here and not far though but next to me ♪ ♪ can't you make me believe up where the others dare what chance have i ♪ ♪ what chances we would fight in love's affair come on atone ♪ ♪ let's run away come on atone let's run away ♪ ♪ [ cheers and applause ] tonight, l.a. ablaze. the apocac scene on the ground in los

angeles. it is like driving through hell itself down here. home after home burns to the ground. >> this house is everything to us. it's all we really have. and we're doing our best to protect as much as we can. >> thousands. losing everything. >> we don't have any place to go. >> locals desperate to defend their homes from the flames. fighting to salvage what they can. >> we were just like, you know, putting water on all the bushes and on all over the house. but then it got to be too much. we had to leave. it just wasn't safe anymore. >> was the state of california ready? >> there are not enough firefighters in l.a. county to address four separate fires of this magnitude. >> plus hitting hollywood. >> yesterday at 9 a.m, everything was fine. it was an idyllic day. before i knew it, at 945, i looked up and there was a huge plume of smoke in the air. >> just days after the golden globes, tinseltown paralyzed by the inferno. paris hilton posting on social media one of many hollywood's well-known

names losing her home productions halted. businesses shuttered. the sag awards canceling their in-person announcements. we're with one actor turning into a real life hero. >> i'm able bodied and i'm strong. and how could i walk away? >> this special edition of nightline la ablaze. we'll be nightline la ablaze. we'll be right dr. g? ♪ it's actually the buildup of plaque bacteria which can cause cavities. most toothpastes quit working in minutes. but crest pro-health's antibacterial fluoride protects all day. so it stops cavities before they start... crest. -we're done. -what about these? looks right. nooo... nooo... quick, the quicker picker upper! bounty absorbs spills like a sponge. and is 2x more absorbent so you can use less. bounty, the quicker picker upper. a team can help you plan for your dreams. so your dream car, and vacation home, may be closer than you think.

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for joining us for this special edition of nightline. we're here in pacific palisades in southern california. as multiple wildfires burn at this hour, out of control across los angeles, a severe drought and fierce santa ana winds, some gusting to 90 to 100mph, have made for a deadly and horrific combination here, turning parts of los angeles county into a hellscape in just 24 hours. we're in what's called palisades village town center here, where there's normally shopping places to eat. tonight, though, you can see fire trucks still going by. and behind me here, the entire community nearly wiped out. you can see the flames still burning right behind me. tonight we take you right to the fire lines. our team across the fire zone. mola lenghi right there for us. mola. >> well, david, here in altadena. home after home. after home. completely destroyed. you have entire neighborhoods that have been reduced to rubble. as you can see tonight, the situation is still very dynamic,

still very fluid. you have some homes literally still on fire. you have properties that are smoldering as firefighters are stretched incredibly thin throughout the county. they continue to canvas all of these neighborhoods, but they are up against some extraordinary challenges. it's being called an apocalyptic hellscape, a sea of flames washing over the area around the city of angels, visible from space, smoke choking the sky, from the mountains to the ocean. intense winds at times reaching 100mph, powering the blazes, knocking over this reporter in altadena, our la affiliate kabc, capturing the devastation. some of the firstve. >> it is almost emotional in nature when you take in just how vast of an area has burned and the number of homes that have been burned so far, at least

five dead, tens of thousands under evacuation orders, more than a thousand homes and businesses razed to the ground. >> we're doing the very best we can. but no, we don't have enough fire personnel in l.a. county between all of the departments to handle this. >> across los angeles, multiple fires tearing through tens of thousands of acres over the past two days, the palisades fire hitting the affluent malibu and pacific palisades areas. then there's the eaton fire ripping through the neighborhoods of altadena, pasadena and other surrounding towns. >> there's the water drop there. >> and tonight, the sunset fire encroaching on the hollywood hills, the hollywood bowl and the dolby theater where the oscars are held, launching a fresh round of evacuations for 21 years. >> but yeah, it's time to get out. >> i think the palisades fire,

raging over 15,000 acres, the equivalent of more than 11,000 football fields, the pacific coast highway from pacific palisades to malibu looks like a war zone. look at this. >> everything is on fire. everything is on fire. i don't know what to do here. >> all of pch is on fire right now. >> it is like driving through hell itself down here. >> literally through hell. >> this is madness down here. these homes are on fire and you can feel the heat from the flames, even from inside your car. >> some residents surveying the damage in their neighborhood today. street after street of homes. simply gone. chimneys. the only thing left standing. last night, cars gridlocked on streets as residents desperately tried to escape. flights impacted at the burbank airport. some incoming flights diverted to lax, the palisades and the surrounding areas, home to many of hollywood's biggest and brightest stars, many of whom

say they lost homes in the area, including sir anthony hopkins, billy crystal, mandy moore, dirty dancing star jennifer gray. >> you just cannot believe that you're seeing what you're seeing that there, that there are flames in your neighborhood. it's just terrible. >> actor steve guttenberg, known for hit films like police academy, said he's been helping his neighbors get out of harm's way, unsure whether his own home is still standing. >> there was this one lovely man in a wheelchair that i just had to help because he didn't have any foot protection, and i took his face in my hands and i told him, look, everything's going to be okay. you're going to you're going to get to a good dinner tonight, i promise you. >> reporter residents forced to leave school. >> we have reports that palisades high sustained significant damage as a result of the fire. >> one of the area's most prestigious high schools. palisades charter or poly, as the locals call it, destroyed. the school featured in hit films like the 1976 horror film carrie

and the 2003 remake of freaky friday, oscar winning actor forest whitaker and grammy winning rapper will.i.am. notable alums. >> it's a really special place, not only because it was a beautiful campus along the water in the coastal community, and so for that to be wiped out like this is heartbreaking. >> jonathan gelfond graduated from poly in 2022. he and his classmates featured in the documentary social studies, which was shot at the school. >> it's up to us to figure out how we can still be people. >> the seniors this year were the freshmen who lost their freshman year because of covid, so now they're almost going to lose possibly some of the more important milestones that they were looking forward to graduation on the football field, other events at school because of this fire, which is really, really sad. >> gelfand and his family are safe, but others caught in the crosshairs of the inferno. >> we waited as long as we could, but it is time to go.

>> for five generations, tiktok star caitlin doran's family. this is no good has lived in pacific palisades today. they left along with their pets. >> currently, we have three generations of our family in my house in marina del rey, including a cat, three pitbulls, a lab, a 175 pound multiple members of doran's family losing their homes to the inferno. my parent's house burned down, my grandparents house burned down, and my aunt and uncle's house burned down. we tried to fight the fire for as long as possible, and once i had ash and like fire ash falling on me, i didn't feel confident enough to stick around. >> tanner scharff, a storm chaser, was at his friend orly, israel's home. >> we were just like, you know, putting water on all the bushes and on all over the house. we

were taking, you know, cushions off anything that was flammable, just trying to do our best to make sure that the house was as fireproof as possible. but then, as you can see in the video, it's just it got to be too much. all right, dude. >> yeah. let's get out of here. we tried, we tried, bro. >> i'm sorry. >> running away. the homes, the trees all around them. on fire, too. >> there's nothing we can do now, bro. >> and then they pray. >> god protect this house in the name of jesus. protect this neighborhood, god. in jesus name i pray. amen. >> my eyes are still stinging from the smoke and the flames, and just praying that my house is still there, and knowing that so many people i know and love have just lost everything. >> 30 miles east of the palisades. the eaton fire killing at least five people, according to the l.a. county sheriff, the pasadena jewish center completely engulfed senior citizens in nursing and

assisted living homes with their wheelchairs forced to evacuate as embers swirled around them. locals like emergency nurse lynn levin guzman defying evacuation orders. >> i know i'm not supposed to be here, but this is my parents home. they're 90 years old. >> at daybreak, a horizon of orange. the firefight stretching well into the afternoon, an ominous sky scene in glendale, a red sun appearing behind all the smoke. >> there's the sun trying to poke through. >> and here, too. block after block of destruction. >> these are sad sights of. this is heartbreaking. i feel for these people. >> this is really neighbors helping neighbors. you see some here with garden hoses doing what they can as firefighters have been stretched incredibly thin in these neighborhoods. ivan perez covered in ash, his eyes bloodshot from trying to stop the flames from destroying

his mother's childhood home. >> this house is everything to us. it's all we really have, and we're doing our best to protect as much as we can. >> state and local officials are urging the public to stay away from the areas affected by the fire and obey evacuation orders. >> for those of you who lost your homes, who lost your property, who lost your loved ones, we're going to help you rebuild. >> the california national guard has been called in to help fire departments across l.a. county. president biden signing a major disaster declaration for california. >> we're prepared to do anything and everything as long as it takes to contain these fires and help reconstruct and make sure that we get back to normal. >> it's going to be a hell of a long way. >> and tonight, some images of the evacuated taking refuge in shelters. >> we got a be prepared to evacuate at 8:00, and about five minutes later it was. get the hell out. we don't have any

place to go. all our friends are being evacuated. >> our thanks to mola and the coverage of the fire. we turn now to stephanie ramos back in new york. stephanie. >> thank you david. so much devastation there. our coverage tonight continues when we come back. the hit on hollywood productions halted, businesses shuttered, and an actor springs shuttered, and an actor springs into action to help his but now with skyrizi, i'm all in. thanks to skyrizi, i saw dramatically clearer skin. and many even achieved 100% clear skin. don't use if allergic. serious allergic reactions, increased infections, or lowered ability to fight them may occur. before treatment, get checked for infections and tb. tell your doctor about any flu-like symptoms, or vaccines. with skyrizi, nothing on my skin means everything. ♪nothing is everything♪ ask your dermatologist about skyrizi today. jordan's sore nose let out a fiery sneeze, so dad grabbed puffs plus lotion to soothe her with ease. puffs plus lotion

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watched newscast. >> welcomecome back. as los angs county reels, recoils and retreats from the inferno, the west coast entertainment industry has come to an abrupt halt as some of its own remain

on scene to lend a helping hand. days after the glittering golden globes, hollywood paralyzed by flames. >> this thing is blowing up. >> production halted across tinseltown from recent globes winner hacks on hbo to game show the price is right and late night talk show jimmy kimmel live! the screen actors guild awards canceling its in-person nomination announcements as actors turned into real life action heroes. >> yesterday at 9 a.m, everything was fine. it was an idyllic day. before i knew it, at 945, i looked up and there was a huge plume of smoke in the air. >> steve guttenberg has starred in huge hits like police academy, three men and a baby and it takes two. >> i got my car and i started heading down sunset boulevard and it was packed. got to palisades drive, which my house is up, and it was packed. two miles of traffic. everybody was in their cars either trying to

go in or trying to go out. i called my wife, tried to see if everything was okay. called my friends and people that i loved and cared about, and then found out that the fires were raging way above my house. huge fire. and then i looked behind me and there was another fire in town. and before i knew it, the winds were blowing so hard and they were devil winds. >> despite the danger, guttenberg sprang into action. initially unrecognized by ktla cameras. >> sir, what's your name? >> my name is steve guttenberg, as he urged residents to leave their keys in abandoned cars so he could move them for firefighters. >> there are people stuck up there, so we're trying to clear palisades drive, and i'm walking up there as far as i can, moving cars. you know, i'm able bodied and i'm strong. and how could i walk away? and i saw all these cars in the street where people just left them. but how could i not move them out of the way to help fire department get through? how could i not help a man in a wheelchair? how could i not help a woman who's

bewildered and trying to find her kids because they don't know. she doesn't know where they are coming out of the school. how could i not help a woman who can't speak english with her boss's car? how could i not help her to just say, put the car on the side of the road? don't worry about it. and just get out of here. we got to save lives. don't worry about the mercedes. >> we caught up with guttenberg as he was trying to check on his own home. >> there's police here, and there's things going on. i'm not in a studio right now. i'm in an active fire area. i try to find a way to get up to my house. >> the palisades and malibu neighborhoods have long been a haven for celebrities, but now famous residents are left sharing heartbreaking images. paris hilton posting this kabc video on instagram that shows her malibu home burned to the ground on live tv. >> okay, okay, i hear the producer i do not i. think the last time we were on the doorpost, our reality tv star heidi montag, comforted by her young son after safely evacuating the home she shares

with husband spencer pratt. >> pratt, posting this video on tiktok of the blaze. soap star cameron mathison showing the still burning remains of his family's home on instagram. veteran actor james woods forced to flee after shooting this video on x. >> we've got a lot of planes going over dropping water. >> overcome with emotion speaking to cnn recounting that his 94 year old neighbor was thankfully saved by a friend. >> there was so much chaos. it was like an inferno. every house was on fire around us and you know, he got him out and the house burned down. about an hour later, he would have been in there alone. it was just yet, amidst so much devastation and destruction, there's hope. >> it's going to be tough, but we're going to rebuild and we're going to put one foot in front of the other. we're going to help each other. we're going to hold each other up. i care about the people in my neighborhood,

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been saved. >> and finally, tonight, we salute the firefighters and first responders tirelessly battling the flames. they come from l.a. county, from neighboring counties, and at least a half dozen states working selflessly. even the experienced admitting they've never seen anything like this terrifying inferno just jumping from home to home right now with this wind, there's nothing to stop it. >> those erratic wind gusts were throwing embers for multiple miles ahead of the fire, helping families, the trapped and the most vulnerable. >> working tirelessly without sleep. we are grateful for your service. our coverage of the los angeles fires will continue overnight and on gma in the morning. that's nightline. you

can watch all of our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here at the same time tomorrow. take good care. america. iconic? >> everyone's talking about elton john. >> sir elton john, elton john, elton john, elton john. >> there will never be another. everything that you want elton john to be. >> he is a superstar and a legend. >> now elton john opens up, in his own words, his incredible career. >> i had to be flamboyant. i had to be acrobatic. i've been through so much and i've come out the other side. his battles with addiction when i was using it was like i was so felt so bad about myself. awful. his health. it's been four months now since i haven't been able to see. and my left eye is not the greatest. so there's hope and encouragement that it will be okay.