Celebrities were forced to evacuate on Tuesday as a quickly spreading fire raged in Pacific Palisades, California.
The Context
The Pacific Palisades inferno began as a brush fire at around 10:30 a.m. Pacific Time on Tuesday, with heavy winds causing it to quickly expand to 200 acres, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD).
Mandatory evacuation orders were quickly issued in the affluent neighborhood, located along the coast and in the mountains north of Santa Monica and home to many celebrities.
What To Know
LAFD said in an update at 2:23 p.m. PST that aerial mapping showed the fire had spread to 770 acres. Over 250 LAFD firefighters were working alongside other emergency workers to contain the situation.
The area under evacuation orders includes nearly all of Pacific Palisades, extending from a mountainous region in Topanga State Park to the border with Santa Monica. The evacuation order also applies to part of the Pacific Coast Highway, where traffic was shut down in both directions.
Celebrities who live or have lived in the area in recent years include Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Aniston, Miles Teller, Michael Keaton and Adam Sandler.
The following celebrities were forced to flee their homes under an evacuation order on Tuesday due to the Pacific Palisades fire, according to news reports and posts to their social media accounts.
- James Woods: The actor evacuated from his home within hours of the fire starting and shared multiple videos of the area in flames on X, formerly Twitter. He later shared images from his home security cameras and neighbors showing the blaze quickly approaching his property.
- Steve Guttenberg: The actor was spotted assisting with evacuation and firefighting efforts by attempting to clear Palisades Drive of vehicles to allow emergency workers to pass through the area.
- Eugene Levy: Schitt's Creek star Levy, the honorary mayor of Pacific Palisades, told The Los Angeles Times on Tuesday that he spotted "black and intense" smoke while battling traffic during his evacuation.
This is a developing story and will be updated when more information is available.
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