The toll of the devastating fires still churning through Los Angeles is compounding for the film industry as the crisis enters its third day, with more events being postponed and stars like Paris Hilton, Billy Crystal and Mandy Moore mourning the destruction of their homes.  

Oscar-winner Jamie Lee Curtis pledged $1 million US to the relief effort on Thursday, stating in an Instagram post that she wants to start a fund for the city’s recovery. She added that she was communicating with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Sen. Adam Schiff to ensure the funds are directed appropriately.

Firefighters are currently battling four separate blazes stretching from the Pacific Coast to inland Pasadena. At least five people have been killed, and 130,000 people are under evacuation orders.

Only a few days ago, Hollywood’s biggest stars were walking the red carpet at the Golden Globes to kick off the award show season. 

Now, major industry events have been knocked off course by the fires. The Oscar nominations have been delayed by two days to Jan. 19. Three awards events, including the Critics Choice Awards, have been postponed or rescheduled. The Screen Actors Guild Award nominations were released Wednesday by press release instead of an in-person announcement. At least two film premieres have been cancelled, and shooting has been paused for shows and films in the affected area. 

The largest of the fires has been burning since Tuesday morning, when it roared through the affluent neighbourhood of Pacific Palisades, sending residents scrambling to flee and leaving the roads jammed with abandoned cars. After the worst of the flames moved on, images of the region show that almost nothing was spared.

Los Angeles looks like “you’re in some sort of Armageddon movie” right now, said Canadian voice actor Tara Strong. 

“I don’t remember a citywide disaster affecting Los Angeles like this since the earthquake in ’94, which was my second week in L.A.,” she told CBC News on Thursday. 

‘We can see from our house the flames’

Strong lives in Malibu, which is currently threatened by the same fire that swept through the Palisades. They’ve been without power since Tuesday. 

“If you just drive, we’re about nine minutes away from the biggest fire in Malibu,” she said. “We can see from our house the flames, the smoke.”

Strong hasn’t been issued an evacuation order yet but believes it’s only a matter of time. Members of the household have packed bags and are making plans for how to transport their animals — one dog and three reptiles that need certain temperatures in their enclosures. 

“We’re definitely not leaving without our animals,” Strong said. 

She said it’s been heartening to see the film and animation industry pulling together in this crisis, with people sharing information, extending deadlines for auditions, raising money and taking other people’s pets. 

“It’s beautiful to see the human side of people coming together being more important than when an audition gets done, or when something gets cast, or when an awards show can be announced.”

Stars who lost their homes in the fires

Singer and actor Mandy Moore, who evacuated with her family on Tuesday, said Wednesday that she had lost her home in Altadena, near the Palisades. 

“Honestly, I’m in shock and feeling numb,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “My children’s school is gone. Our favourite restaurants, levelled. So many friends and loved ones have lost everything too. Our community is broken but we will be here to rebuild together.”

In a video posted to his Instagram page on Thursday, actor Cameron Mathison showed what was left of the home his family had lived in for 13 years: a smoking pile of rubble, small flames still flickering among the debris, just feet away from a pristine tile walkway and still-green hedges. 

“This is what’s left of our beautiful home,” the caption read. 

When he first saw the destroyed house, he made a sound he had never heard himself utter before, Mathison told CNN. 

“It’s kind of a guttural pain and disbelief and shock and fear as I was approaching my property and not seeing the house.”

His block had been so destroyed that it looked, in some areas, like “there was no houses ever built there,” the Canadian-born actor told CNN. 

Their family is mourning the loss of irreplaceable items like baby photos taken on film, their kids’ early art projects and family cards and ornaments gathered over the years, he said.  

“These are the things that you can’t replace. And that’s part of a disaster like this.”

Paris Hilton shared a news clip to her Instagram on Wednesday, saying that watching her home in Malibu “burn to the ground on live TV is something no one should ever have to experience.”

That house was where her son Phoenix took his first steps and where they “built so many precious memories.”

Reality TV stars Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag, known for The Hills, confirmed on social media that their home was lost in the Palisades fire. 

Montag said Wednesday in an Instagram story that she’d only packed two pairs of jeans and two shirts for herself before they evacuated. Emotion creeping into her voice, she added that they thought, “Of course, I’m coming back” when deciding what to bring. 

Pratt shared an image from the cameras in their nursery, taken as the house burned down, pointing out flames “in the shape of a heart,” and calling it “a sign of how much love was in this house.”

Billy Crystal and his wife, Janice, said in a statement Wednesday that the home they had lived in for 45 years had been destroyed in the Palisades fire. 

“Janice and I lived in our home since 1979,” they wrote. “We raised our children and grandchildren here. Every inch of our house was filled with love. Beautiful memories that can’t be taken away. We are heartbroken of course but with the love of our children and friends we will get through this.”

Ricki Lake, television host and actress, was also mourning her home on Thursday. She posted photos of the property taken before it burned down, writing that she’d lost her “dream home”. 

“This loss is immeasurable,” she said. “It’s the spot where we got married three years ago.”

Singer-songwriter Jhene Aiko wrote that “me and my children’s home is gone” in a Thursday Instagram post, “burned to the ground with all of our things inside.” 

“Thankful we still have each other,” she added. 

Star Trek actress Denise Crosby posted on X that her home had also been destroyed in the fires. It was “the only house I’ve ever owned,” she wrote. “Now, ashes.”

Other celebrities known to have homes in the area include Adam Sandler, Ben Affleck, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Cary Elwes, who confirmed on Instagram that his home had also been lost in the fire shortly after he posted a video of himself evacuating on a road flanked by flames. 

Star Wars actor Mark Hamill evacuated his home in Malibu on Tuesday, saying there were “small fires on both sides of the road” as they drove. Canadian actor Eugene Levy also evacuated on Tuesday, telling the Los Angeles Times he had to flee through dark smoke.

After the latest fire broke out in the Hollywood Hills on Wednesday evening, pictures depicting the Hollywood sign on fire began to circulate on social media before being proven to be fake. 

Jeff Zarrinnam, chair of the Hollywood Sign Trust, said in a statement Thursday morning that “the sign itself is not affected and is secure.”