Celebrities lose homes and flee as Los Angeles fires spread

(Reuters) - A home reportedly belonging to Hollywood actors Leighton Meester and Adam Brody and another owned by actor Billy Crystal were among more than 1,000 buildings destroyed by wildfires raging across Los Angeles, including a blaze that started on Wednesday in the Hollywood Hills.

Jamie Lee Curtis, Mandy Moore, Maria Shriver and other celebrities were among more than 100,000 people forced to evacuate their homes to escape the out-of-control fires burning in some of Los Angeles' most desirable areas.

The largest blaze consumed nearly 12,000 acres (4,856 hectares) in Pacific Palisades, a picturesque neighborhood between the beach towns of Santa Monica and Malibu that is home to many film, television and music stars.

Brody, best known for his roles in TV series "The O.C." and "Nobody Wants This", and Meester, who starred in "Gossip Girl", bought their Pacific Palisades home in 2019 for $6.5 million, according real estate and entertainment websites.

Crystal and his wife, Janice, said in a statement that they had lived in their Pacific Palisades house since 1979.

"We are heartbroken, of course, but with the love of children and friends we will get through this," they said.

Shriver, a journalist and the former first lady of California when she was married to former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, said the destruction in the upscale enclave was devastating.

"Everything is gone. Our neighborhood, our restaurants," she wrote on X on Wednesday. "The firefighters have and are doing their best, but this fire is massive and out of control."

The day after actor James Woods evacuated his house in Pacific Palisades, he said "every house around us was on fire".

"We were literally in the exact epicenter of the fire as it started," Woods, known for roles in "Ghosts of Mississippi" and "Any Given Sunday", said on CNN on Wednesday.

"There was so much chaos. It was like an inferno."

Hollywood Hills burn

On Wednesday evening a fire erupted in the Hollywood Hills and quickly doubled in size, forcing further evacuations in an area synonymous with the entertainment industry

Though relatively small compared to the others, the Sunset Fire burned just above Hollywood Boulevard and its Walk of Fame. It would need to cross the 101 Freeway to endanger the Hollywood sign and Griffith Observatory further up in the hills.

Within that area is the Dolby Theater, where the Oscars are held. Next week's Oscar nominations announcement was already postponed by two days because of the fire, organizers said.

This weekend's Critics Choice Awards was also delayed by two weeks, organizers said.

With a median home price of $4.5 million, Pacific Palisades is home to celebrities as well as the Getty Villa, one of the most popular museums in Los Angeles.

Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis said "my community and possibly my home is on fire".

"It is a terrifying situation," Curtis wrote on Instagram.

"Pray if you believe in it and even if you don't, pray for those who do."

Mandy Moore, known for television series "This is Us", said she and her family had evacuated because of the proximity of the flames.

"So gutted for the destruction and loss," she wrote on Instagram. "Don't know if our place made it."

Media personality Paris Hilton's beachfront mansion in Malibu, reportedly bought for $8.4 million, was among the homes burned down.

She said she was "heartbroken beyond words".

"Sitting with my family, watching the news, and seeing our home in Malibu burn to the ground on live TV is something no one should ever have to experience," Hilton wrote on X.

Several other fires were burning around the city. Film permits were revoked in Pasadena and other areas east of Los Angeles at the request of fire officials, according to permitting organization FilmLA.

Production of TV shows including "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and "Grey's Anatomy" was halted on Wednesday. Several film premieres were also called off.

Actor Mark Hamill, known for playing Luke Skywalker in the "Star Wars" films, said the blaze was the "most horrific" since 1993.

He said on Instagram that he evacuated his Malibu home on Tuesday evening with his wife and dog.

"There (were) small fires on both sides of the road as we approached (the Pacific Coast Highway)," he said.

(Reporting by Hannah Lang in New York and Brendan O'Brien; Editing by Paul Thomasch, Mark Porter, Sandra Maler, Lincoln Feast and Raju Gopalakrishnan)