NATION WILDFIRES BURN IN NORTHERN CALIF., NEAR GETTY IN L.A.
A wildfire exploded near the J. Paul Getty Museum in starstudded Brentwood and one in Northern California’s wine country grew in size.
A wildf ire swept through the star-studded hills of Los Angeles on Monday, destroying several large homes and forcing LeBron James and thousands of others to flee. Meanwhile, a blaze in Northern California wine country exploded in size.
The flames that roared up a steep hillside near the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles’ Brentwood section illustrated the danger the state faces as high winds batter both ends of California and threaten to turn any spark into a devastating inferno.
No deaths from either blaze were reported, but a firefighter was seriously injured in the fire in Sonoma County wine country.
More than 2 million people lacked electricity after California’s biggest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric, shut it off over the weekend in the northern part of the state to prevent its equipment from sparking blazes during windy weather. PG&E is also planning a blackout affecting 605,000 customers — about 1.5 million people — starting early Tuesday in 29 Northern California counties.
The company, which was driven into bankruptcy after its equipment ignited several deadly wildfires in recent years, admitted Monday that despite the outages, its power lines may have started two smaller fires over the weekend in the San Francisco Bay Area.
PG&E also has said its transmission lines may have been responsible for the Sonoma County fire.
That blaze, which broke out last week amid the vineyards and wineries north of San Francisco, doubled in a day to at least 103 square miles, destroying 96 buildings — including at least 40 homes — and threatening 80,000 more structures, authorities said.
About 156,000 people were under evacuation orders because of the fire, mostly from the city of Santa Rosa.
In wine country, farmworkers who toil in the vineyards were among those displaced. In Los Angeles, James and former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger were driven from their homes.
“Man these LA (fires) are no joke,” the Los Angeles Lakers star tweeted, using an emoji for the word “fires.” “Crazy night.”
The Hollywood premiere of Schwarzenegger’s “Terminator: Dark Fate” was canceled Monday night.
Anxious residents made their way down steep hillsides in the middle of the night in Range Rovers, Teslas and Maseratis. They left behind homes decorated for Halloween — skeletons hanging from homes, goblins sitting on front steps, cobwebs draped over bushes — as a plume of smoke glowed like a giant pumpkin.
David Boyle, 78, awoke at 3 a.m. to his doorbell ringing and police officers pounding on the front door. They warned him the wildfire was advancing toward his house near the Getty complex.
“They said, ‘You need to evacuate.’ I’m like, ‘When?’ They said, ‘Now,’ ” Doyle said.
“It’s a fact of life when you live in this area,” he said. “Every place has some problem with disasters. People talk about earthquakes here, but I don’t think it’s as bad as hurricane season.”
Tens of thousands of people were ordered to clear out as the fire spread to more than 600 acres and burned at least five homes, authorities said.
The evacuation area extended west into Pacific Palisades, encompassing some of the most exclusive real estate in California, where celebrities and wealthy professionals live in estates nestled in canyons or on ridgetop retreats that cost tens of millions of dollars but are surrounded by tinder-dry vegetation.
The fire shut down southbound lanes of Interstate 405, a major commuting corridor and the route to Los Angeles International Airport from the San Fernando Valley.