Fires force LA stars to flee
Wednesday, 24 Oct 2007 08:34
Mel Gibson is one of many celebrities who has left his home due to the fires
Famous actors and musicians living in Los Angeles are leaving their homes and shifting to hotels as forest fires continue to rage in the state.
The blazes have resulted in the evacuations of more than 500,000 people in California, where a state of emergency has been declared, as wildfires continue to rage in the area.
Mel Gibson has left his beachfront home for safer shores and Frasier star Kelsey Grammer also said he had left his Malibu mansion. The television actor added that he, his family and his pets were safe.
Actress Jane Seymour, of Dr Quinn: Medicine Woman fame, also stated that a mandatory evacuation order had been issued for her community.
Meanwhile the Associated Press reports that Promises, the substance abuse recovery centre used by Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan, has moved staff and services to hotels due to "very frightening conditions" in the area.
The rehabilitation centre's chief executive Richard Rogg told the news provider: "The power went out, the winds were blowing at hurricane force and you could see flames coming over the mountain top."
There are also reports of luxury hotels around the area, such as the Viceroy and the Four Seasons, have been booked solid for the whole week. Hotel managers in the city have said that a huge increase in occupancy rates has taken place since the fires began two days ago.
Fears about the speed at which the flames are spreading also led to the filming of popular television shows such as 24, The Riches and Big Shots being rescheduled.
Some 16 fires are raging from Los Angeles to the Mexican border and have already killed one person.