Thousands flee as winds drive wildfires into Los Angeles

Published On 8 Jan 20258 Jan 2025

Tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee parts of Los Angeles as strong winds drove the rapid growth of wildfires around the western United States city.

More than 30,000 people were evacuated on Tuesday as high winds helped a brush fire surge into the coastal Pacific Palisades neighbourhood. Further blazes later saw other areas around southern California come under threat.

Frightened residents abandoned their cars on one of the only roads in and out of the upscale Pacific Palisades area, fleeing on foot from the almost 3,000-acre (1,200-hectare) blaze engulfing an area packed with multimillion-dollar homes in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Firefighters used bulldozers to push dozens of vehicles to one side, leaving many crumpled with their alarms blaring, to make way for emergency vehicles.

Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley said despite the chaotic evacuation, there were no immediate reports of deaths.

A fire official told television station KTLA that several people were injured, some with burns to faces and hands. One female firefighter reportedly sustained a head injury.

Hundreds of firefighters swarmed the area, attacking the blaze from the ground and the air, while crews worked through steep terrain to cut back vegetation and create firebreaks.

“We are not out of danger,” said Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone, speaking at an afternoon media conference.

A second blaze broke out some 30 miles (50km) inland near Pasadena, and doubled in size to 400 acres (162 hectares) in a few hours, according to Cal Fire.

Almost 100 elderly residents from a nursing home were evacuated in the city, according to CBS News.

Videos and photos showed elderly residents, many in wheelchairs and on gurneys, crowded onto a smokey and windswept parking lot as firetrucks and ambulances attended.