James Woods, Eugene Levy among celebrities affected by Los Angeles wildfires

Actors James Woods and Eugene Levy were among the celebrities who evacuated their homes in Pacific Palisades after a wildfire tore through the coastal area of Los Angeles on Tuesday (January 7). Woods shared several updates on his X, formerly Twitter, page about the fire which destroyed numerous buildings and nearly 3,000 acres (1,200 hectares) in the upscale area between the beach towns of Santa Monica and Malibu. "To all the wonderful people who’ve reached out to us, thank you for being so concerned. Just letting you know that we were able to evacuate successfully," Woods wrote. "All the smoke detectors are going off in our house and transmitting to our iPhones. I couldn’t believe our lovely little home in the hills held on this long. It feels like losing a loved one," he later wrote in separate post. Levy, who is the honorary mayor of the area that is home to many film and music stars, told the Los Angeles Times as he sought to evacuate: "The smoke looked pretty black and intense over Temescal Canyon. I couldn’t see any flames but the smoke was very dark." Actor Christa Miller wrote on Instagram she was evacuating, adding "love, prayers and gratitude to all the firefighters working so hard". Chet Hanks, son of Oscar winner Tom Hanks, wrote on Instagram stories: "The neighborhood I grew up in is burning to the ground". Other celebrities said to live in Pacific Palisades include Ben Affleck, Reese Witherspoon, Adam Sandler and Michael Keaton, according to media reports. Meanwhile other famous people who have commented so far include reality star Spencer Pratt and dancer Derek Hough. More than 30,000 people evacuated their homes as the wildfire tore through the area in just a few hours, and a second blaze some 30 miles (50 km) inland was rapidly spreading on Wednesday (January 8). Highways were jammed with people fleeing the inferno as plumes of smoke and flames rose in the sky over Los Angeles on Tuesday night. The fires has not been contained by Wednesday morning and Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency (Production: Marie-Louise Gumuchian)