Weary Los Angeles firefighters are dealing with new fires that broke out Wednesday night in the Hollywood Hills and Studio City.
Several homes appear to have caught fire in Studio City just before 9 p.m.
The Los Angeles Police Department responded to a call for a structure fire at a four-story home at 3656 N. Sunswept Drive at 8:52 p.m.
“Firefighters are in the defensive mode against the fire unit with priority of defending the exposures and preventing extension into the brush,” the department said.
Aerial footage captured by KTLA News showed firefighting crews blasting water at multiple burning structures situated on winding hill roads with lots of surrounding vegetation.
The other fire, near Runyon Canyon in the Hollywood Hills, was creating massive traffic jams as residents rushed to evacuate the densely populated area.
The Sunset fire was reported at 2350 N. Solar Drive shortly after 5:30 p.m. and had spread to 50 acres in less than three hours, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley received word of the blaze while speaking at an evening news conference on several other massive fires burning in the region.
“I can tell you we’re throwing all of our available resources at it as we speak,” the chief said before rushing out.
The fire is burning near a dense urban area of apartments, condos and homes at the base of the Hollywood Hills.
Initial firefighting efforts showed some success in getting a handle on the blaze.
The eastern perimeter of the fire was “holding well” at around 8:30 p.m. thanks to a fire road and the work of ground crews, according to a statement from the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department. And active flames were extinguished at the heel of the fire, while smoldering continued within the interior.
Helicopters are focusing their efforts on the southwestern side of the blaze where fire activity is most intense, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
Traffic was bumper to bumper as people tried to flee the area, and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced that the Police Department was being deployed to help manage the traffic. “We are working urgently to close roads, redirect traffic and expand access for LAFD vehicles to respond to the growing fire,” she said in a post on X.
In the Hollywood Hills, smoke filled the air and water trickled down the hilly streets as crowds gathered at police lines to catch a glimpse of a retreating fire.
Up the hill, firetrucks idled among evacuated streets, the embers of a fire glowing above.
One police officer described the evacuation process as chaotic, but that chaos had subsided by 9 p.m. as ash fell on the streets. Every seven or so minutes, a helicopter would swoop by and drop more water on the hill, sprinkling those below.
An evacuation zone was established for the area between the 101 Freeway on the east and Laurel Canyon on the west, and between Mulholland Drive on the north and Hollywood Boulevard on the south.
An evacuation advisory has been issued to a wider swath of Hollywood Boulevard south to Sunset Boulevard and west to Coldwater Canyon Drive.
An evacuation shelter was established at Pan Pacific Recreation Center, at 7600 Beverly Blvd. in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, more than 1,100 buildings have burned and at least five people are dead in wildfires burning across L.A. County, making this one of the most destructive firestorms to hit the region in memory.
Fire officials have acknowledged they were overwhelmed by the size and speed of the fires.
Winds that drove the fires Tuesday have slowed somewhat, but officials said the danger is still high, and a high-wind warning remains in effect until 10 p.m.
