Hollywood Boulevard is evacuated as wildfires erupt in movie star epicentre: Another 100,000 advised to flee NOW as horror photographs present LA neighbourhoods diminished to ashes and dying toll rises

Hollywood Boulevard has been evacuated with 100,000 people told to flee with six wildfires raging as the apocalyptic skies of Los Angeles continue to fill with smoke.

Two new blazes broke out overnight in the Hollywood Hills and Studio City – forcing first responders to redeploy their already-scarce resources to the burnt landscape.

The LA Fire Department issued an evacuation order for people in an area within Hollywood Boulevard to the south, Mulholland Drive to the north, the 101 Freeway to the east and Laurel Canyon Boulevard to the west – all iconic addresses in showbiz. 

The latest fires mean huge swathes of iconic southern California real estate from Malibu to Santa Monica, and from Pacific Palisades to Runyon Canyon, are ablaze – impacting millions caught off guard by the unprecedented spread and carnage.

At least five people have lost their lives in the disaster so far – with 2,000 structures obliterated and thousands of people left with nothing but ash across the city.

More than 130,000 people are under evacuation orders while Mandy Moore, Cary Elwes and Paris Hilton are among the stars who said they had lost homes. Billy Crystal and his wife Janice lost their home of 45 years in the Palisades Fire.

And Gavin Newsom became emotional when asked about Donald Trump placing the blame on him for the disastrous wildfires, after the president-elect referred to the California Governor as ‘Gavin Newscum’ and said he was at fault. It comes as:

The California National Guard is prepared to deploy more military personnel to assist, amid revelations that heroic firefighters are ‘triaging’ homes and neighborhoods.

Already, 600 service members have arrived from the Cal Guard along with equipment to help local authorities. They brought 10 rotary wing aircrafts and two C-130 planes to help fight the fires.

K-9s which specialize in human-remains detection will be brought in once the fires are under control to ensure there are no other dead bodies in the wreckage of the fires, LA County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said on Wednesday evening.

In Studio City, several homes caught alight late on Wednesday after a fire broke out in a four-storey building and spread to neighboring properties.

There were immediate fears that the fire could spread to nearby brush and that embers could be picked up with the wind and travel. 

Adam Vangerpen, spokesperson for L.A. County Fire, told KTLA ‘with the winds picking up there in the hills, that is a concern.’ 

Fire was visible in nearby brush as crews battled ‘in defensive mode’ to salvage what they could. The fire has since been contained.

Meanwhile in Hollywood Hills, a hellish inferno was within one mile of the iconic Walk of Fame, forcing evacuations from the famed Hollywood Boulevard and sparking mass panic on the roads as residents and tourists fled. 

An urgent evacuation alert read:  ‘A Mandatory Evacuation Order is now in place for Laurel Canyon Blvd (on the west) to Mulholland Dr (on the north) to 101 Freeway (on the east) down to Hollywood Blvd (on the south).’

Witnesses who spotted the new blaze said that the flames ‘exploded in size,’ because the area is fertile with dense brush that is unfortunately spurring on the inferno. 

Fire crews are dropping water from the skies in an effort to contain the blaze and stop the spread to nearby neighborhoods. 

Embers were seen flying ahead of the main fire to catch onto buildings, with video capturing at least one residential building catching alight as of Wednesday evening. 

The devastating Pacific Palisades and Eaton Fires are still burning with zero containment, while the Hurst Fire, in the San Fernando Valley, is 10 percent contained and now 855 acres and the comparatively smaller Lidia Fire in the Acton area is 40 percent contained.

The Sunset Fire over Hollywood Hills has spread to 60 acres and has zero containment so far.

Kyle Alarid, a captain with the Palo Alto Fire Department, said stretched first responders and fire crews are ‘triaging’ homes in fire-ravaged neighborhoods.

He said it is simply not possible to save them all, despite the best efforts of the exhausted crew, who worked through the night to protect what they could.

‘It’s always hard, because you can save one but it feels like you can never save enough.’

Meanwhile, stone-faced Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has stayed quiet after her city was razed by the wildfires – refusing to comment after she personally cut the LA Fire Department’s budget by $17.6 million in 2024.

Residents who have fled their homes and made it to safety are anxiously awaiting news of their homes and possessions, describing the scenes they witnessed as ‘apocalyptic.’

‘What we saw here in the last 24 hours is unprecedented,’ LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said. ‘I’ve never seen anything like this.’ 

Speaking from above the Hollywood Hills blaze in a helicopter, ABC 7 reporter Chris Christi said: ‘Very concerning sight here. Just north of Hollywood Boulevard. This thing has exploded in size. This is all very thick fuel that is fueling this brush fire. 

‘They have immediately called for the 20 closest trucks to come out here, but accessing this fire is going to require more than trucks. 

‘This thing is blowing up before our eyes. It is a very sizeable fire that is spreading rapidly.’ 

Hollywood High School is serving as an evacuation center, but traffic down from the Hills is already at a complete gridlock as residents attempt to flee, sparking fears there will be similar mass-panic as seen in Pacific Palisades on Tuesday, when people abandoned their cars in the street and bulldozers were required to clear the way.

Traffic was backed up in Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Studio City as thousands of residents heeded warnings that the fast-moving fire was approaching.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department gave a chilling warning as the fire ramped up on Wednesday, telling locals: ‘Be prepared, pack important documents and gather family, children and pets now. We will update with information as it becomes available.’ 

The Pacific Palisades – which was the first luxurious area to be engulfed in the fires – is home to the likes of Miles Teller, Anthony Hopkins, and John Goodman. All three lost their homes in the fire.

But the Hollywood Hills is perhaps the most sought-after celebrity zip code in the world, with big names such as Salma Hayek and Quentin Tarantino residing in the area.  

Mayor of Pasadena Victor M. Gordo revealed on Wednesday afternoon 100,000 people were already under mandatory evacuation orders, and there are another 100,000 now warned to also leave, the New York Times reported.

The alert has been given to residents in danger zones which have not yet been upgraded to mandatory evacuation areas, but could soon be. 

To make matters worse, the National Weather Service says gusty winds and very dry conditions would continue to fuel fires in the Los Angeles area in the days ahead.

Forecasters predicted wind gusts of 35 to 55 mph, which could rise higher in the mountains and foothills.

Meteorologists said Los Angeles and Ventura counties would have weather conducive to fire through Friday, meaning low relative humidity, strong winds, unstable air and drought.

A small silver lining is that winds have temporarily dissipated enough for aircraft to assist in fighting the fires, Pasadena Fire Chief Chad Augustine said.

‘Tonight we have very mild wind conditions where we can get aircraft and a ton of additional resources getting their hands around this fire,’ Augustin said. 

‘That’s what gives me confidence that we’re going to get a handle on this fire.’ 

After a brief reprieve overnight tonight, wilds are expected to pick up again on Thursday and into Friday. 

The fire chief warned that it was still an active fire with risk of spread over the next day.

‘Do I expect a risk of fire spread tomorrow? Yes. Do I expect erratic fire weather like we saw last night? No,’ he said. 

In the wake of the carnage, President Joe Biden has canceled a scheduled trip to Italy and granted additional federal funding.

He announced on Wednesday night: ‘I’ve approved Governor Newsom’s request for a major disaster declaration and ordered Federal assistance to supplement response efforts in areas affected by wildfires, ensuring impacted communities and survivors have immediate access to funds and resources to begin their recovery.’

Authorities in California said that the Palisades fire has now grown to 15,832 acres, while the Eaton fire stands at 10,600 acres, followed by the Hurst at 505 acres.

Three other smaller fires which broke out throughout Wednesday have since been contained, authorities said. 

Locals the ritziest neighborhoods in Los Angeles – home to celebrity enclaves and million-dollar mansions, have received alerts warning them to boil their tap water before consumption.

‘This applies to water that is used for brushing teeth, making ice cubes, and food preparation such as washing produce,’ the notice states.  

In bold, capitalized letters, residents are warned that until further notice, they must ‘only use boiled tap water or bottled water for drinking and cooking purposes.’

Tap water should be boiled for one minute and then cooled.

The alert comes amid revelations that water supplies have been running low, impacting the heroic efforts of first responders trying to put out the blazes.

Los Angeles Fire Captain Erik Scott said: ‘We did experience some challenges with water pressure while battling the Pacific Palisades fire, particularly yesterday.’

‘We worked real closely with the Department of Water and Power, and they did proactively fill all of the available water storage tanks. But the problem is, the water availability was impacted at the higher elevations. The pressure wasn’t quite what we needed, and so it affected some fire hydrants.’

In all, three enormous water tanks carrying a million gallons of water each ran out.

The first was dry by 4.45pm Tuesday, the second by 8.30pm and the third at 3am Wednesday.