and the fire is now threatening some of the city's famous landmarks, including its iconic Hollywood sign. Thousands of firefighters are working to try to contain the flames.
Some movie premieres—like the Robbie Williams biopic Better PeopleJennifer Lopez's car Unstoppableand Wolf Manstarring Julia Garner and produced by Ryan Gosling—was canceled due to hazardous conditions. On Thursday, California authorities ordered the evacuation of a Hollywood neighborhood after a fire broke out a few hundred yards from Hollywood Boulevard. The out-of-control situation also led the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to postpone the announcement of Oscar nominations by two days.
US president Joe Biden is receiving real-time information on the situation and has offered “all federal assistance necessary” to extinguish the fire. “FEMA—the Federal Emergency Management Agency—has approved a fire management grant to support affected areas and help reimburse the State of California for immediate costs of fighting the fires,” the president said in a statement. on Wednesday. The fires have been declared a major disaster of the president.
Despite the efforts, the largest fires—Eaton and Pacific Palisades—were still zero percent contained as of Thursday, with firefighters running out of water. Although wind speeds have slowed from their peak earlier in the week, the fires are expected to continue to spread and cause more damage. They are the most destructive in the history of California.
