As thousands of people fled the star-studded hills of Los Angeles when the Getty fire raced toward their multi-million dollar mansions, many of the people who cleaned their homes and gardens were turning up to work.
Steady flames roared up a steep hillside near the city’s Brentwood section illustrated the danger the state faces as high winds batter both ends of California and threaten to turn any spark into a devastating inferno.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said the Getty wildfire in the city’s western neighborhoods has scorched more than 600 acres but its growth has slowed and dramatic footage showed smoke and flames surrounding the Getty Center with houses historic artwork by Rembrandt and Van Gogh.
No deaths were reported but people were being warned to stay away from the area.
Despite the blackouts and the obvious danger of the Getty fire, the Los Angeles Times spoke to workers who had turned up to the mansions to start their shifts. It is not clear who their employers were.
One woman, Carmen Solano, said she didn’t know that a fire had erupted near the multi-million dollar home which she cleans. She was asked to report to work on Monday, but usually cleans on Wednesdays.
Inmate firefighters walk past a burnt out home on Tigertail Road during the Getty fire. More than 1000 firefighters battled the wind-driven blaze that broke out near the renowned Getty Center in Los Angeles
Los Angeles County Firefighters put out a house fire that was caused from the Getty Fire which burned in the Brentwood Heights neighborhood. The area’s occupants were forced to evacuate in the middle of the night, but some had forgotten to tell their workers who turned up to work
The homes of Kate Hudson, Gwyneth Paltrow, LeBron James, Josh Duhamel, and Arnold Schwarzenegger are located in an area under mandatory evacuation orders
The LA Times reported that when Solano, an immigrant from Guatemala, rang the doorbell of the home, the owner said that they had been told to evacuate at 3am. No-one had let Solano – who had to catch a cab to the neighborhood – know. The owner later apologized and said he would let her know whether she needed to come back on her regular day.
In the star-studded neighborhoods, celebrities were fleeing their homes and dramatic footage showed flames rapidly spreading towards the eight-bedroom Brentwood mansion of actor Josh Duhamel Monday. He bought the 8,232 sq ft sprawling property with then-wife Fergie for $5.2million in 2007.
Hudson was seen getting into her vehicle in the upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood to evacuate early Monday morning as the threat of fire loomed large.
At least seven fires were burning across the California region on Monday night, with the National Weather Service warning that high winds and low humidity could cause the fires to spread even further on Tuesday
A helicopter prepares to drop water as a wildfire called the Getty Fire burns on Kenter Canyon in Los Angeles
The Getty Fire broke out overnight near a major freeway and quickly spread south and west, scorching 500 acres (and sending people fleeing in the dark before their homes were destroyed
Firefighters were unable to salvage this Brentwood home
Kathy Griffin tweeted a video of the flames fast approaching her home. She tweeted: ‘No, I’m not one of those a-holes stopping on the side of the freeway to get this video. Took it from my driveway. Endless thanks @LAFD @LAPDHQ and all first responders. They are tireless heroes!#GettyFire’
NBA star LeBron James also evacuated, tweeting: ‘Man these LA (fire emoji) aren’t no joke. Had to emergency evacuate my house and I’ve been driving around with my family trying to get rooms. No luck so far!’
Eighteen minutes later he wrote an update: ‘Finally found a place to accommodate us! Crazy night man!’ He also added: ‘I (praying hands) for all the families in the area that could be affected by these (fire emojis) now! Pretty please get to safety ASAP.
‘My best wishes as well to the first responders right now doing what they do best!’
Only charred debris remains after a house was completely burned in the Getty Fire
An LA City firefighters keep down flames at a burned home in the 1100 block of Tigertail Rd
A firefighter puts out hotspots near the Getty Fire area
Schwarzenegger, the movie star and former California governor, also tweeted that he evacuated his Brentwood home at 3:30am.
Monday night’s red carpet premiere in Los Angeles of ‘Terminator: Dark Fate,’ starring Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton, was canceled because of the fire.
‘We will be donating food intended for the after-party to the American Red Cross, which is serving those affected by the fires,’ Paramount said in a statement.
‘If you are in an evacuation zone, don’t screw around,’ the Terminator star tweeted on Monday.
‘Get out. Right now.’
Schwarzenegger added: ‘I am grateful for the best firefighters in the world, the true action heroes who charge into the danger to protect their fellow Californians.’
Dramatic images showed airplanes flying at low altitude while dropping fire retardant on the area surrounding Schwarzenegger’s home.
While those celebrities, along with the neighborhood’s other well-heeled occupants fled, an LA Police Department officer told the LA Times that at least 10 workers had been told to leave.
A man walks past a burning home during the Getty fire
Firefighters try to save a home from a wildfire on Tigertail Road
A firefighting helicopter flies over the the Getty Fire as it burns in the hills of west Los Angeles
‘For the most part it was evacuated. I’m driving around and I see people working,’ he said.
He added that when he asked them why they were working, they said ‘I have to finish’.
Other workers were already in the neighborhood when their bosses called them to tell them not to come, and others showed up as families were evacuating.
A gardener, Tefilo Lopez, 72, told the LA Times as he was raking leaves outside an evacuated home. And although authorities had blocked off the area, he had walked to the home and turned the sprinkler on so that he could keep the lawn wet.
When asked why, he said: ‘What can I do. I need the money, I need the work.’
The evacuation orders affected 10,000 homes and businesses.
Homes have burned since the fire erupted around 1:30am and was swept by Santa Ana winds into canyons and ridgetop neighborhoods, but there’s still no exact count of how many were destroyed.
Los Angeles Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas says his firefighters had to make tough choices about which homes could be saved.
Garcetti says the cause of the fire is under investigation.
A helicopter drops water as a wildfire called the Getty Fire burns on Kenter Canyon