Celebrities flee Los Angeles fires, lose houses as Hollywood events scrapped

LOS ANGELES: A-list actors, musicians and other celebrities were among the tens of thousands of people affected by deadly wildfires in Los Angeles on Wednesday (Jan 8), as the entertainment industry screeched to a halt.

The showbiz capital has been besieged by multiple out-of-control blazes, with Hollywood events, including a glitzy awards show and a Pamela Anderson film premiere, among those cancelled as firefighters battle flames in hurricane-force winds.

Hundreds of homes were destroyed in the swanky Pacific Palisades area, a favorite spot for celebrities where multimillion-dollar houses nestle on beautiful hillsides, while other infernos sprang up across the north of the city.

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 a blaze that had left her Altadena neighborhood “levelled”.

“My sweet home. I am devastated and gutted for those of us who’ve lost so much. I’m absolutely numb,” she wrote, in a caption to footage of the destruction.

Emmy-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 afterwards 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 followers on Instagram that he had fled his Malibu home with his wife and pet dog, escaping down a road flanked by active fires.

Fellow Emmy-winning actor Billy Crystal said the Pacific Palisades house he and his wife lived in for 46 years burned down on Wednesday.

“Words cannot describe the enormity of the devastation we are witnessing and experiencing,” he said in a statement to People magazine.

“Janice and I lived in our home since 1979. We raised our children and grandchildren here. Every inch of our house was filled with love,” he said.

Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis was also forced to evacuate, later writing on Instagram: “Our beloved neighborhood is gone. Our home is safe. So many others have lost everything.”

Meanwhile, next week’s unveiling of the Oscar nominations was pushed back until Jan 19, to give Academy members affected by fires more time to cast their ballots this week.

PREMIERES CANCELLED

Several other major Hollywood events have been called off or postponed due to the disaster.

The annual Critics Choice Awards gala, which honors the year’s best in film and television and is attended by dozens of A-listers, was delayed from Sunday to Jan 26.

Anderson’s premiere for “The Last Showgirl” was scrapped.

Paramount cancelled a glitzy red-carpet screening of the Robbie Williams musical film “Better Man” and Netflix pulled the plug on a press conference for its Golden Globe winner “Emilia Perez”.

Filming of Los Angeles-based shows such as “Grey’s Anatomy”, “Hacks” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live” was paused.

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

“BURN”

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 neighborhood.

“If you leave your car … leave the key in there so a guy like me can move your car so that these fire trucks can get up there,” he told a live television broadcast.

Reality TV personalities Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt from “The Hills”, an MTV show that ran until 2010, said they lost their house after evacuating.

“I’m watching our house burn down on the security cameras,” Pratt wrote on Snapchat.