Apocalyptic footage shows scale of LA wildfires as 30,000 people evacuated from homes

Devastating wildfires that have torn across California have caused tens of thousands of people to be evacuated, as the flames destroy houses and scorch the land.

A state of emergency has been declared by the governor of the US state after a wild fire turned into a sprawling blaze that was spread by strong winds.

There have been several fires, including one which swept through the Pacific Palisades area of LA, where a number of celebrity residences are located, and a fire which broke out yesterday (7 January) near a nature reserve to the north east of the city.

The latter spread so quickly that residents of a nearby care home had to be pushed down the street in wheelchairs and hospital beds to a car park, while burning embers fell around them as they waited to be picked up.

Some roads became blocked by cars of people attempting to evacuate who abandoned their vehicles and fled on foot, with a bulldozer brought in to push cars out of the way and clear a path for the emergency services.

PALISADES FIRE | 2921 acres 0% containment. Extreme fire behavior, short & long-range spotting, continues to challenge firefighting efforts for the Palisades Fire. Winds gusts up to 60 MPH are expected to continue through Thursday. pic.twitter.com/QHKIh6u6FD

— L.A. County Fire Department (@LACoFDPIO) January 8, 2025

One woman who got stuck between Sunset Boulevard and and Palisades Drive told the LA Times that the fire burst out near a Starbucks on the road and police started running down the road telling motorists to get out of their cars and 'run for your lives'.

A third wildfire that started at around 10:30pm local time last night (6:30am today in GMT) led to further evacuations from Sylmar in the northernmost area of LA.

The LA Fire Department put out a call to ask for help from off-duty firefighters in tackling the inferno.

The Eaton Fire forced staff at a senior living center to push dozens of residents in wheelchairs and hospital beds down the street to a parking lot. From there, the residents waited for ambulances to evacuate them from the area. https://t.co/ej8PfNvzpj pic.twitter.com/XlREJNhVdJ

— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) January 8, 2025

Strong winds that have spread the fire have also made it dangerous for firefighting aircraft to fly, making efforts to tackle or contain the blaze more difficult.

The wind, which at times has reached speeds of 100mph, has also meant that thousands of homes in the area are also without power and around 15,000 people in Southern California had their power shut off to lower the risk of their electronics setting off further fires.

KTLA 5 News photojournalist Paul Sanchez recorded this video from an airplane flying over the #PalisadesFire.
Live updates: https://t.co/7YD7QVAYcu pic.twitter.com/qn8GQuricu

— KTLA (@KTLA) January 8, 2025

According to officials in California, around 30,000 people had been given the order to evacuate due to the Pacific Palisades wildfire, while around 13,000 buildings were under threat.

Many people have been sharing footage of the LA wildfires, with videos showing trees and buildings ablaze as people flee for their lives with whatever they're able to carry with them.

Footage taken on the Pacific Coast Highway showed vast amounts of destruction, with houses and buildings gutted by the flames.

"By no stretch of the imagination are we out of the woods," California governor Gavin Newsom said yesterday (7 January).

Many parts of California where the fire has spread hasn't seen significant rainfall for a long time, and efforts to tackle the blaze continue.