Podcaster Andrew Huberman has claimed people are lighting fires in urban areas of Los Angeles which had otherwise not been affected by the devastating wildfires.
The 49-year-old Stanford neuroscientist claims to have witnessed an incident of people starting a fire ‘first hand’ in Santa Monica, near to Crescent Bay Park.
It comes as two new blazes broke out overnight in the Hollywood Hills and Studio City, forcing responders to redeploy their already-scarce resources to the burnt landscape, as more than 130,000 people have been placed under evacuation orders.
At least five people have lost their lives in the disaster so far — with 2,000 structures obliterated and thousands of people left with nothing but ash across the city.
Huberman, who has 5.2 million subscribers to his health podcast Huberman Lab, took to social media platform X to share the footage, urging people to ‘call in any activity’.
He wrote: ‘People are lighting fires in otherwise non-burning urban areas of LA.
‘Saw this happen first hand in Santa Monica. Called it in & fire dept & police responded.
‘Stay safe and call in any activity ASAP. We don’t need more flames out here.’
The footage shows a group of men standing around a large fire as smoke billows into the sky, while the adjacent tree has also been set ablaze as a result. One man can be seen filming the incident on his phone.
However, it is unclear from the video how the fire was started.
Pictured: A grab of the footage shared to X by Andrew Huberman which shows a group of men standing around a large fire in Santa Monica, LA
Pictured: The footage shows a group of men standing around a large blaze as smoke billows into the sky. One also appears to film the incident on his phone
Neurobiology professor Andrew Huberman (pictured speaking at a conference in Boston in 2023) claimed to have witnessed the incident first hand
The footage received a mixed reaction online, with some labelling it as ‘insane’ and ‘horrific’, while another said ‘what an absolute nightmare’.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has been dominating news headlines recently due to his ongoing feud with Sir Keir Starmer, also responded to the footage with: ‘Wow’.
One person wrote: ‘Oh God. This is a very frightening and very sad incident. I have not been able to sleep for many nights.’
Another person said: ‘Why would anyone do this?’
‘Disgusting. It feels like LA is under attack right now. Fires are everywhere. Stay safe!’ said another.
But not everyone was convinced by the claims, as one person said: ‘Getting really annoyed at the tin foil wearing conspiracy folks saying the fires in LA are from arson.
‘Do they really not know how far embers can travel in wind, let alone high wind? The stupidity is just stunning.’
It comes as raging wildfires surrounding Los Angeles spread to the Hollywood Hills last night after other fires in the area killed at least five people, destroyed hundreds of homes and stretched firefighting resources and water supplies to the limit.
A new fire broke out in the parched Hollywood Hills yesterday evening, Fire Chief Kristin Crowley told a press conference, forcing more evacuations and raising the number of wildfires burning in Los Angeles County to at least six.
Huberman, who has 5.2 million subscribers to his health podcast Huberman Lab, took to social media platform X to share the footage, urging people to ‘call in any activity’
Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has been dominating news headlines recently due to his ongoing feud with Sir Keir Starmer, responded to the footage with: ‘Wow’
The footage received a mixed reaction online, with some labelling it as ‘insane’ and ‘horrific’, while another said ‘what an absolute nightmare’
Four of them were 0 per cent contained according to state officials, including a pair of major conflagrations on the eastern and western flanks of the city that continued to grow as night fell yesterday.
In between, the so-called Sunset Fire in Hollywood Hills scorched 50 acres yesterday, Cal Fire said.
Helicopter crews and ground teams appeared to be making progress impeding its rapid advance.
The LA Fire Department issued an evacuation order for people in an area within Hollywood Boulevard to the south, Mulholland Drive to the north, the 101 Freeway to the east and Laurel Canyon Boulevard to the west.
Within that area is the Dolby Theater, where the Oscars are held. Next week’s Oscar nominations announcement was already postponed by two days because of the fire, organisers said.
A helicopter flies as smoke rises from the Sunset Fire in the hills over Hollywood yesterday
Firefighters battle the Palisades Fire as it burns during a storm on the west side of Los Angeles
A person uses a garden hose in an effort to save a home from catching in Altadena yesterday
The remains of a home destroyed during the Palisades Fire in Malibu are pictured last night
Flames rise from the Sunset Fire in the hills overlooking the Hollywood area of Los Angeles
A car burns as the Eaton Fire moves through the area of Altadena in California yesterday
Though relatively small, the Sunset Fire burned just above Hollywood Boulevard and its Walk of Fame. It would need to cross the 101 Freeway to endanger the Hollywood sign and Griffith Observatory further up in the hills.
Nearby, a structure fire claimed at least two homes and spread to brush in Studio City, live television footage showed. More than 50 firefighters extinguished the fire with no injuries reported, the LA Fire Department said.
On the west side of Los Angeles, the Palisades Fire consumed 15,832 acres and hundreds of structures in the hills between Santa Monica and Malibu, racing down Topanga Canyon until reaching the Pacific Ocean yesterday.
A home reportedly belonging to Hollywood actors Leighton Meester and Adam Brody was one of the buildings destroyed.
Aerial video by KTLA television showed block after block of smouldering homes in Pacific Palisades, the smoky grid occasionally punctuated by the orange blaze of another home still on fire.
To the east, in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, the Eaton Fire claimed another 10,600 acres, another 1,000 structures, and killed at least five people, officials said.
Private forecaster AccuWeather estimated initial damage and economic loss at more than $50billion (£40billion).
