The famous area of ​​Los Angeles devastated by a forest fire

The affluent Pacific Palisades neighborhood in Los Angeles often has strangers walking around, trying to catch a glimpse of celebrities’ homes.

Now, however, its streets are filled with firefighters battling a 3,000-acre wildfire ravaging the area.

Across the city, more than 30,000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes as winds fanned three fires. A state of emergency has been declared, leaving roads paralyzed as people flee.

Among them, several famous faces have been forced to flee their normally idyllic California homes, including Star Wars’ Mark Hamill and Schitt’s Creek actor Eugene Levy.

James Woods, who starred in films such as Nixon and Casino, described the evacuation of his home on social media and said he was not sure if he was still standing.

“It’s like losing a loved one,” he wrote.

Pacific Palisades is known for being exclusive, with the average home costing $4.5 million (£3.6 million) in November 2024, according to Realtor.com.

The northern Los Angeles neighborhood is bordered to the south by a three-mile (4.8 km) stretch of beaches on the Pacific Ocean, located between Malibu and Santa Monica.

It is a center of fashion stores, cafes and a farmers market.

But the Palisades Fire, which grew from 10 acres to more than 2,900 in a matter of hours, has destroyed the area’s idyllic nature.

Mark Hamill of Star Wars fame called the fire “the most horrible fire since ’93,” which burned 18,000 acres and destroyed 323 homes in nearby Malibu, in a post on Instagram.

He said he evacuated his home in Malibu “so at the last minute there were small fires on both sides of the road.”

Levy, who rose to fame for his role in the American Pie film series, told local media that he was forced to evacuate his home.

“The smoke looked pretty black and intense over Temescal Canyon. I couldn’t see any flames, but the smoke was very dark,” he told the Los Angeles Times.

Reality stars Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag lost their family home in the fire, their sister wrote on Instagram.

“I am beyond heartbroken for my brother, Heidi and the children,” she said. “Even the Palisades fire station has caught fire.”

Miles Teller, best known for his role in Top Gun: Maverick, and his wife Keleigh, also live in the area.

Posting on Instagram, Ms Teller shared an image of the fires and a heartbreak emoji. He urged people to leave containers of water for animals as they evacuate their homes.

Meanwhile, actor Steve Gutenberg, of Police Academy fame, stayed behind to help firefighters by moving cars to make room for arriving fire trucks.

He urged residents to leave the keys to their abandoned cars so they could be removed from firefighters’ reach.

“We really need people to move their cars,” he told media outlet KTLA: “This is not a parking lot.”

Not only are famous residents affected by the fire, but notable buildings in the area are also threatened.

Palisades Charter High School, which has served as a setting for movies and counts several notable people as alumni, has been damaged by a fire, local media report.

The fire-affected school has been used in films such as the 1976 horror classic Carrie and Project X, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

His former students include director JJ Abrams, musician Will.i.am, and actors Forest Whitaker and Katey Sagal.

The Getty Villa is an art museum in the Palisades that has a large collection of artwork and artifacts, including works by Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet.

The museum confirmed Tuesday that it had closed to the public and that some trees and vegetation on the site had burned, but said “there are no structures on fire and the staff and collection remain safe.”

Star-studded events scheduled to take place in the area have also been cancelled.

The premieres of Unstoppable, Better Man and Wolfman have been cancelled, as has the live nominations event for the Screen Actors Guild Awards.