L.A. wildfires force NHL to postpone Flames vs. Kings game

With fierce wildfires raging uncontrolled throughout the Los Angeles area, the NHL announced that Wednesday's game between the Calgary Flames and L.A. Kings has been postponed. 

At least four separate blazes were burning in the metropolitan area, from the Pacific Coast inland to Pasadena, forcing residents to flee through flames and towering clouds of smoke.

The fires have destroyed more than 1,000 structures and killed at least two people.

The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play Wednesday night at the Kings' downtown arena. 

"The thoughts of the entire NHL family are with the Kings, hockey fans and the people of the Los Angeles area during this difficult time," the league said in an emailed statement.

In a post on the social platform X, the Kings thanked the league for helping to keep its fans, staff and players safe. 

"Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community. We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community," the team said. 

A makeup date will be scheduled as soon as possible, the NHL said. 

At least 70,000 residents have been ordered to evacuate — a number that keeps changing because evacuation orders are continually being issued, officials said.

About 400,000 customers were without power in southern California Wednesday afternoon, with about 260,000 of them in Los Angeles County, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide.