James Woods among Pacific Palisades residents to evacuate homes as wind-fueled wildfire spreads across LA

James Woods had to evacuate his Pacific Palisades, California home on Tuesday amid dangerous wildfires in the upscale area.

The Oscar-nominated actor, 77, took to X/Twitter with multiple posts detailing the damage as a fast-moving wildfire in the Los Angeles hillsides was exacerbated by a fierce windstorm in Southern California, which also impacted actors Eugene Levy and Steve Guttenberg as well.

Actor James Woods, 77, had to evacuate his Pacific Palisades, California home on Tuesday amid dangerous wildfires in the area. Pictured in LA in 2017

‘Hope everybody gets out safely … leaving,’ Woods said in the post, accompanied by a clip of a hillside blaze.

Woods posted a series of pH๏τos and clips documenting the blaze as he praised the efforts made by first responders to his 4.5 million followers.

‘We were blessed to have LA fire and police depts doing their jobs so well,’ Woods said. ‘We are safe and out. There are several elementary schools in our neighborhood and there was an enormous community effort to evacuate the children safely. Can not speak more highly of the LA fire and LAPD.’

In subsequent updates, Woods wrote, ‘Hope everybody gets out safely’ with views from his home’s deck and other residences nearby.

Image

Actor James Woods, 77, had to evacuate his Pacific Palisades, California home on Tuesday amid dangerous wildfires in the area. Pictured in LA in 2017

The Oscar-nominated actor took to X/ Twitter on with multiple posts detailing the damage as a fast-moving wildfire in the Los Angeles hillsides was exacerbated by a fierce windstorm in Southern California

The Casino actor said he was unclear on the overall condition of his home after he and his family evacuated, but was able to monitor damage via a security camera on the premises.

‘To all the wonderful people who’ve reached out to us, thank you for being so concerned,’ Woods said. ‘Just letting you know that we were able to evacuate successfully. I do not know at this moment if our home is still standing, but sadly houses on our little street are not.’

He wrote Tuesday afternoon, ‘Just been informed our next door neighbor’s house is on fire. Fortunately they were safely evacuated.’

Woods, an Academy Award-nominee for the films Salvador (1986) and Ghosts of Mississippi Leaving (1996), spoke about precautions he took as a homeowner in the area he was hoping would pay off amid the weather-related complications.

‘We cleared and built pathways on our hillside with sprinkler systems that can be remotely managed,’ Woods said. ‘We also did brush clearance per local fire prevention mandates.

‘I’m hoping it has done some good. It’s hard to beat the winds this time of year though, if someone is careless.’

Eugene Levy, 78, who is the current honorary mayor of Palisades, told the Los Angeles Times that he was caught in the gridlock of fleeing residents amid the blaze.

The Schitt’s Creek actor told the paper, ‘The smoke looked pretty black and intense over Temescal Canyon. I couldn’t see any flames, but the smoke was very dark.’

Woods posted a series of pH๏τos and clips documenting the blaze as he evacuated

Woods posted a series of pH๏τos and clips documenting the blaze as he evacuated

Woods he praised the efforts made by first responders to his 4.5 million followers

Woods he praised the efforts made by first responders to his 4.5 million followers

Wood kept an eye on the damage to his neighborhood in a series of social media posts

Wood kept an eye on the damage to his neighborhood in a series of social media posts

Woods monitored the damage to his home via a security camera on the premises

Woods monitored the damage to his home via a security camera on the premises

The Casino actor said he was unclear on the condition of his home after he and his family evacuated their home

The Casino actor said he was unclear on the condition of his home after he and his family evacuated their home

Woods spoke about precautions he took as a homeowner in the area he was hoping would pay off amid the weather-related complications

Woods spoke about precautions he took as a homeowner in the area he was hoping would pay off amid the weather-related complications

Actor Steve Guttenberg, 66, who lives in the Pacific Palisades, urged people who abandoned their cars to leave their keys behind so they could be moved to make way for fire trucks.

‘This is not a parking lot,’ the Three Men and a Baby actor told KTLA. ‘I have friends up there and they can’t evacuate … I´m walking up there as far as I can moving cars.’

The blaze could be seen for miles as scores of residents abandoned their cars and fled on foot to safety with roads blocked.

One resident described seeing people crying and screaming as they ran away carrying their children and pets.

Forecasters warned the worst may be yet to come with the windstorm predicted to last for days, producing isolated gusts that could top 100 mph in mountains and foothills – including in areas that haven’t seen substantial rain in months.

Roughly half a million utility customers were at risk of having their power shut off to reduce the risk of equipment sparking blazes.

In the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in western Los Angeles, a fire swiftly consumed nearly 2 square miles of land, sending up a dramatic plume of smoke visible across the city. Residents in Venice Beach, some six miles away, reported seeing the flames. It was one of several blazes across the area.

Sections of Interstate 10 and the scenic Pacific Coast Highway were closed to all non-essential traffic to aid in evacuation efforts. But other roads were blocked. Some residents jumped out of their vehicles to get out of danger and waited to be picked up.

Actor Steve Guttenberg, 66, who lives in the Pacific Palisades, urged people who abandoned their cars to leave their keys behind so they could be moved to make way for fire trucks

Actor Steve Guttenberg, 66, who lives in the Pacific Palisades, urged people who abandoned their cars to leave their keys behind so they could be moved to make way for fire trucks

Guttenberg told KTLA, 'I have friends up there and they can't evacuate ... I´m walking up there as far as I can moving cars'

Guttenberg told KTLA, ‘I have friends up there and they can’t evacuate … I´m walking up there as far as I can moving cars’

Eugene Levy, 78, said that he was caught in the gridlock of fleeing residents amid the blaze. Pictured in London in 2023

Eugene Levy, 78, said that he was caught in the gridlock of fleeing residents amid the blaze. Pictured in London in 2023

A line of vehicles crowds the road as residents flee from the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of LA Tuesday

A line of vehicles crowds the road as residents flee from the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of LA Tuesday

Water is dropped on the advancing Palisades Fire by helicopter

Water is dropped on the advancing Palisades Fire by helicopter

The neighborhood that borders Malibu about 20 miles west of downtown LA includes hillside streets of тιԍнтly packed homes along winding roads nestled against the Santa Monica Mountains and stretches down to beaches along the Pacific Ocean.

The erratic weather caused President Joe Biden to cancel plans to travel to inland Riverside County, California, where he was to announce the establishment of two new national monuments in the state.

Biden will deliver his remarks in Los Angeles instead.

The National Weather Service said the wind event that was expected to peak early Wednesday could be the strongest Santa Ana windstorm in more than a decade across Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

The Los Angeles Unified School District said it was temporarily relocating students from three campuses in the Pacific Palisades area due to the fire.

Amazon and MGM Studios canceled a premiere of Jennifer Lopez´s new film  Unstoppable due to the fires and high winds.

A firefighters make a stand in front of the advancing Palisades Fire Tuesday

A firefighters make a stand in front of the advancing Palisades Fire Tuesday

Heavy smoke from a brush fire in the Pacific Palisades rises over the Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica, California Tuesday

Heavy smoke from a brush fire in the Pacific Palisades rises over the Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica, California Tuesday

Smoke from a wildfire is seen from the Venice Beach section of LA on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025

Smoke from a wildfire is seen from the Venice Beach section of LA on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025

The winds will act as an ‘atmospheric blow-dryer’ for vegetation, bringing a long period of fire risk, said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with the University of California, Los Angeles and the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

‘We really haven’t seen a season as dry as this one follow a season as wet as the previous one,’ Swain said Monday.

Recent dry winds, including the notorious Santa Anas, have contributed to warmer-than-average temperatures in Southern California, where there´s been very little rain so far this season.

Southern California hasn´t seen more than 0.1 inches of rain since early May. Much of the region has fallen into moderate drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Meanwhile, up north, there have been multiple drenching storms.

Areas where gusts could create extreme fire conditions include the charred footprint of last month´s wind-driven Franklin Fire, which damaged or destroyed 48 structures, mostly homes, in and around Malibu.

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