Fallout season 2 filming delayed due to massive LA fires
Production was expected to begin on January 8 but the LA County Fire Department has withdrawn all filming permits as it continues to battle massive fires in the area.
Production of the second season of the Amazon series Fallout, along with numerous other shows, has been delayed by the massive wildfires in LA County. Deadline had reported that work on the series was slated to resume on January 8, but Film LA (via GameSpot) says the LA County Fire Department has withdrawn all permits for filming in Altadena, La Crescenta, La Canada/Flintridge and Unincorporated Pasadena, and warned that permits in other areas could also be revoked.
CNN says the Palisades Fire has now grown to more than 17,000 acres, "with zero containment," while the Eaton Fire has surpassed 10,000 acres. At least five people have been killed, and nearly 2,000 homes, businesses, and other structures have been destroyed. Other, significantly smaller but still largely uncontained fires are also burning, and roughly 130,000 people are under evacuation orders or warnings.
Some game studios in the area have closed their offices and told employees to stay home in order to facilitate evacuation and help keep streets clear for emergency vehicles. "Employee safety and well-being is our top priority," an Activision spokesperson told PC Gamer on Wednesday morning. "We're actively monitoring the situation as it is quickly evolving. We've been in contact with the employees closest to the impacted areas to confirm their safety and provide resources."
Variety, which cited numerous other shows that have paused production because of the fires including Hacks, NCIS, Grey's Anatomy, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and Abbott Elementary, said filming on Fallout was tentatively set to resume on Friday. Given the ongoing state of the fires, however, that seems unlikely. A separate Yahoo report says Fallout filming is now planned to resume on February 10, although that's dependent on the weather and state of the fires.
A map of the fires and evacuation orders can be found on the Cal Fire website and Watch Duty.
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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.