Celebrities flee Los Angeles blazes as Hollywood premieres scrapped

LOS ANGELES, United States: World-famous actors, musicians and celebrities were among the tens of thousands of people affected by terrifying wildfires tearing through Los Angeles on Wednesday.

The entertainment capital was besieged by out-of-control blazes burning on multiple fronts, with glitzy Hollywood events including a Pamela Anderson film premiere cancelled as hundreds of firefighters battled nearby flames whipped up by hurricane-force winds.

Rampaging wildfires around Los Angeles have killed at least two people and caused a “significant number” of serious injuries, officials tackling the terrifying blazes said. More than 1,000 buildings have burned in multiple wildfires that have erupted around America´s second biggest city, forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes.

Hurricane-force winds have whipped up fireballs that have leapt from home to home in the upmarket Pacific Palisades area, torching a swathe of California´s most desirable real estate.

“We have well over 5,000 acres that have burned, and the fire is growing,” Los Angeles Fire Chief Anthony Marrone told reporters.

“We have no percentage of containment. We have an estimated 1,000 structures destroyed... and a high number of significant injuries to residents who did not evacuate.”

Mandy Moore, the singer and “This Is Us” actress, told followers on Instagram she had fled with her children and pets from the path of the Altadena fire.” Trying to shield the kids from the immense sadness and worry I feel. Praying for everyone in our beautiful city. So gutted for the destruction and loss. Don´t know if our place made it,” she wrote.

Emmy award-winning actor James Woods posted a video on X showing flames engulfing trees and bushes near his Pacific Palisades home as he got ready to evacuate, and shortly afterward said all the fire alarms were going off. “I couldn´t believe our lovely little home in the hills held on this long. It feels like losing a loved one,” Woods said.

“Star Wars” star Mark Hamill told his followers on Instagram that he had fled his Malibu home on Tuesday.

“Evacuated Malibu so last-minute there were small fires on both sides of the road as we approached PCH,” he wrote, referring to the Pacific Coast Highway, a scenic road that connects seafront settlements.

The Luke Skywalker actor said he and his wife Marilou York, along with a pet dog, had gone to their daughter´s Hollywood home to escape what he dubbed the “most horrific fire since ´93.”

Meanwhile, several major Hollywood events were abruptly called off due to the disaster.

Anderson´s premiere for “The Last Showgirl” was scrapped due to the unfolding disaster, trade website Deadline reported, while Paramount also cancelled a glitzy red-carpet screening of the Robbie Williams musical film “Better Man.”

Netflix pulled the plug on a press conference for its Golden Globe winner “Emilia Perez.” A live announcement to unveil this year´s Screen Actors Guild nominations was abandoned on Wednesday morning.

And the Universal Studios theme park was closed for the day due to the extreme winds and fire conditions.

Steve Guttenberg -- star of 1984 comedy “Police Academy” -- was among those helping get people out of Pacific Palisades as the fire began spreading on Tuesday.

The “Cocoon” actor expressed frustration at how some of those fleeing the blaze had abandoned their cars on one of the only roads in and out of the ritzy neighbourhood.