LeBron James & Arnold Shwarzenegger forced to evacuate by LA wildfires

More than 1,000 firefighters battled a wind-driven blaze Monday that broke out near rewned Getty Center in Los Angeles, prompting widespre evacuations as flames destroyed several homes and forced shutdown of schools and ros. so-called Getty Fire ignited overnight near a major freeway and quickly spre south and west towards neighborhoods, scorching some 600 acres (240 hectares) and sending people fleeing in dark. By Monday afteron, fire crews h slowed pace of blaze and were racing to contain it before strong winds hit region again Tuesday evening through Thursday. Authorities said some 1,100 firefighters were battling an infer that threatened 10,000 structures, many of m multi-million dollar homes. Among those forced to flee was Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, who tweeted that he and his family h evacuated his home in upscale neighborhood of Brentwood during night.

Arld Schwarzenegger also said on Monday that he h to flee.

"We will be donating food intended for after-party to American Red Cross, which is serving those affected by fires," Paramount said in a statement.

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Gerry artifacts unharmed as building is fire resistant

Getty Center, which is home to a priceless art collection, said ne of pieces were under threat from flames, tably because building is designed to be fire-resistant. "Many have asked about art -- it is protected by state-of--art techlogy," museum said in a tweet. Getty Fire broke out as California has been dealing with a number of wildfires that have ignited throughout state in last week, forcing massive evacuations and power cuts.

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Statewide emergency over wind-driven fire

California's goverr declared a statewide emergency on Sunday as a wind-driven fire in Soma wine region rth of San Francisco spre out of control, forcing tens of thousands to flee. Kince Fire, which erupted last Wednesday and is largest so far this year, h spre to more than 66,000 acres -- or more than 100 square miles (260 square kilometers) -- by Monday afteron and was only 15 percent contained. Firefighters have also been battling a number of ditional fires fed by strong winds, low humidity, and high temperatures. Residents who fled Kince Fire recalled hasty departures as y waited it out in safety of a community center in Petaluma, California.

" police came with loudspeakers. We weren't expecting it," said Kathy Amundson, who fled with her wheelchair-bound 90-year-old mor Joy. "We smelled smoke, we couldn't see it," she said. "Looks like our home is safe but fear is wind blowing embers and n it starts new fires." Ors were t so lucky. fire has destroyed dozens of homes and vineyards, including rewned 150-year-old Soda Rock Winery.

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Authorities said more than 3,000 firefighters and responders were battling Kince Fire, which was t expected to be fully contained before vember 7. Firefighters are struggling to prevent flames from spreing west toward areas that have t experienced fires since 1940s and where vegetation is dense and dry, providing dangerous fuel. An estimated 180,000 people were under mandatory evacuation orders, including parts of city of Santa Rosa and a large swath of Soma County extending all way to Pacific Ocean. Nearly 80,000 structures are threatened, according to county sheriff's office.

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PG&E  transmission wire suspected as source of fire

In a bid to reduce risk of fire, California's largest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., has been turning off power to hundreds of thousands of customers across rrn and central California. PG&E has come under intense scrutiny after it emerged that one of its transmission lines may have played a role in Kince Fire. same of line was responsible for California's deliest-ever wildfire -- last year's Camp Fire, which killed 86 people. PG&E, which filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year, has been blamed for several or fires in state in recent years.

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