Worst wildfires in LA history tear through plush Hollywood Hills

The Hollywood Hills blazed uncontrollably on Thursday morning as the worst wildfires in the history of Los Angeles raged across the city and deep into the storied heartland of the American film industry.

A crescent of flame squeezed Los Angeles in a huge pincer visible from space. More than 1,00,000 people were ordered to evacuate as dry, hurricane-force winds spread flames across parched ground that has seen no rain for months. At least five people have died since the fires erupted on Tuesday.

“This firestorm is the big one,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told a press conference after rushing back to the city, cutting short an official trip to Ghana.

At least six separate wildfires were burning in Los Angeles County. Three of them were listed as “0% controlled”, including a pair of huge conflagrations on the city’s eastern and western flanks and the smaller Sunset Fire raging in Hollywood Hills just above Hollywood Boulevard and its Walk of Fame.

Paris Hilton watched her Malibu beach mansion burn down on live TV. Jamie Lee Curtis, James Woods, Mandy Moore, Mark Hamill and Maria Shriver were among the other celebrities forced to evacuate as out-of-control fires in Los Angeles swept across some of the most lavish real estate in the world. The largest blaze consumed nearly 12,000 acres (5,000 hectares) in Pacific Palisades.