PASADENA (Reuters) – A McDonald's restaurant in California was engulfed in flames on Tuesday evening, as the Eaton Fire broke out some 30 miles (50 km) inland near Pasadena.
The wildfire doubled in size to 400 acres (162 hectares) in a few hours, according to Cal Fire.
Almost 100 residents from a nursing home in Pasadena were evacuated, according to CBS News. Video showed elderly residents, many in wheelchairs and on gurneys, crowded onto a smokey and windswept parking lot as fire trucks and ambulances attended.
The fire wiped homes off an entire street. A Reuters eyewitness on the scene filmed firefighters battling raging flames from the Eaton Fire, where homes were burnt to their bare skeletal structures. Large parts of the area were flattened with debris still burning, the footage showed.
The Eaton Fire was the second blaze to hit California after a first rapidly growing wildfire raged across Pacific Palisades area between the coastal settlements of Santa Monica and Malibu on Tuesday, which officials said had burned at least 2,921 acres (1,182 hectares) of land.
The Eaton Fire, reported at about 6:20 pm (0220 GMT) quickly exploded and has since grown to 1,000 acres (404.6 hectares) so far, Cal Fire said.