Wildfire in Northern California decimates town, while blazes in the south force evacuation of hundreds of thousands

A powerful wildfire in northern California has left at least nine dead after incinerating most of a town of about 30,000 people and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people – including some of Hollywood’s biggest stars.

The blaze has grown into the state’s most destructive fire in at least a century, growing to nearly 140 square miles and destroying more than 6,700 structures in just a day.

Fires are also burning in Southern California and state officials have put the total number of people forced from to evacuate their homes at about 250,000.

In the north of the state, people reported seeing much of the town of Paradise, where the blaze started, go up in flames, including homes, supermarkets, businesses, restaurants, schools and a retirement centre.

“There was really no firefight involved,” Captain Scott McLean of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said, explaining that crews gave up attacking the flames and instead helped people get out alive.

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The massive blaze spread north on Friday, prompting officials to order the evacuation of Stirling City and Inskip, two communities north of Paradise along the Sierra Nevada foothills.

The wind-driven flames also spread to the west and reached Chico, a city of 90,000 people. Firefighters were able to stop the fire at the edge of the city, California Fire captain Bill Murphy said.

Further south, evacuation orders included the entire city of Malibu, which is home to 13,000 people including some of Hollywood’s biggest stars.

Kim Kardashian West, Will Smith, Caitlyn Jenner and Denise Richards have all been forced to leave their homes.

Oscar-winning director Guillermo Del Toro also confirmed he had been evacuated and feared for his home and his extensive movie memorabilia collection, while former EastEnders star Patsy Palmer, who now lives near Los Angeles, was also forced to leave her home.

Popstar Katy Perry slammed Donald Trump’s response to the California wildfires as “absolutely heartless” after the US President – who has issued an emergency declaration providing federal funds for Butte, Ventura and Los Angeles counties – wrote on Twitter that they were the result of poor forest management.

Perry blasted: “This is an absolutely heartless response. There aren’t even politics involved. Just good American families losing their homes as you tweet, evacuating into shelters.”

According to reports, the wildfire is also thought to have destroyed the TV and movie production location known as Western Town at the Paramount Ranch, which was used for productions including 1938’s The Adventures Of Marco Polo and TV’s Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, and more recently for hit drama series Westworld.