Former Arsenal striker Carlos Vela has become the latest star to suffer at the hands of the devastating bushfires ravaging Los Angeles.
Vela's wife revealed on Thursday that their 5,121 sq ft Malibu home, valued at $4 million (£3.3 million), had burned down in flames that have wreaked havoc on the affluent Los Angeles suburb of Palisades. .
On the morning of January 7, severe drought and winds of up to 100 miles per hour sparked wildfires. Since then, the infernos have killed at least ten people, destroyed thousands of homes and forced more than 130,000 residents to evacuate.
“Our beautiful house in Malibu burned down yesterday… We are still in shock from everything that is happening,” Saioa Canibano wrote on Instagram.
'It's very sad and scary to see everything burning. To all the concerned messages you are sending us, we are safe. I send a lot of love to all those affected and I hope they soon put out the fire.'
Vela, who has been a star for MLS side LA FC since arriving in 2018, showed off the family's luxurious home in a Christmas Instagram post last month.
Carlos Vela's wife has revealed that their family home burned down in the devastating Los Angeles wildfires.
The Mexican soccer player showed off his luxurious house in an Instagram post before Christmas
The 5,121 sq ft property valued at $4 million (£3.3 million) featured five bedrooms, a chef's kitchen and a swimming pool.
The luxurious abode reportedly featured five bedrooms, more than five bathrooms, a chef's kitchen with breakfast bar and center island, as well as a dining room, living room, great room, movie theater, wine cellar, and a guest suite. .
Additionally, the home reportedly included a spa, media room, and three suites with bathrooms and a laundry room.
The property was on nearly 6,500 square feet of land and included a swimming pool.
Vela and his family moved to Los Angeles before his first season with the team in 2018. The Mexican proved to be somewhat successful in the country and won the 2019 MLS MVP, an MLS Cup trophy and two Supporters titles 'Shields.
The 32-year-old left the club after the 2023 season before rejoining at the end of 2024 for the remainder of the campaign. Both he and the team are still in talks about his future.
Several famous California residents have seen their homes burn down during the massacre. The homes of Paris Hilton, Anthony Hopkins, Tina Knowles, John Goodman, Candy Spelling, Milo Ventimiglia and Miles Teller are among those destroyed, while dozens of other stars now face an anxious wait with their neighbors to find out if they can be saved. something.
Hilton made an emotional return to the charred remains of her Malibu beach house, which she had bought for $8.2m (£6.4m), after it was destroyed in the catastrophic fires.
The 43-year-old shared a heartbreaking video on her Instagram page on Thursday when she discovered what was left of the property and said she was in “complete shock.”
Paris Hilton, 43, made an emotional return to the charred remains of her Malibu beach house, which was destroyed in the catastrophic fires across Southern California; seen in November 2024 in West Hollywood
It comes just a day after the TV personality, 43, confirmed she watched the property “burn to the ground on live TV”.
She filmed the clip while walking through the remains of the driveway that was still standing, but later revealed that the rest of the house had been reduced to a pile of rubble after being destroyed in the Pacific Palisades fire.
She wrote: “I am here, in what used to be our house, and the heartbreak is truly indescribable.”
'When I first saw the news, I was in complete shock – I couldn't process it. But now, standing here and seeing it with my own eyes, I feel like my heart has shattered into a million pieces.'
Hilton added that her heart continues to break “knowing that this is not just my story.”
'Many people have lost everything. It's not just the walls and ceilings, it's the memories that made those houses homes. They are the photographs, the memories, the irreplaceable pieces of our lives.'
But despite dealing with the “pain” of losing the house, Paris shared that she still felt “incredibly lucky,” adding: “My loved ones, my babies and my pets are safe.”
The remains of Paris Hilton's Malibu beach house can also be seen in shocking images taken on Thursday.
The modern property had three bedrooms, three bathrooms and floor-to-ceiling windows. Part of the main entrance wall is still standing, while the rest of the house has been completely burned.
Neighboring properties bordering the star's beach house along the road have also been torched.
The star expressed that the house “wasn't just a place to live, it was where we dreamed, laughed and created the most beautiful memories as a family.”
The remains of Paris Hilton's Malibu beach house can also be seen in shocking images taken on Thursday
A few scattered trees can be seen standing, but they are barren and black after being charred by the flames. Smoke was still rising from the property massacre as the sun began to set in the distance.
The vacation home also contained numerous balconies offering panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean just meters away, but these were also destroyed.
Candy Spelling and Diane Warren are other celebrities who lost their beach homes in the Palisades fire, which claimed the lives of two people, according to CBS News.
In the Palisades fire alone, about 5,300 structures have been destroyed, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The Eaton Fire near the Altadena and Pasadena area has knocked down between 4,000 and 5,000 structures as of Thursday.
Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley stated, “The Palisades Fire is one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history of Los Angeles.”
The catastrophic fires, which started Tuesday amid strong Santa Ana winds, have forced about 180,000 people from their homes across Southern California, according to NBC News.
Residents such as Anthony Hopkins, Tina Knowles, Jeff Bridges, Miles Teller and John Goodman also lost their homes in the fires.
Firefighters battle the Eaton Fire as it spreads across more than 10,000 acres of north Los Angeles
On Thursday, satellite images showed how the fires spread to cover more than 27,000 acres in just three days.
When the fire broke out on Tuesday, the European Space Agency's Sentinel-2 satellite detected the first plumes of smoke spreading over the Pacific Ocean.
In images taken just hours later, NASA's Aqua satellite showed how the fire had already spread through the winding streets of the Pacific Palisades neighborhood.
And, in time-lapse images captured by the Cooperative Institute for Atmospheric Research (CIRA), you can see how the powerful Santa Ana winds caused the infernos to spread rapidly across the city.
In a post on
After the Palisades Fire broke out on Tuesday morning, the first satellite images were captured at 10:45 local time.
The orbital camera clearly shows how the fire began as a wildfire in a forested region west of Santa Monica.
When NASA captured an image of the fire later that day, the fire had spread out of control and burned more than 11,000 hectares by the afternoon of January 8.
Satellite images also show how multiple fires quickly broke out across the city.
A timelapse shared by CIRA shows the glow of a second wildfire appearing to the north in the Eaton neighborhood.
This image uses shortwave infrared imaging to show the number of buildings on fire in the Altadena region of Los Angeles. Each bright red square is an individual house on fire. It is estimated that the fire has destroyed more than 1,000 homes in the neighborhood
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, authorities said.
Two new fires broke out overnight in the Hollywood Hills and Studio City, prompting a mandatory evacuation order to be issued in the celebrity hub.
The National Guard has been deployed and could send military personnel to help, amid revelations that firefighters are “sorting” homes and neighborhoods.
As of 20:45 local time (04:00 GMT) on Friday morning, there are five active fires in the city and zero percent are contained.
Firefighters have managed to fully contain two smaller fires, while an additional fire in the Acton area has been partially contained.
The incredible speed with which fires can spread is due to a dangerous mix of low rainfall and strong winds.
The Santa Ana winds are an annual period of high wind speeds that occur between October and January as a pressure gradient is created between the Great Basin to the east and the cooler Pacific to the west.
These winds drive dry, gusty winds up the slopes of inland mountain ranges, through narrow canyons, and out to sea through Los Angeles.
This year, Santa Ana winds blew at around 40 miles per hour (65 kmph) with gusts reaching 100 miles per hour (160 kmph) in some areas.
These winds have fueled the fires and caused them to spread much faster than normal.
Although these winds are not unusual, things are made worse by the fact that Los Angeles is currently experiencing its driest start to the year since records began in 1944.