Oscar nominations announcement postponed again due to fires in California
The announcement of the list of nominees for the Oscars has been postponed to January 23 amid the fires in Los Angeles (California). This was reported by Variety magazine on January 13.
"The organizers of the Oscars ceremony have announced changes in the schedule, the extension of the voting period for nominations and the postponement of key events in connection with the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles," - specified in the publication.
Thus, the voting period will last until Friday, January 17, until 17:00 Pacific Time (January 18 04:00 Moscow time). Nominees will be announced on Thursday, January 23, at 05:30 am Pacific Time (January 23 16:30 Moscow time).
The publication specified that the 97th Oscar ceremony is still scheduled for Sunday, March 2, at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles.
Earlier, on January 8, it became known that the announcement of nominees for the Oscars was postponed from January 17 to 19 because of wildfires in Los Angeles (California). In addition, due to the spread of the fire in the Palisades, several premieres were canceled and temporarily suspended production of television shows.
Multiple wildfires in Los Angeles were reported on January 8. According to the latest reports, the death toll has risen to 24. Extinguishing continues, strong winds are fueling the fire, rescue crews are short of water. The state has declared a major disaster mode due to the fires. The projected damage from the fires will amount to about $52-57 billion. More than 12.3 thousand buildings were destroyed. The area covered by forest fires in Los Angeles, according to data from January 13, already exceeds the area of Liechtenstein. 40,306 acres (163 square kilometers) are engulfed in fire. At the same time, the area of Liechtenstein is 160 square kilometers.
Bloomberg reported on January 11 that the fire in California may have been caused by a broken wire. It was found on a tower connected to the Eagle Rock Sylmar power line. Meanwhile, The Washington Post wrote that the cause could have been the launching of fireworks on New Year's Eve.
More than 1,000 U.S. prisoners have been deployed to put out the fire, which is supposed to contain the spread of the fire. Mexico also sent a group of firefighters to Los Angeles to fight the fire.
