Natural disasters have been striking with increasing numbers in recent years. This includes the West Coast of the United States, where wildfires often occur.
The wildfires that have been tearing across California this year are leading to tens of thousands of individuals being evacuated from their homes. Unfortunately, the fires are also burning many of those homes to the ground.
The governor of the US state of California has declared a state of emergency after the wildfire grew as a result of strong winds. Several different fires have occurred, including one that is sweeping through the Pacific Palisades area of LA. A number of celebrity residents are located within that area.
Another fire broke out near a nature reserve to the northeast of Los Angeles as well. It spread quickly and residents in a nearby retirement home had to be pushed down the street in hospital beds in wheelchairs. Meanwhile, burning embers were blowing around them as they were going to a pickup location.
People were trying to escape the area and as they were evacuating, many of the roads became blocked. People had to abandon their cars and run on foot, with a bulldozer coming in to push cars and clear the path so emergency services could get through.
PALISADES FIRE | 2921 acres 0% containment. Extreme fire behavior, short & long-range spotting, continues to challenge firefighting efforts for the Palisades Fire. Winds gusts up to 60 MPH are expected to continue through Thursday. pic.twitter.com/QHKIh6u6FD
— L.A. County Fire Department (@LACoFDPIO) January 8, 2025
One woman spoke to the Los Angeles Times after being stuck between Palisades Drive and Sunset Boulevard. She said that the fire had started near a Starbucks in the area and police were running down the road yelling for motorist to run for their lives.
About 10:30 PM last night, a third wildfire started and more people had to evacuate from the northernmost area of Los Angeles. Off-duty firefighters were asked to come in and help put out the inferno.
The Eaton Fire forced staff at a senior living center to push dozens of residents in wheelchairs and hospital beds down the street to a parking lot. From there, the residents waited for ambulances to evacuate them from the area. https://t.co/ej8PfNvzpj pic.twitter.com/XlREJNhVdJ
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) January 8, 2025
Things got even more complicated as strong winds made it difficult for aircraft to fly so they couldn’t tackle the fires from the air. The wind reached speeds of up to 100 miles an hour and some 15,000 people in California were without power, as the power was shut off to reduce the risk of further fires starting.
KTLA 5 News photojournalist Paul Sanchez recorded this video from an airplane flying over the #PalisadesFire.
Live updates: https://t.co/7YD7QVAYcu pic.twitter.com/qn8GQuricu— KTLA (@KTLA) January 8, 2025
More than 100,000 individuals are under mandatory evacuation orders and five have died as a result of California wildfires in the Los Angeles area. President Joe Biden has approved a major disaster declaration, as most of the fires are still 0% contained.
More than 1000 homes, businesses, and other structures have been destroyed. There were also a ‘high number of significant injuries to residents who did not evacuate, in addition to first responders who were on the fire line.’
