Extreme winds are making their way through Los Angeles resulting in fires spreading through Pacific Palisades.
The fires started around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday and had grown to cover 2,900 acres as of early Tuesday evening. At the time of writing, the fire has now burned well over 5,000 acres and continues to grow. LA County Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone said there is "no percentage of containment," and while there are no reported fatalities in this fire there have been a high number of "significant injuries to residents who did not evacuate."
There is an additional fire that is occuring in the Eaton Canyon area above Altadena, which is approximately 45 miles from Pacific Palisades. That fire has grown to around 10,000 acres with two confirmed casualties.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared a "state of emergency." Around 37,000 residents have been ordered to evacuate, covering those living in Los Angeles, Calabasas, Malibu, Santa Monica, Eaton Canyon and Pacific Palisades.
The fires have burned several structures including Palisades High School, Theatre Palisades, Bel Air Club and the grounds of the Getty Villa Museum as well as the homes of many residents -- including the home of actors Leighton Meester and Adam Brody.
Forestry officials have released an interactive map that will allow people to track the fire's progress.
During evacuation, many residents captured footage of the fires. Among those was actor James Woods who posted footage of the fire reaching his deck on his X account. Woods was succesfully evacuated and complimented the jobs of local authorities, saying, "We were blessed to have LA fire and police depts doing their jobs so well," adding that he "can not speak more highly of LA fire and LAPD."
Pacific Palisades is home to notable residents such as Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Jennifer Aniston, and Bradley Cooper, to name just a few. Spielberg's reps have confirmed he was on the East Coast at the time of fire.
Hollywood is canceling and postponing numerous events in response to the fires. Some of these events include the Los Angeles premieres of several movies. Amazon MGM had planned to hold the premiere for Unstoppable, starring Jennifer Lopez at the Directors Guild of America Building. Universal was set to premiere Wolf Man, starring Julia Garner at the TCL Chinese Theatre. The premiere for Robbie Williams' biopic Better Man has also been canceled.
The SAG awards had planned to hold a live event to announce the nominations on Wednesday but elected to cancel it and release a press release instead. On their X account, organizers said the switch was made out of "caution for the safety of our presenters, guests, and staff," and that "We look forward to celebrating these incredible actors and their work at the SAG Awards ceremony on February 23."
In addition, the Critics Choice Awards have announced they are postponing their ceremony until a new date can be determined. ~Ryan Donahue