Punks distribute toys to children in need for Three Kings Day in Mexico City

MEXICO CITY (AP) — As a teenage punk 35 years ago, José Luis Escobar Hoyos wanted to show his mother that his lifestyle wasn’t just about dressing in chains and spikes and listening to loud, accelerated music.

So he started a project called Kings Punks, where he collected and distributed toys for children living on the street on Three Kings day, also known as Epiphany, when children in Mexico typically receive gifts from the three wise men.

“The bases of punk are mutual support and solidarity,” the 50-year-old said Sunday night as the gift drive was in full swing.

Over the years many volunteers have joined his effort. Sporting black t-shirts from their favorite bands, black boots and glimmering piercings, the punks handed out scooters, dinosaurs and other gifts to children in the streets of Mexico’s capital early Monday.

“Dealing with children and the way you get attached and can be supportive to them — that is priceless,” said Escobar, who is known locally as El Picos. “As we tell people: We don’t want diplomas, recognition or anything. We are punks, and that’s why we do it.”

In more recent years, Escobar has expanded beyond just the places he knows Mexican families are living in the streets to also include some of Mexico City’s migrant encampments.

Lucha libre wrestler Peter Punk – black tights and green and white mask – joined as well, participating in brief wrestling bouts on the pavement at each stop. Volunteers also string up a candy-filled piñata for children to bash.

One of the volunteers is shoemaker Marcos Grande. This year, he brought seven pairs of his boots to give away.

“The satisfaction of the children, bringing them a gift, a joy because many children do not have it, that is what is satisfying, taking it to where sometimes it does not reach, where they do not have the three kings but now here are friends, the group, the punks,” he said.

Volunteers known as The Punk Kings load a truck to distribute toys, clothes and pinatas to disadvantaged children in celebration of Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, in Mexico City, at night on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A woman receives food offered by volunteers who call themselves the Punk Kings as they distribute toys, clothes and pinatas to underprivileged children at a migrant shelter, on the occasion of the Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, in Mexico City, early Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Neighbors watch clothes donated by volunteers who call themselves the Punk Kings as they distribute toys, clothes and pinatas to underprivileged children on the occasion of the Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, celebration in Mexico City, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A volunteer of the group known as the Punk Kings takes photos during the distribution of toys, clothes and pinatas to underprivileged children on the occasion of the Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, in Mexico City, early Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A person walks with a bicycle donated by volunteers who call themselves the Punk Kings after they distributed toys, clothes and pinatas to underprivileged children at a migrant shelter on the occasion of the Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, in Mexico City, early Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Neighbors watch Lucha Libre wrestlers perform, arranged by volunteers who call themselves the Punk Kings as they distribute toys, clothes and pinatas to underprivileged children on the occasion of the Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, in Mexico City, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Migrants watch Lucha Libre wrestlers perform, organised by volunteers who call themselves the Punk Kings as they distribute toys, clothes and pinatas to underprivileged children at a migrant shelter on the occasion of the Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, in Mexico City, early Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A woman strikes a traditional "pinata" donated by volunteers known as the Punk Kings who distribute toys, clothes and pinatas to underprivileged children on the occasion of the Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, in Mexico City, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A woman strikes a traditional "pinata" donated by volunteers who call themselves Los Punk Kings who distribute toys, clothes and pinatas to underprivileged children at a migrant shelter on the occasion of the Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, in Mexico City, early Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A volunteer of the group known as the Punk Kings loads a truck to distribute toys, clothes and pinatas to disadvantaged children in celebration of Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, in Mexico City, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Volunteers known as the Punk Kings load a truck to distribute toys, clothes and pinatas to disadvantaged children in celebration of Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, in Mexico City, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Firefighters scrambled to corral a fast-moving wildfire in the Los Angeles hillsides dotted with celebrity homes as a potentially “life-threatening, destructive” windstorm hit Southern California on Tuesday, fanning the blaze seen for miles while traffic out of the area was jammed as residents tried to flee.

Forecasters warned the worst may be yet to come with the windstorm predicted to last for days, producing isolated gusts that could top 100 mph (160 kph) in mountains and foothills.

Already the winds were toppling trees, creating dangerous surf and bringing extreme wildfire risk to areas that haven’t seen substantial rain in months.

Fire crews were battling a handful of small blazes in the Los Angeles area, including in the foothills of the Pacific Palisades area in western Los Angeles where residents were ordered to evacuate. The Palisades Fire swiftly consumed more than 200 acres (81 hectares) of dry brush and sent up a huge plume of smoke visible across the city. Residents in Venice Beach, some 6 miles (10 kilometers) away, reported seeing the flames.

Actor James Woods posted footage of flames burning through bushes and past palm trees on a hill near his Pacific Palisades home. The towering orange flames billowed among the landscaped yards between the large homes on the steep hillside.

“Standing in my driveway, getting ready to evacuate,” Woods said in the short video on X.

Actor Steve Guttenberg, who lives in the Pacific Palisades, urged people who abandon their cars to leave their keys behind so he can move their cars out of the way for firetrucks. He described fire burning in the neighborhood as people tried to evacuate.

“This is not a parking lot,” Guttenberg told KTLA. “I have friends up there and they can’t evacuate … I’m walking up there as far as I can moving cars.”

The erratic weather caused President Joe Biden to cancel plans to travel to inland Riverside County, California, where he was to announce the establishment of two new national monuments in the state. Biden will deliver his remarks in Los Angeles instead.

The National Weather Service said what could be the strongest Santa Anawindstorm in more than a decade began Tuesday across Los Angeles and Ventura counties and was forecast to peak in the early hours of Wednesday, when gusts could reach 80 mph (129 kph).

The weather service warned of possible downed power lines and knocked-over big rigs, trailers, and motorhomes. Strong offshore gusts will also bring dangerous conditions off the coasts of Orange and Los Angeles counties, including Catalina Island, and potential delays and turbulence could arise at local airports.

The Los Angeles Unified School District said it was temporarily relocating students from three campuses in the Pacific Palisades area due to the fire.

Utilities said they were considering preemptively cutting power starting Tuesday to about a half-million customers across eight counties. In recent years, California utilities have routinely de-energized electrical lines as a precaution against weather conditions that might damage equipment and spark a fire.

The winds will act as an “atmospheric blow-dryer” for vegetation, bringing a long period of fire risk that could extend into the more populated lower hills and valleys, according to Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with the University of California, Los Angeles and the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

“We really haven't seen a season as dry as this one follow a season as wet as the previous one,” Swain said during a Monday livestream. “All of that extra abundant growth of grass and vegetation followed immediately by a wind event of this magnitude while it's still so incredibly dry," elevates the risk.

Recent dry winds, including the notorious Santa Anas, have contributed to warmer-than-average temperatures in Southern California, where there’s been very little rain so far this season.

Southern California hasn’t seen more than 0.1 inches (0.25 centimeters) of rain since early May. Much of the region has fallen into moderate drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Meanwhile, up north, there have been multiple drenching storms.

Areas where gusts could create extreme fire conditions include the charred footprint of last month’s wind-driven Franklin Fire, which damaged or destroyed 48 structures, mostly homes, in and around Malibu.

The blaze was one of nearly 8,000 wildfires that added up to scorch more than 1,560 square miles (more than 4,040 square kilometers) in the Golden State last year.

The last wind event of this magnitude occurred in November 2011, during which more than 400,000 customers lost power across LA County, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“The grid is built to withstand strong winds,” said Jeff Monford, a spokesperson for the utility. “The issue here is the possibility of debris becoming airborne and hitting wires ... or a tree coming down.”

Associated Press writer Jaimie Ding in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Smoke from a wildfire is seen from the Venice Beach section of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Smoke from a wildfire is seen from the Venice Beach section of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A firefighter battles the advancing Palisades Fire around a structure in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

A firefighter battles the advancing Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

A field catches fire under a tree during the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

A firefighter battles the advancing Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

A pair of firefighters try to protect themselves from flying embers from the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

Firefighters try to protect themselves from flying embers from the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

Firefighters stage in front of the advancing Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

A firefighter battles the advancing Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles,Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

People wait with some belongings while fleeing the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

A firefighter battles the advancing Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

A person flees from an advancing wildfire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Smoke from a wildfire is seen from the Venice Beach section of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A woman cries as the Palisades Fire advances in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

A firefighter tries to extinguish a fire as it damages a property in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Heavy smoke from a brush fire in the Pacific Palisades rises over the Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Garcia)

Smoke from a brush fire in the Pacific Palisades rises over the 405 freeway in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

FILE - Flags fly under heavy winds before sunset as a plume of smoke from the Franklin Fire rises over the ocean Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes,File)

Tall palm trees sway during extreme gusty winds in the Van Nuys section of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

A tree blocks a street after falling amid strengthening winds Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Northeast Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Christopher Weber)

FILE - Marvin Meador walks on the remains of his fire-ravaged property after the Mountain Fire swept through, Nov. 7, 2024, in Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope, File)