Wildfire forces residents, celebrities to flee

The flames didn't discriminate. In wine country, farmworkers who toil in the vineyards were among those displaced. In Los Angeles, James and former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger were driven from their homes.

"Man these LA (fires) are no joke," the Los Angeles Lakers star tweeted, using an emoji for the word "fires." ''Crazy night."

The Hollywood premiere of Schwarzenegger's "Terminator: Dark Fate" was canceled Monday night.

Others who own homes in the evacuation zone include Sen. Kamala Harris, a Democrat running for president, who was not home at the time; Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger; and rapper and producer Dr. Dre.

Anxious residents made their way down steep hillsides in the middle of the night in Range Rovers, Teslas and Maseratis. They left behind homes decorated for Halloween — skeletons hanging from homes, goblins sitting on front steps, cobwebs draped over bushes — as a plume of smoke glowed like a giant pumpkin.

David Boyle, 78, awoke at 3 am to his doorbell ringing and police officers pounding on the front door. They warned him the wildfire was advancing toward his house near the Getty complex.

"They said, 'You need to evacuate.' I'm like, 'When?' They said, 'Now,'" Doyle said.

He grabbed dog food and his wife's jewelry and hustled his dogs out the door. They went to a recreation center.

"It's a fact of life when you live in this area," he said. "Every place has some problem with disasters. People talk about earthquakes here, but I don't think it's as bad as hurricane season."

Tens of thousands of people were ordered to clear out as the fire spread to more than 600 acres and burned at least five homes, authorities said.

The evacuation area extended west into Pacific Palisades, encompassing some of the most exclusive real estate in California, where celebrities and wealthy professionals live in estates nestled in canyons or on ridgetop retreats that cost tens of millions of dollars but are surrounded by tinder-dry vegetation.

Hours after homes had burned, some of the 1,000-plus firefighters battling the flames were hosing down smoldering ruins. Others attacked flare-ups in the brush-covered wilderness around neighborhoods.