Wildfires in Los Angeles and surrounding areas have destroyed thousands of structures including residential and commercial real estate and caused two known deaths since its start on Tuesday.
Driven by high-velocity winds, the fire has spread to cover more than 11,000 acres, causing massive destruction and forcing more than 50,000 people to evacuate, as well as covering much of the LA metropolitan area in smoke and ash.
According to the LA Times, thousands of structures have already burned down in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, an affluent area tucked between the hills and the Pacific Ocean.
Modernist icon the Eames House (Case Study House No. 8) and Case Study House No. 18 sit in the south of the fire’s incident zone and as of Wednesday morning, staff had evacuated and taken several articles of furniture. While currently “at risk” the site has so far been unharmed by the fire, according to the foundation.
“We are closely monitoring the situation and the Eames Foundation has taken every precaution to protect the site,” said Eames Foundation executive director Lucia Dewey Atwood at 1:00 pm local time today.
“Yesterday, the foundation’s team worked quickly to remove a small number of objects from the house before they had to evacuate the building.”
As of today, the local firefighting efforts have been constrained by grounding orders for firefighting aircraft due to high winds and dwindling water resources. On Wednesday morning, LA fire chief Brent Pascua called the scenes at the fire “apocalyptic”.
Reportedly, officials have had to use bulldozers to clear cars abandoned by fleeing people for emergency vehicles to pass.
“Total destruction” in Malibu
Hundreds of homes, restaurants and other structures have been consumed by the fire, including the Palisades Library and Palisades Charter High School, according to the New York Times.
The Pacific Palisades fire has spread as far north as Malibu and burning buildings were recorded along the Pacific Coast Highway as of this afternoon.
NBC news correspondent Liz Kreutz posted on X Wednesday afternoon that there was “total destruction” in Malibu along the Pacific Coast Highway.
Tens of thousands of structures remain at risk, including the home of US vice president Kamala Harris as well as several notable works of architecture including Getty Villa, which closed to non-essential personnel on Tuesday after fire spread to the property. Current reports claimed the 1950s home of tycoon John Paul Getty, which also has a museum, “narrowly” avoided the fire.
The Julius Ralph Davidson-designed Thomas Mann House is also under threat, as is Ray Kappe‘s Keeler House, near the worst of the fire in Pacific Palisades.
Late this morning, major fires in Eaton and Hurst also began. The fire in Eaton grew almost fourfold to cover more than 10,000 acres in a matter of hours, driven by the high winds, spreading into nearby Altadena and threatening Pasadena. Other, smaller fires were also reported late Wednesday afternoon.
The Pasadena Jewish Temple was reportedly destroyed in the blaze.
Other structures at risk by the Eaton Fire include the early-20th-century Arts and Craft-style Gamble House.
Throughout the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, hundreds of schools and businesses were closed. Local design studio Ravenhill Studio noted some of its staff was “under evacuation orders”, and big-ticket events such as an NHL game and the awards broadcast Critics Choice Awards were cancelled.
Blame has been levied at the local government and mayor, citing their slashing of the fire budget by $17.6 million last year.
Some pointed to the changing climate and out-of-date building practices as primary drivers of the disaster.
“American homes were built for an environment that no longer exists. This – like all of the disasters this century, from Florida to Hawaii – must be a call to action,” said CBS news correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti on X.
Fires in January are not unprecedented, but the fire season usually lasts between the summer months and October, but this year the city has been experiencing a drought, allowing for the unseasonable intensity of the fire.
Photo by Ariam23 via Wikipedia Commons