Gleeful young adults grin for selfies while deadly California wildfires roar behind them

A group of young adults were pictured smiling as they posed for selfies in front of a raging Southern California wildfire that has devastated the area.

The group, who have not been identified, were pictured by Getty photographer David McNew on Tuesday in an evacuation zone in Pasadena as the Eaton fire ripped through people’s homes.

At least five people have died as a result of the Eaton fire, the Los Angeles Fire Department confirmed, which has so far spread to 27,000 acres and forced the evacuation of 150,000.

A newspaper editor shared the picture on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and commented: “More madness.”

“Wow. Gross,” someone else replied, while another branded the group as “stupid, stupid, people.”

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday morning, chief of the Los Angeles Police Department Jim McDonnell had warned residents to get out of evacuation zones, emphasizing that it could make “the difference between living and not.”

“Take these these warnings, orders, to evacuate very seriously,” he told the press conference. “As you’ve heard over again, be ready to go, pack what you need up but then please comply with these orders.”

“We don’t give them put them out lightly,” he added. “When we believe that you’re in the path of the fire, we’re going to order that evacuation and we really, really need your compliance on that.”

“If you are told to evacuate and given an order, there is nothing worth your life,” L.A. County Fire Chief Anthony Morrone said. “Please listen to the police and fire officials that are out there and be prepared to evacuate.”

The Eaton fire prompted more than 50,000 evacuation orders, Angeles National Forest officials said. City spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said at least 550 houses were within the evacuation zones of the Eaton Canyon fire.

“We were having dinner with the family and we just had to leave because the fire was coming so fast,” Darinka Whitmore from Eaton Canyon in Altadena, who fled with her husband and their four children, told The New York Times. “We just grabbed our backpacks and our kids and our doggies.”

More than 80,000 residents in Los Angeles have evacuated their homes as the infernos in the Palisades, Eaton and Hurst show little sign of slowing down.

A 25-year-old female firefighter and “multiple burn victims” are among the injured, LAFD spokesperson Erik Scott said Wednesday morning.

The fires have spread in less than 24 hours and expanded to more than 25,000 acres as of Wednesday afternoon. They have been fueled by a fierce windstorm known as the Santa Ana winds, and officials are warning the situation could get worse as none of the blazes have been contained.

Gusts up to 70 mph in some areas are essentially fanning the flames as well as grounding firefighting aircraft. A wind advisory is in effect through Wednesday evening in southern California.

The first fire to erupt is burning in Pacific Palisades, an affluent coastal neighborhood on the west of Los Angeles, having started in 10.30 a.m. PT Tuesday. As of Wednesday afternoon it has burned more than 15,000 acres.

The blaze caused flaming embers to rain onto trees and rooftops in the neighborhood, with residents rushing to escape. It also created a traffic jam on Palisades Drive, blocking emergency vehicles from getting through. Crews used a bulldozer to push the abandoned cars off to the side, the Associated Press reported.

Several Hollywood stars — including Ben Affleck, Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson and Mark Hamill — have been forced to flee.