If you didn’t know any better, you’d think the images coming out of Southern California were from a movie straight out of the pages of a Hollywood script.
But this is all too real for the residents in the Southland, with “30,000 residents who are are under evacuation orders,” per The Associated Press.
According to KTLA-TV, “1,000 structures, many of them homes, have been destroyed.”
One of the blazes, the Eaton Fire, has claimed two lives so far, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“Thousands of firefighters were battling at least three separate blazes, from the Pacific Coast inland to Pasadena. Flames broke out on Tuesday evening near a nature preserve in the inland foothills northeast of LA while another blaze that started hours earlier ripped through the city’s Pacific Palisades neighborhood. A third wildfire started around 10:30 p.m. and quickly prompted evacuations in Sylmar, the northernmost neighborhood in Los Angeles,” according to The Associated Press.
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Here’s a look at the dramatic scene as it unfolded Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning through the lenses of the Associated Press photojournalists.
Firefighters battle the Palisades Fire as it burns multiple structures in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. | Ethan Swope, Associated Press
Water is dropped on the advancing Palisades Fire by helicopter in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. | Ethan Swope, Associated Press
The Palisades Fire burns a Christmas tree inside a residence in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. | Ethan Swope, Associated Press
A resident of a senior center is evacuated as the Eaton Fire approaches Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. | Ethan Swope, Associated Press
Residents of a senior center are evacuated as the Eaton Fire approaches Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. | Ethan Swope, Associated Press
Tim Murphy and his son Sean arm wrestle on the beach during sunset under a blackened sky from a wildfire in the Pacific Palisades, during the sunset in Santa Monica, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. | Richard Vogel, Associated Press
A resident stands in front of a garage as fire crews fight the Palisades Fire nearby in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. | Ethan Swope, Associated Press
Water is dropped on the advancing Palisades Fire by helicopter in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. | Ethan Swope, Associated Press
A lone beachgoer walks along the coast as a large dark plume of smoke passes over the beach from a wildfire from Pacific Palisades, from Santa Monica, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. | Richard Vogel, Associated Press
Will Adams uses a garden hose to keep flames from damaging his home as the Palisades Fire advances in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. | Ethan Swope, Associated Press
A surfer takes off on a wave in Santa Monica, Calif., during sunset under a blackened sky from the Palisades fire in the Pacific Palisades on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. | Richard Vogel, Associated Press
Jerome Krausse pushes his mother-in-law in a shopping cart as they evacuate from their home in the Pacific Palisades after a wildfire swept through their neighborhood in Santa Monica, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. | Richard Vogel, Associated Press
A firefighter jumps over a fence while fighting the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. | Ethan Swope, Associated Press
Bike riders make their way along the coast as a large dark plume of smoke passes over the beach from a wildfire from Pacific Palisades, from Santa Monica, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. | Richard Vogel, Associated Press
A woman cries as the Palisades Fire advances in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. | Etienne Laurent, Associated Press
A resident of a senior center is evacuated as the Eaton Fire approaches Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025 in Altadena, Calif. | Ethan Swope, Associated Press
Smoke from a wildfire is seen from the Venice Beach section of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. | Jae C. Hong, Associated Press
Will Adams watches as flames from the Palisades Fire close in on his property in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. | Ethan Swope, Associated Press
A firefighter tries to contain the Palisades Fire from a rooftop in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. | Ethan Swope, Associated Press
The Eaton Fire destroys a structure Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. | Ethan Swope, Associated Press
A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire as it burns a structure in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. | Ethan Swope, Associated Press
The Palisades Fire ravages a neighborhood amid high winds in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. | Ethan Swope, Associated Press
