At least two people have died in the three major wildfires that began around Los Angeles County on Tuesday, officials said, as authorities say the uncontained flames—prompting the evacuation of tens of thousands of people—continue to spread through powerful winds.
A Firefighter fights the flames from the Palisades Fire burning the Theatre Palisades during a ... [+]
Three major wildfires—the Palisades Fire, the Eaton Fire and the Hurst Fire—now cover more than 5,600 acres of area around Los Angeles County, with 0% of the fires contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said FEMA is “closely monitoring” the wildfires and has authorized additional assistance from the agency to support firefighting efforts.
A major traffic jam was reported Tuesday in the Pacific Palisades area as tens of thousands of people attempted to flee the fire—including some who reportedly abandoned their vehicles on the road—which prevented emergency vehicles from reaching the affected areas.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Tuesday night as he urged residents to heed evacuation orders and said, “This is a highly dangerous windstorm creating extreme fire risk, and we’re not out of the woods.”
The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning (warm temperatures, strong winds and low humidity) for Southern California that spans from Tuesday to Wednesday in the Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and Ventura counties, and from Tuesday to Thursday in the San Bernadino, Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties.
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The Palisades Fire began around 10:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday and has burned more than 2,900 acres as of 5:30 a.m. PST on Wednesday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, which issued evacuation orders for residents of the Palisades and for those living along a stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway. About 30,000 residents in the Palisades and nearby areas are under evacuation orders, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department, as Cal Fire reported 0% fire containment as of early Wednesday.
The second blaze, called the Eaton Fire, began on Tuesday evening in Eaton Canyon near the San Gabriel Mountains and grew rapidly overnight to cover 2,227 acres as of Wednesday morning, with 0% contained. The Eaton Fire also triggered a round of mandatory evacuations in the nearby areas of Altadena, Pasadena and Sierra Madre. City officials said at least 550 homes in Pasadena are affected by the evacuation orders, which cover large portions of the city’s northern neighborhoods along with most of eastern Altadena and nearly the entirety of Sierra Madre.
The Hurst Fire was reported later on Tuesday night after it broke out near the Los Angeles-area suburban neighborhood of Sylmar, north of the rest of the city. Shortly after it was reported, the Los Angeles Fire Department issued evacuation orders in the area, warning of a “rapid rate of spread.” As of the last update provided by Cal Fire at nearly 5 a.m. PST on Wednesday, the Hurst fire also rapidly grew to cover 500 acres, 0% of which has been contained.
Officials have expressed concern that fast moving winds in the area could worsen the wildfires on Wednesday. Wind gusts of up to 99 mph were reported near Altadena and other nearby areas early on Wednesday. The National Weather service forecast wind gusts of 50 to 80 mph in parts of southern California and up to 100 mph gusts in mountains and foothills into Wednesday night. The conditions are the result of a wind pattern called the Santa Ana winds or “devil winds” which are often fast-moving, dry and warm winds that originate inland, around Nevada and Utah, and blow towards the coastal regions of Southern California.
At least two civilians have died in the Eaton Fire, though their cause of death is unknown, Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said during a press conference Wednesday. Marrone said there have also been a “high number of significant injuries to residents who did not evacuate.” A 25-year-old firefighter sustained a serious head injury while combatting the Palisades Fire on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Fire Department told NBC News. There were “multiple burn victims” who were treated by medical officials, though the number of people who were treated is not immediately known.
Actor Mark Hammill wrote on Instagram Tuesday saying he evacuated his Malibu home, while singer Mandy Moore said she evacuated with her kids and animals, saying she feels “gutted for the destruction and loss” caused by the wildfires. Vice President Kamala Harris’ home in Los Angeles was put under an evacuation order, though no one was in the home at the time the order was placed, spokesperson Ernesto Apreza said. Keith Wasserman, founder of the real estate investment firm Gelt Venture Partners, said he would pay “any amount” for private firefighters to protect his Pacific Palisades home, sparking backlash from some users on X. Other celebrities who reportedly have homes in areas affected by evacuation orders include Adam Sandler, Ben Affleck, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg.
Several schools across the affected region closed on Wednesday, including six schools under the Los Angeles Unified Schools District like Palisades Charter Elementary School. All schools under the Pasadena Unified School District will remain closed on Wednesday as well to “allow our crews time to evaluate and repair damages” caused by the Eaton fire. Several other school districts in the region have also cancelled classes Wednesday, including the Glendale Unified School District, the Alhambra Unified School District, South Pasadena Unified School District, South Pasadena Unified School District and Burbank Unified School District. Pepperdine University’s Malibu and Calabasas campuses closed Wednesday because of nearby fires, the university announced, though the flames “pose no immediate threat” to either campus.
The Screen Actors Guild canceled it in-person awards nomination ceremony on Wednesday because of the wildfires “in an abundance of caution.” The nominations will be announced on the SAG Awards website on Thursday, the guild said. Universal Studios said its park in Hollywood would close Wednesday because of “extreme winds and fire conditions,” adding they expect to reopen on Thursday.
More than 220,000 homes and businesses in Los Angeles County were without power early on Wednesday morning, according to PowerOutage.US. The LA Department of Water and Power said its crews were responding to the impact of the windstorms and wildfires.
Los Angeles International Airport, located about 19 miles south of the Pacific Palisades, has not experienced significant flight delays or cancellations as of Wednesday morning, according to FlightAware. Some flights are disrupted at the much smaller Hollywood Burbank Airport: About 9% of departures are cancelled and another 16% are delayed Wednesday.
The National Weather Service’s fire outlook warns of elevated to critical fire weather Tuesday across much of southern California. The range of the critical fire weather alert will expand by 278 square miles Wednesday to a total of 5,035 square miles in the region. The NWS also issued an extreme fire weather alert—its highest designation for fire potential—from Wednesday to Thursday for a 1,463-square mile stretch of land that includes areas such as Santa Clarita, Simi Valley, Altadena, Moorpark and Santa Paula.
“California has deployed 1400+ firefighting personnel & hundreds of prepositioned assets to combat these unprecedented fires in LA. Emergency officials, firefighters, and first responders are all hands on deck through the night to do everything possible to protect lives,” Newsom said on X.
The appearance of weather conditions suggestive of La Niña, a climate phenomenon linked to drier conditions and drought in southern parts of the U.S., have likely contributed to prime fire conditions across southern California. Los Angeles in particular has seen an underwhelming amount of rain in the last eight months alongside a dry winter. The last time the city recorded over a tenth of an inch of rainfall was last May, according to the Los Angeles Times, contributing to drought. The mix of dry conditions and strong winds are the main catalysts of Tuesday's fires and also contributed to another fire in the Pacific Palisades in 2021 that burned more than 1,200 acres.
With negligible rain in 8 months, Southern California swings toward drought (LA Times)
Residents flee on foot as Palisades Fire torches hillside homes (LAist)