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Los Angeles firefighters have successfully extinguished a blaze that threatened some of Hollywood’s most iconic landmarks, as the city and its surrounding area grapple with a devastating disaster that has destroyed buildings and homes and displaced thousands of residents.
The taming of the Hollywood Hills fire, which broke out late Wednesday, is the first sign that reduced winds and new sources could help authorities control the blazes that have engulfed the second most populous US city.
The evacuation order for surrounding neighborhoods was lifted at 7:30 a.m. Thursday, allowing residents to return to their homes, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
Success in fighting the so-called Sunset Fire was rare good news for Los Angeles residents. However, evacuation orders were still widespread elsewhere, with the Palisades fire and one near Pasadena still burning, and officials warned that winds could pick up again and accelerate the spread.
The fire spread quickly in Runyon Canyon late Wednesday before helicopters and fire trucks rushed to the area to bring it under control. More than 100,000 residents are still under evacuation orders or warnings across the county, with multiple fires burning more than 28,000 acres and resulting in at least five deaths.
The Sunset Fire was the sixth to break out in Los Angeles County in recent days. It threatened iconic landmarks, including the Hollywood sign, and forced evacuations along Hollywood Boulevard, which is home to the famed TCL Chinese Theater — formerly known as Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
“We’re going through the critical wind event,” Margaret Stewart, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Fire Department, said in an interview with television station KTLA Thursday morning. “We anticipate the same operation throughout today and while we don’t have control yet, we are working towards it.”
As the sun rose on Thursday, residents of both areas began to see the extent of the destruction. Many streets in the Palisades look like a bomb went off, with entire blocks leveled to the ground.
Scattered metal equipment and fireplaces were some of the only remains in the residential quarters. Many of the businesses in Palisades — including its two grocery stores — were destroyed.
The fires have weighed on the city’s all-important entertainment industry. Work in Hollywood has ground to a halt and pre-Oscar screenings and parties have been postponed. Warner Bros. shut down production in Burbank because of the fires, and Paramount postponed the premiere of its new film Best man.
The fires have also become a political flashpoint, as Republicans, including US President-elect Donald Trump, have blamed Democratic leadership in Los Angeles and California, as well as President Joe Biden, for failing to prepare and adequately respond to fires.
“One of the best and most beautiful parts of the United States of America is burning to the ground,” Donald Trump wrote on his Social Truth platform. “It’s a disgrace and Gavin Newscum needs to resign,” he added, referring to the state’s Democratic governor Gavin Newsom. “This is all his fault!!!”
