Some of Hollywood’s wealthiest celebrities were among a quarter of a million people forced to leave their homes in California yesterday as wildfires continued to engulf vast areas of the state, leaving at least one person dead and dozens injured.

The most dramatic fires affected Malibu, a tiny yet hugely wealthy celebrity enclave on the Pacific coastline, and forced the evacuation of the homes owned by James Cameron, the Titanic director, and the singer Olivia Newton-John.

Other celebrities who own homes in Malibu — located to the west of Los Angeles and connected by only a narrow mountain pass and the congested Pacific Coast Highway — include Sting, Robert Redford, Barbra Streisand, Cher and Richard Gere.

“I woke up around 5.30 this morning and smelt smoke,” David Masi, a Malibu resident, said. “I kept smelling it and the smoke kept getting more and more pervasive.”

As the Malibu fire grew ever more destructive, thousands of students were told to leave the campus of Pepperdine University, which was relocated from South Central Los Angeles in the 1970s as part of the city’s so-called “white flight” phenomenon. Nearby, the Malibu Presbyterian Church and several homes burnt to the ground, and the Pacific Coast Highway — the setting for several road-movies, including Sideways — was closed, shutting off access to the city.

There is alarm at the increasing regularity of such “megafires” in America’s West. Some environmentalists have criticised residents of districts such as Malibu for refusing to allow “controlled burns”, which get rid of flammable undergrowth that would, under natural circumstances, be destroyed every year by smaller fires. However, controlled burns can be unsightly — they can leave ash in resident’s swimming pools, for example — and are difficult to control.

Nevertheless, some argue that a zero-tolerance approach to fire, and the resulting build-up of brush, is partly to blame for the larger wildfires of recent years, which have been much harder to contain. In 2003 a deer hunter started a fire that killed 17 Californians and burnt through an area the size of Luxembourg.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Governor of California, declared a state of emergency in seven of its southern counties, telling reporters that it was “a tragic time for California”. Firefighters worked continuously to control the blazes, which were worsened by the notoriously hot and dry Santa Ana winds and unusually high temperatures. “Throughout the region more than 30,000 acres have already burnt and more areas are threatened,” said Mr Schwarzenegger’s office. “The wildfires have caused the loss of human life and serious injuries.”

The governor confirmed that one person had died and four were injured while trying to save a home in the town of Potrero, east of San Diego. At least another 13 people were injured in 11 separate fires, and 250,000 were forced to leave their homes throughout San Diego county. Hundreds of patients at a hospital and nursing homes were taken to a safe location by school buses and ambulances. “We have more houses burning than we have people and engine companies to fight them,” Lisa Blake, the San Diego fire captain, said. “A lot of people are going to lose their homes today.”

The fires shut a main power line from Arizona, cutting power to at least 37,000 people yesterday, but the region’s grid was able to serve more than 99 per cent of customers.

With temperatures likely to reach 35C (96F) in Los Angeles this week, the state is likely to remain on alert. Yesterday 1,500 firefighters were deployed and helicopters were dropping water from the air.

“This fire’s been very erratic and it has moved rapidly when it has moved with the winds,” Michael Freeman, the Los Angeles county fire chief, said. “But it’s not over until it’s over, and we are a long way from there.”

The fire is the latest blow for Malibu property owners, who are already struggling because of the recent housing crash. One property, Malibu Castle — also known as Castle Kashan — had been on the market this year for $17 million (£8 million). It is now in ruins.

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