Stars lose homes in Los Angeles area fires and Jamie Lee Curtis pledges $1M to relief effort
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Fires burning in and around Los Angeles have claimed the homes of numerous celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Jeff Bridges, and R&B star Jhené Aiko, and led to sweeping disruptions of entertainment events.
Three awards ceremonies planned for this weekend have been postponed. Next week’s Oscar nominations have been delayed. And tens of thousands of Angelenos are displaced and awaiting word Thursday on whether their homes survived the flames — some of them the city’s most famous denizens.
Thousands of structures have been destroyed but damage assessments are just beginning. More than 180,000 people are also under evacuation orders in the metropolitan area, from the Pacific Coast inland to Pasadena, a number that continues to shift as new fires erupt.
Late Wednesday, a fire in the Hollywood Hills was scorching the hills near the famed Hollywood Bowl and Dolby Theatre, which is the home of the Academy Awards. That fire had been largely contained without damage to Hollywood landmarks.
Here are how the fires are impacting celebrities and the Los Angeles entertainment industry:
Celebrities like Crystal and his wife, Janice, were sharing memories of the homes they lost.
The Crystals lost the home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood that they lived in for 45 years.
“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. Beautiful memories that can’t be taken away. We are heartbroken of course but with the love of our children and friends we will get through this,” the Crystals wrote in the statement.
After her learning her Pacific Palisades home was lost in the fires, Melissa Rivers says she was grateful her family was safe but devastated by “losing pieces of my family’s history.” Rivers says she was able to retrieve a few meaningful items, including her mother Joan’s Emmy and a photo of her father.
Mandy Moore’s home in the Altadena neighborhood roughly 30 miles east of the Palisades is severely damaged and unlivable, but she said Thursday after touring her property that “the main part of our house is still standing.” A studio used by her husband and his brother, two members of the group Dawes, was destroyed and they lost “every instrument and piece of equipment they’ve ever owned. ... Everyone we know lost everything.”
Moore said she’s “feeling weird survivors guilt.”
Jeff Bridges and his siblings lost a family Malibu home to the wildfires, according to his publicist. The house, on the Pacific Coast Highway, had belonged to their parents and was not a primary residence for the siblings.
Grammy-nominated R&B singer Jhené Aiko shared that she lost her home in the Los Angeles-area wildfires. “Me and my children’s home is gone,” she wrote on Instagram Thursday. “Burned to the ground with all of our things inside. Lord have mercy. Thankful we still have each other.”
Hilton posted a news video clip on Instagram Wednesday and said it included footage of her destroyed home in Malibu. “This home was where we built so many precious memories. It’s where Phoenix took his first steps and where we dreamed of building a lifetime of memories with London,” she said, referencing her young children.
Cary Elwes, the star of “The Princess Bride” and numerous other films, wrote on Instagram Wednesday that his family was safe but their home had burned in the coastal Palisades fire. “Sadly we did lose our home but we are grateful to have survived this truly devastating fire,” Elwes wrote.
Jamie Lee Curtis, who was among the stars who evacuated due to the Palisades fire, says she and her family are pledging $1 million to start a “fund of support” for those affected by the blazes burning in and around Los Angeles.
The actor announced the pledge on Instagram Thursday. The previous night, she tearfully appeared on “The Tonight Show” and urged people to help communities affected by the fires.
“As you know, where I live is on fire right now,” Curtis said. “This is literally where I live, everything – the market I shop in, the schools my kids go to, friends, many, many, many, many, many friends have lost their homes now.”
The Oscar winner wrote that she had been in touch with state and city leaders about how the money might be distributed “for the most impact.”
The Recording Academy, which bestows Grammy Awards, along with its MusiCares charity pledged $1 million to help musicians affected by the fires.
“The music community is being so severely impacted but we will come together as an industry to support one another,” Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy and MusiCares, said in a statement.
The blazes have thrown Hollywood’s carefully orchestrated awards season into disarray.
The AFI Awards, which were set to honor “Wicked,” “Anora” and other awards season contenders, had been scheduled for Friday.
The AARP Movies for Grownups Awards, which honor movies and television shows that resonate with older audiences, were set for Friday but have been postponed.
The Critics Choice Awards, originally scheduled for Sunday, have been postponed until Feb. 26.
Thursday, the Producers Guild Awards announced they would delay their nominations from Friday to Sunday.
Each of the shows feature projects that are looking for any advantage they can get in the Oscar race and were scheduled during the Academy Awards voting window.
The Oscar nominations are also being delayed two days to Jan. 19 and the film academy has extended the voting window due to the fires.
Flames burned parts of the Palisades Charter High School, which has been featured in many Hollywood productions including the 1976 horror movie “Carrie,” the 2003 remake of “Freaky Friday” and the TV series “Teen Wolf.”
The Palisades fire also destroyed the historic ranch house that belonged to Hollywood legend Will Rogers. It was among multiple structures destroyed at both Will Rogers State Historic Park and Topanga State Park. The historic Topanga Ranch Motel, built by William Randolph Hearst in 1929, also burned down.
Rogers’ ranch, built on land he bought in the 1920s, occupied some 359 acres in what is now Pacific Palisades. It included a 31-room ranch house, a stable, golf course and riding trails. His wife donated it to California State Parks in 1944.
Film stars, celebrities lose homes in Los Angeles wildfires
LOS ANGELES, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Billy Crystal lost the Pacific Palisades house where he had lived since 1979. Paris Hilton watched her Malibu beach mansion burn down on live TV.
The list of celebrities who lost their homes and neighbourhoods in the worst fire in Los Angeles history reads like a Hollywood who's who.
Jamie Lee Curtis, James Woods, Mandy Moore, Mark Hamill and Maria Shriver were among those who publicly described being forced to evacuate as out-of-control fires swept across some of the most lavish real estate in the world.
The largest blaze consumed nearly 12,000 acres (5,000 hectares) in Pacific Palisades, home to film, television and music stars, where the median house is worth $4.5 million.
Some had yet to comment publicly even as pictures of burning homes said to be theirs were shared by media outlets. Among them were "Gossip Girl" star Leighton Meester and her husband Adam Brody of "The O.C.", two-time Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins, "Roseanne" star John Goodman, "Top Gun: Maverick" actor Miles Teller and "Scary Movie" star Anna Faris.
Perennial Oscars host Crystal and his wife Janice said they were heartbroken to lose the Pacific Palisades house where they had raised their children and grandchildren, "but with the love of children and friends we will get through this."
Media personality Hilton said she was "heartbroken beyond words" to lose her beachfront mansion.
"Sitting with my family, watching the news, and seeing our home in Malibu burn to the ground on live TV is something no one should ever have to experience," she wrote on X.
Woods, a two-time Oscar nominee and three-time Emmy winner, recounted how he fled his house in Pacific Palisades as flames bore down "like an inferno."
"One day you're swimming in the pool, and the next day it's all gone," he said. He teared up in a TV interview as he described a niece who "came out with her little Yeti piggy bank for us to rebuild our house."
Reality TV star Spencer Pratt posted on X: "The one positive sign I saw as our house burned down was our son's bed burned in the shape of a heart. A sign of how much love was in this house, so thankful for all the years and memories there with our family."
Jennifer Grey's daughter Stella Gregg said the "Dirty Dancing" star's house had "burnt to the ground" but Grey and her dog had escaped.
Shriver, a journalist and former first lady of California when she was married to then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, said the destruction in the upscale enclave was devastating.
"Everything is gone. Our neighborhood, our restaurants," she wrote on X on Wednesday. "The firefighters have and are doing their best, but this fire is massive and out of control."
Oscar winner Curtis said "my community and possibly my home is on fire."
"It is a terrifying situation," the actress wrote on Instagram. "Pray if you believe in it and even if you don't, pray for those who do."
Moore, known for television series "This is Us" and as the voice of Rapunzel in Disney's "Tangled," said she and her family and pets were safe but did not yet know the fate of their house.
"Honestly, I’m in shock and feeling numb for all so many have lost, including my family. My children’s school is gone. Our favorite restaurants, leveled. So many friends and loved ones have lost everything too. Our community is broken but we will be here to rebuild together."
Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in the "Star Wars" films, said on Instagram that he evacuated his Malibu home on Tuesday evening with his wife and dog.
LA wildfires: Paris Hilton, Billy Crystal and Adam Brody among celebrities to lose homes
Paris Hilton, Billy Crystal and Adam Brody are among the celebrities who have lost homes in the deadly wildfires raging in the Los Angeles area.
More than 1,000 structures have been destroyed as six separate blazes burn in and around the city, which is dotted with film stars' mansions.
Some of the worst devastation was in the scenic enclave of Pacific Palisades, where a wind-whipped inferno exploded from several hundred acres to more than 15,000 in size since Tuesday.
A swathe of the neighbourhood, which is a haven of hillside streets nestled against the Santa Monica Mountains and winding down to beaches along the Pacific Ocean, was reduced to ash.
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Actor James Woods, who starred in films including Nixon and Casino, broke down in tears on CNN as he described losing his Pacific Palisades property.
"One day you're swimming in the pool and the next day it's all gone," he told the network.
He wiped away tears as he described how his wife's eight-year-old niece offered them her piggybank to help rebuild their house.
Actor Crystal said in a statement that he and his wife Janice were "heartbroken" by the loss of their Pacific Palisades home where they had lived since 1979.
The When Harry Met Sally star said in a statement: "We raised our children and grandchildren here.
"Every inch of our house was filled with love. Beautiful memories that can't be taken away.
"We are heartbroken of course but with the love of our children and friends we will get through this."
Hotel heiress Paris Hilton said she had lost her home in Malibu.
She wrote in an Instagram post: "Sitting with my family, watching the news, and seeing our home in Malibu burn to the ground on live TV is something no one should ever have to experience.
"This home is where we built so many precious memories... My heart and prayers are going out to every family affected by these fires."
A home reportedly belonging to Brody, who stars in hit Netflix show Nobody Wants This, and Gossip Girl star wife Leighton Meester, was also destroyed.
The Hills stars Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag, who are married, also lost their home in the blaze.
"I'm watching our house burn down on the security cameras," Pratt posted.
Montag said: "So our house is on fire and we were able to get out in time, but I keep going over and over in my mind of the things I should've got, but we're out safe and that is the most important thing, and Spencer is behind me."
In a later post, she said while tearing up that she was "so sad our house has gone" and they had lost "everything we worked so hard for".
Singer and This Is Us actress Mandy Moore posted a video of the scene of destruction as she evacuated. "Grateful for my family and pets getting out last night before it was too late (and endless gratitude to friends for taking us in and bringing us clothes and blankets).
"Honestly, I'm in shock and feeling numb for all so many have lost, including my family. My children's school is gone.
"Our favourite restaurants, levelled. So many friends and loved ones have lost everything too. Our community is broken but we will be here to rebuild together."
TV host Ricki Lake told followers she had lost her "dream home", adding: "I grieve along with all of those suffering during this apocalyptic event."
Actors Sir Anthony Hopkins, John Goodman, Anna Faris and Cary Elwes also reportedly lost their homes.
Miles Teller, best known for his role in Top Gun: Maverick, and his wife, Keleigh Sperry, reportedly lost their home in the Pacific Palisades.
Posting on Instagram, Sperry shared a picture of the fires and a broken heart emoji.
She urged people to leave bowls of water for animals left behind as they evacuate their homes.
Other stars forced to flee include Star Wars' actor Mark Hamill and Schitt's Creek actor Eugene Levy.
In a post on Instagram, Hamill called the blaze the "most horrific" since 1993, when 18,000 acres burned, destroying 323 homes in Malibu.
He said he had evacuated his Malibu house "so last-minute there [were] small fires on both sides of the road".
Levy described to local media "black and intense" smoke over Temescal Canyon.
"I couldn't see any flames but the smoke was very dark," he told the Los Angeles Times.
Jamie Lee Curtis said her home was safe but the situation was "gnarly".
"Obviously, there have been horrific fires in many places," she said. "This is literally where I live. Everything the market, I shop in, the schools my kids go to. Friends - many, many, many friends - now have lost their homes."
Curtis and her husband, fellow actor Christopher Guest, pledged $1m (£800,000) "to start a fund of support for our great city and state and the great people who live and love there".
Actor Cameron Mathison also shared a clip of his house reduced to smouldering ruins. "We are safe. But this is what's left of our beautiful home," the General Hospital star wrote.
"Our home where our kids were raised and where they wanted to raise their own someday."
Legendary songwriter Diane Warren, who composed classic hits including If I Could Turn Back Time and I Don't Want to Miss a Thing, also lost her home.
She posted a picture of the beachfront near her house, saying that the property she's had for close to three decades was gone.
Actor Steve Guttenberg, known for Police Academy, stayed to help firefighters by moving cars to clear a path for incoming fire trucks.
He urged fellow Pacific Palisades residents to leave the keys in their abandoned cars so they could be moved.
Meanwhile, the Palisades Charter High School - used in the 1976 horror classic Carrie - has been devastated.
The Oscar nominations have been postponed by two days because of the fires, and otherstar-studded events were also cancelled.
Film premieres for Unstoppable, Better Man and Wolfman have been called off, as has the Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations announcement.
Meanwhile, a new blaze broke out on Wednesday night, the Sunset fire, in the Hollywood Hills, near where the world-famous Hollywood sign nestles in the hillside.
Billy Crystal and more celebrities impacted by ongoing Los Angeles wildfires
As at least four wildfires rage around Los Angeles, numerous members of the Hollywood community have been impacted, including Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore, Jeff Bridges, Anna Faris and Ricki Lake.
In statement to CNN on Wednesday, Crystal said, “Words cannot describe the enormity of the devastation we are witnessing and experiencing. We ache for our friends and neighbors who have also lost their homes and businesses in this tragedy.”
“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. Beautiful memories that can’t be taken away,” he added.
“We are heartbroken of course but with the love of our children and friends we will get through this. We pray for the safety of the fire fighters and first responders. The Pacific Palisades is a resilient community of amazing people and we know in time it will rise again. It is our home.”
The family beach home belonging to Oscar-winning actor Bridges was also destroyed by fire. He and his loved ones are safe, according to his representative.
Actor and former talk show host Lake shared on her Instagram page Wednesday that she lost her “dream home” in the fires, writing, “It’s all gone.”
“It was our heaven on earth. The place where we planned to grow old together. We never took our heavenly spot on the bluff overlooking our beloved malibu for granted, not even for one second,” she wrote. Lake added that she is grieving the “immeasurable” loss of her home, where she and her husband wed three years ago.
Paris Hilton said she learned that her Malibu home was lost while watching it burn on live TV, writing on her Instagram page the image is something “no one should ever have to experience.”
“This home was where we built so many precious memories. It’s where Phoenix took his first steps and where we dreamed of building a lifetime of memories with London,” she wrote. “While the loss is overwhelming, I’m holding onto gratitude that my family is safe. My heart and prayers are going out to every family affected by these fires.”
Celebrity chef Sandra Lee also said she lost her house due to the disaster.
“I cried all night and thought about every room, nook, and cranny. It was perfection and now it’s just Ash,” Lee wrote in a post shared on Instagram. “Please keep our community, the firefighters and the first responders in your prayers. This is not over-not even close.”
Actors James Woods and Steve Guttenberg spoke to CNN Wednesday morning about their experiences navigating the fires in their neighborhoods.
Mandy Moore, who resides near the Eaton Fire, posted an update on her Instagram story on Tuesday night that she and her family of five had evacuated to safety. On Wednesday, Moore shared another update mourning the destruction of her neighborhood.
“Honestly, I’m in shock and feeling numb for all so many have lost, including my family. My children’s school is gone. Our favorite restaurants, leveled,” Moore wrote on her Instagram page Wednesday. “So many friends and loved ones have lost everything too. Our community is broken but we will be here to rebuild together.”
Reality stars Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag’s home burned in the Palisades fire, according to Pratt, who posted a photo of their children’s room burning on his Instagram page Wednesday. Both their house and Pratt’s parents’ house burned in the fire, he wrote.
Faris was also reportedly impacted by the Palisades Fire. A representative told CNN on Wednesday that “Anna and her family are safe and very grateful.”
Several massive fires in Los Angeles County, fueled by excessive wind, have killed at least two people and left others with “significant injuries.” The two civilians died in the Eaton Fire, burning in East Los Angeles near Altadena and Pasadena, county Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone said Wednesday morning.
The Palisades Fire, burning in LA’s westside near Malibu and Santa Monica, has already destroyed at least 1,000 structures. It is the most destructive to ever occur in Los Angeles County, according to CalFire data.
The fires are 0% contained as emergency workers struggle to battle fast-moving blazes, and tens of thousands more people are under evacuation orders across LA County.
Several Hollywood events were also postponed due to the fires, including the Critics Choice Awards. Originally set to be held this Sunday in Santa Monica, the awards show has been postponed to January 26, Critics Choice Awards CEO Joey Berlin in a statement Wednesday.
CNN’s Lisa Respers France, Elizabeth Wagmeister, Jamie Gangel, Antoinette Radford, Holly Yan, Andy Rose, Lauren Mascarenhas, Elise Hammond, Aditi Sangal and Rachel Ramirez contributed to this report.
Los Angeles fire maps show updating view of where Palisades, Eaton and more fires are burning right now
Wildfires continue to rage across Southern California, killing at least 10 people and prompting evacuation orders for more than 200,000, as residents hurried to escape the flames engulfing swaths of Los Angeles. Maps of the region show where the Palisades Fire, Eaton Fire and several other blazes have scorched tens of thousands of acres — and thousands of buildings.
An updating map created by CBS News' data team charts the expanse of the wildfires across Southern California.
The Palisades Fire, a roaring blaze that has burned nearly 20,000 acres since it broke out Tuesday morning in the affluent Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, is currently the largest wildfire in the region. It grew out of a brush fire that exploded as powerful winds ripped through the area.
Firefighters are also battling the Eaton Fire, which trails the Palisades Fire in size and has consumed more than 13,600 acres in northern Los Angeles County. Like the Palisades Fire, it expanded dramatically Wednesday. Five people are dead because of this blaze, the Los Angeles County Fire Department told CBS News Los Angeles, and more have suffered significant injuries.
The Sunset Fire broke out Wednesday evening in the Runyon Canyon area of the Hollywood Hills, forcing a new set of evacuations. It had burned dozens of acres of vegetation, officials said.
Crews also continued fighting the Hurst and Lidia Fires, which were partly contained Thursday. The Woodley Fire, which began Wednesday inside a Los Angeles nature reserve, is now fully under control, fire officials said.
More than 200,000 residents of Los Angeles County have been ordered to evacuate as of Thursday afternoon, officials said, with the Palisades Fire alone accounting for a substantial portion of those evacuations. Altogether, the fires threaten at least 60,000 structures across the county.
Maps published by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire, delineate areas where evacuation orders and warnings are in place. Mandatory evacuation orders are shown in red and warnings are shown in yellow.
Vice President Kamala Harris' spokesperson confirmed that her family's Los Angeles home was included in one of the evacuation orders.
The Palisades and Eaton Fires have spurned the most substantial evacuations. Photos and video taken in both areas capture harrowing scenes of smoke billowing up into the sky and structures swallowed by flames.
The Hurst Fire, which originated in the Sylmar neighborhood of Los Angeles late Tuesday night, prompted additional evacuations by morning as it spread.
The Sunset Fire, which sparked Wednesday night, prompted evacuations in the Hollywood Hills area between Laurel Canyon Drive and Mulholland Boulevard near the popular hiking spot Runyon Canyon.
Cal Fire is continuing to update comprehensive lists of evacuation zones in the incident reports for each active wildfire on its website.
The Palisades Fire initially erupted Tuesday morning near the Pacific Palisades, a partly coastal residential area in northwestern Los Angeles. It began as a brush fire that spiraled out of control because of ongoing high winds in the region.
Sheila Kelliher, a Los Angeles County Fire Department captain, told "CBS Mornings" Wednesday that fighting the wildfires is "incredibly challenging and volatile and unpredictable," calling the winds "ferocious" while imploring people in evacuation zones to heed officials' instructions and "get out when those warnings come."
"Pack up, get ready to go," Kelliher said. Referencing the pedestrians who abandoned their cars on roadways blocked by traffic when evacuations got underway, she added: "Sometimes, as you can see, the cars had to be left behind and a lot of times just even getting out on foot, you've got to get going."
New LA-area fire prompts more evacuations while over 10,000 structures lost to the 2 biggest blazes
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The two biggest wildfires ravaging the Los Angeles area have burned at least 10,000 homes, buildings and other structures, officials said Thursday as they urged more people to heed evacuation orders after a new blaze ignited and quickly grew.
The fast-moving Kenneth Fire started in the late afternoon in the San Fernando Valley just 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from a school serving as a shelter for fire evacuees and then moved into neighboring Ventura County by the evening.
Only hours earlier officials expressed encouragement after firefighters aided by calmer winds and help from crews from outside the state saw the first signs of successfully beating back the region’s devastating wildfires that have killed seven people so far.
“We are expecting this fire to rapidly spread due to high winds,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said, echoing the forecast that called for winds to strengthen Thursday evening through Friday morning.
The orders came as Los Angeles County officials announced the Eaton Fire near Pasadena that started Tuesday night has burned more than 5,000 structures, a term that includes homes, apartment buildings, businesses, outbuildings and vehicles. To the west in Pacific Palisades, the largest of the fires burning in the LA area has destroyed over 5,300 structures.
All of the large fires that have broken out this week in the Los Angeles area are located in a roughly 25-mile (40-kilometer) band north of downtown, spreading a sense of fear and sadness across the nation’s second-largest city.
Dozens of blocks were flattened to smoldering rubble in scenic Pacific Palisades. Only the outlines of homes and their chimneys remained. In Malibu, blackened palm strands were all that was left above debris where oceanfront homes once stood.
At least five churches, a synagogue, seven schools, two libraries, boutiques, bars, restaurants, banks and groceries were lost. So too were the Will Rogers’ Western Ranch House and Topanga Ranch Motel, local landmarks dating to the 1920s. The government has not yet released figures on the cost of the damage or specifics about how many structures burned.
AccuWeather, a private company that provides data on weather and its impact, on Thursday increased its estimate of the damage and economic loss to $135-$150 billion.
Firefighters made significant gains Thursday at slowing the spread of the major fires, but containment remained far out of reach.
Crews also knocked down a blaze in the Hollywood Hills with the help of water drops from aircraft, allowing an evacuation to be lifted Thursday. The fire that sparked late Wednesday near the heart of the entertainment industry came perilously close to igniting the famed Hollywood Bowl outdoor concert venue.
Fire officials don’t yet know the cause of the fires but are actively investigating.
Earlier in the week, hurricane-force winds blew embers, igniting the Southern California hillsides.
Right now, it’s impossible to quantify the extent of the destruction other than “total devastation and loss,” said Barbara Bruderlin, head of the Malibu Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce.
“There are areas where everything is gone, there isn’t even a stick of wood left, it’s just dirt,” Bruderlin said.
Of the seven deaths so far, Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley confirmed two were in the Palisades Fire. County officials said the Eaton Fire had killed five.
Cadaver dogs and crews are searching through rubble, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.
Anthony Mitchell, a 67-year-old amputee, and his son, Justin, who had cerebral palsy, were waiting for an ambulance to come, but they did not make it out, Mitchell’s daughter, Hajime White, told The Washington Post.
Shari Shaw told KTLA that she tried to get her 66-year-old brother, Victor Shaw, to evacuate Tuesday night but he wanted to stay and fight the fire. Crews found his body with a garden hose in his hand.
On Thursday, recovery crews pulled a body from rubble of what was a beachfront residence in Malibu on the scenic Pacific Coast Highway. A charred washer and dryer were among the few things that remained.
At least 180,000 people were under evacuation orders, and the fires have consumed about 45 square miles (117 square kilometers) — roughly the size of San Francisco. The Palisades Fire is already the most destructive in Los Angeles’ history.
All schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second largest, will be closed Friday because of the heavy smoke wafting over the city and ash raining down in parts, and classes will not resume until the conditions improve, officials said.
At least 20 arrests have been made for looting, and the city of Santa Monica declared a curfew because of the lawlessness, officials said. National Guard troops arrived in Los Angeles on Thursday evening. The county sheriff said to protect properties they’ll be stationed near the areas ravaged by fire and a curfew was expected to go into effect from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m.
Flames destroyed the homes of several celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore and Paris Hilton.
Jamie Lee Curtis pledged $1 million to start a “fund of support” for those affected by the fires that touched all economic levels from the city’s wealthy to its working class.
California’s wildfire season is beginning earlier and ending later due to rising temperatures and decreased rainfall tied to climate change, according to recent data.
Dry winds, including the notorious Santa Anas, have contributed to warmer-than-average temperatures in Southern California, which has not seen more than 0.1 inches (2.5 millimeters) of rain since early May.
Robert Lara sifted through the remains of his home in Altadena on Thursday with tears in his eyes, hoping to find a safe containing a set of earrings that once belonged to his great-great-grandmother.
“All our memories, all our sentimental attachments, things that were gifted from generation to generation to generation are now gone,” he said.
Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio, and Watson from San Diego. Associated Press journalists Manuel Valdes, Eugene Garcia, Krysta Fauria and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; Ethan Swope in Pasadena, California; Hallie Golden in Seattle; Mark Thiessen in Anchorage, Alaska; Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; Janie Har in San Francisco; Brian Melley in London; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland; and Tammy Webber in Detroit contributed.
