Rampaging wildfires around Los Angeles have killed at least two people and caused a “significant number” of serious injuries, officials tackling the terrifying blazes said Wednesday.More than 1,000 buildings have burned in multiple wildfires that have erupted around America’s second biggest city, forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes.Hurricane-force winds have whipped up fireballs that have leapt from home to home in the upmarket Pacific Palisades area, torching a swathe of California’s most desirable real estate.”We have well over 5,000 acres (2,000 hectares) that have burned, and the fire is growing,” Los Angeles Fire Chief Anthony Marrone told reporters.”We have no percentage of containment. We have an estimated 1,000 structures destroyed… and a high number of significant injuries to residents who did not evacuate.”A second major fire was burning around Altadena, north of the city, where footage showed flames consuming whole streets.”We have over 2,000 acres burning at this time, and the fire continues to grow with zero percent containment,” Marrone said.”We have over 500 personnel assigned, and unfortunately, we have two reported fatalities to civilians, unknown cause at this time. And we do have a number of significant injuries. We have over 100 structures destroyed.”Two other blazes in the area were also stretching resources.Vicious gusts were pushing the flames, whipping red-hot embers hundreds of meters (yards), sparking new spot fires faster than firefighters could quell them.As dawn broke, a vast pall of smoke was visible over Los Angeles, with the acrid tang of burning in the air.City mayor Karen Bass warned that the “windstorm is expected to worsen through the morning” in a post on X early Wednesday.Some firefighters were facing water shortages at hydrants in the Palisades, the Los Angeles Times reported.Emmy-award-winning actor James Woods posted a video showing flames engulfing trees and bushes near his home as he evacuated, adding all the fire alarms were going off.”I couldn’t believe our lovely little home in the hills held on this long. It feels like losing a loved one,” Woods said.- ‘Ran to the car’ -The first wildfire erupted on Tuesday morning and spread quickly, taking many residents by surprise.Pacific Palisades resident Andrew Hires told AFP he got a text alerting him to the fire as his child was at the dentist about to have a tooth extracted.”We pulled off the mask and ran to the car,” he said.Trees and vegetation around the Getty Villa were burned, but the structure and collections were spared, the museum said.The Getty, set up by US oil billionaire and collector J. Paul Getty and one of the world’s richest art museums, houses Greek and Roman antiquities in a replica Roman country home.The fire came as the area was being hit by seasonal Santa Ana winds that forecasters said could develop into the worst windstorm in a decade, with gusts of up to 100 miles (160 kilometers) an hour.”This looks pretty concerning,” said meteorologist Daniel Swain.Wildfires are part of life in the US West and play a vital role in nature.But scientists say human-caused climate change is altering weather patterns.Southern California had two decades of drought that were followed by two exceptionally wet years, which sparked furious vegetative growth — leaving the region packed with fuel and primed to burn.

World-famous actors, musicians and celebrities were among the tens of thousands of people affected by terrifying wildfires tearing through Los Angeles on Wednesday.The world’s entertainment capital was besieged by out-of-control blazes that were burning on multiple fronts, spread by hurricane-force winds that had left hundreds of firefighters almost helpless.Dozens of homes were known to have been lost in the swanky Pacific Palisades area, a favorite spot for celebrities where multimillion dollar houses nestle on beautiful hillsides.Emmy award-winning actor James Woods posted a video on X showing flames engulfing trees and bushes near his home as he got ready to evacuate, and shortly afterward said all the fire alarms were going off.”I couldn’t believe our lovely little home in the hills held on this long. It feels like losing a loved one,” Woods said.”Star Wars” star Mark Hamill told his followers on Instagram that he had fled his Malibu home on Tuesday.”Evacuated Malibu so last-minute there were small fires on both sides of the road as we approached PCH,” he wrote, referring to the Pacific Coast Highway, a scenic road that connects seafront settlements.The Luke Skywalker actor said he and his wife Marilou York, along with a pet dog, had gone to their daughter’s Hollywood home to escape what he dubbed the “most horrific fire since ’93.”Steve Guttenberg — star of 1984 comedy “Police Academy” — was among those helping get people out of Pacific Palisades as the fire began spreading on Tuesday.The “Cocoon” actor expressed frustration at how some of those fleeing the blaze had abandoned their cars on one of the only roads in and out of the ritzy neighborhood.”If you leave your car… leave the key in there so a guy like me can move your car so that these fire trucks can get up there. It’s really, really important,” he told a live television broadcast.”This Is Us” actress Mandy Moore was also among those who fled, taking her children and pets with her, according to an Instagram post.”Praying and grateful for the first responders,” she wrote.Reality TV personalities Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt from “The Hills,” an MTV show that ran until 2010, said they had lost their house after evacuating.”I’m watching our house burn down on the security cameras,” Pratt wrote on Snapchat.

Joe Biden thinks he could have won reelection if he had stayed in the White House race, he said in an interview published Wednesday — while conceding he was unsure if he would have served another full term.The 82-year-old Democrat, who leaves office on January 20, was asked by USA Today if he believed victory over Republican Donald Trump was a realistic prospect last November, and he pointed to unspecified polling and said: “I think yes.””I really thought I had the best chance of beating him. But I also wasn’t looking to be president when I was 85 years old, 86 years old. And so I did talk about passing the baton,” Biden said.”But I don’t know. Who the hell knows? So far, so good. But who knows what I’m going to be when I’m 86 years old?”Biden, the oldest US president in history, faced persistent questions about his mental fitness before withdrawing from the election after a calamitous televised debate against Trump in which he looked incapable of making the case for another term.He has given fewer sit-down interviews and press conferences than any president since Ronald Reagan, and USA Today was the only print outlet scheduled for a one-to-one before Biden leaves office.Biden was asked about regrets from the last four years but did not mention the presidential debate, or his decision to break his promise to be a single-term president and a “bridge” to next generation.Instead, he complained about misinformation — pointing to falsehoods to spread by Trump and others about two New Year’s Day attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas — and to the glacial pace of infrastructure projects.”I think we would’ve been a hell of a lot better off had we been able to go much harder at getting some of these projects in the ground quicker,” he said.Washington has been abuzz with discussion since Trump’s victory over potential preemptive pardons for those who may be in the Republican leader’s crosshairs when he returns to office.Biden confirmed that he was considering the idea but had not yet come to a decision.He described how he told Trump during their Oval Office meeting shortly after the election not to go after perceived enemies, warning that it was “counterintuitive for his interest to go back and try to settle scores.”Trump listened but did not offer a response, Biden said.  For his legacy, the veteran Democrat said he wanted to be remembered for having a plan to restore the post-pandemic economy and reestablish American global leadership.”That was my hope. I mean, you know, who knows?” Biden said. “And I hope (history) records that I did it with honesty and integrity, that I said what was on my mind.”

The US private sector added fewer jobs than anticipated in December, payroll firm ADP said Wednesday, with hiring and wage increases both cooling.Private sector employment rose by 122,000 jobs last month, said ADP, missing a consensus forecast of 131,000 according to Briefing.com.”The labor market downshifted to a more modest pace of growth in the final month of 2024, with a slowdown in both hiring and pay gains,” said ADP chief economist Nela Richardson.She added that health care added more jobs than other sectors in the second half of the year.The figure for December was also a slowdown from November’s employment gain of 146,000.In particular, hiring in manufacturing contracted for a third consecutive month, the report said.Most job increases were in the service-providing industries, with education and health services adding 57,000 roles.The bulk of job gains were also driven by companies employing 500 people or more.This adds to “evidence that small businesses are under the most financial pressure,” said Samuel Tombs, chief US economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.Analysts cautioned that ADP’s data is not always an effective gauge of the government employment report due Friday, although it helps them understand the big picture.”Right now, that picture is one of still substantial increases in jobs by a fast-growing economy but a slowing trend in job creation,” said Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics.”Today’s figures do not upset that trend,” he added.According to ADP, wage gains slowed in December, with those staying in their jobs seeing pay growth ease to 4.6 percent.This was the slowest pace since July 2021.For those who changed jobs, pay growth was 7.1 percent, slightly below November as well.Weinberg added that he expects the US economy to keep creating jobs until next year, stressing that “slower job growth in a slower-growing economy is not a recession.”He also said that the Federal Reserve “should not rush its rate-cutting agenda based on these figures.”