The home of 3.8 million people, including the rich and famous, has been engulfed by unrelenting wildfires in the past week. The fire started in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles on 7 January and has spread across the city at an alarming rate, with reports saying the blaze is covering ‘five football fields a minute’. Five people have already been killed.
Residents are fleeing their houses and watching their homes burn to the ground on the news. More than 130,000 people have already evacuated the area – many of whom are household names. Nearly three days later, the deadly wildfires remain mostly uncontained.
The blaze has wreaked havoc in several affluent areas including Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica, Malibu and the Hollywood Hills. Among the celebrities who have lost their family homes to the fire are Paris Hilton, Billy Crystal and Adam Brody and Leighton Meester.
‘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,’ said Hilton, whose beachfront home was reportedly purchased for $8.4 million (£6.8 million). '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.'
Crystal, who is best known for his starring role in When Harry Met Sally, said he and his wife Janice were ‘heartbroken’ by the loss of their Pacific Palisades home where they have lived 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.’
It has also been reported that the home of Nobody Wants This star Adam Brody and Gossip Girl actress Leighton Meester has been destroyed.
The Hills couple Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag have also lost their home. ‘I’m watching our house burn down on the security cameras,’ Pratt explained. While Montag added, ‘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 the things I should’ve got, but we’re out safe and that is the most important thing, and Spencer is behind me.’
In another post the former reality star said she was ‘so sad our house has gone’ and that they had lost ‘everything we worked so hard for’.
This Is Us star Mandy Moore echoed their sentiments. She lost her home and witnessed her children’s school get destroyed by the fires. ‘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.’
Other stars to lose their homes include TV host Ricki Lake, Sir Anthony Hopkins, John Goodman, Anna Faris, Cary Elwes and James Woods. Woods, who has starred in films including Nixon and Casino, said, ‘One day you’re swimming in the pool and the next day it’s all gone.’
Top Gun: Maverick actor Miles Teller and his wife Keleigh Sperry also witnessed their home perish in the fire. He shared a picture of the blaze on Instagram with a broken heart emoji.
While Schitt's Creek actor Eugene Levy described the smoke over Temescal Canyon as 'black and intense'. He said, 'I couldn't see any flames but the smoke was very dark.'
Swathes of other famous faces have been forced to evacuate their homes including Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis. 'It's a terrifying situation,' she wrote on Instagram. 'Pray if you believe in it and even if you don't, pray for those who do.'
She later added, 'This is the moment to reach out to anyone who lives in Los Angeles, who you think might be in some sort of traumatic shock and grief about losing their homes and the devastation of their neighbourhoods and communities and offer your hand, home and resources. We are going to have to come together, as we may never have done before, in the City of Angels and help each other. AND WE WILL!'
The Oscar nominations have been postponed by two days because of the fires. While film premieres for Unstoppable, Better Man and Wolfman have also been called off, as has the Screen Actors Guild Awards live ceremony.
Nikki Peach is a writer at Grazia UK, working across pop culture, TV and news. She has also written for the i, i-D and the New Statesman Media Group and covers all things TV for Grazia (treating high and lowbrow shows with equal respect).