The Pacific Palisades, one of Los Angeles’ affluent residential neighborhoods, caught fire Tuesday morning in what has quickly expanded to a 1,200-acre blaze, marking southern California’s first large wildfire threat this week as much of the region is under a red flag warning due to strong winds and low humidity.
Firefighters work to contain a brush fire in the Pacific Palisades. (Photo by DAVID SWANSON/AFP via ... [+]
The Palisades Fire began around 11 a.m. local time and covered 1,262 acres as of shortly before 5 p.m. PST, 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 no fire containment as of around 5 p.m.
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.
The NWS expects 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, noting a potential for downed trees and power lines that could create “widespread power outages.”
Sporadic power outages have materialized in the San Fernando Valley, a highly populated area north of the Hollywood Hills, with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power reporting a few thousand customers without power as of 5 p.m. PST.
Plumes of smoke are seen just a few miles north of the Santa Monica pier. (Photo by AGUSTIN ... [+]
A brush fire burns near a neighborhood in the Pacific Palisades. (Photo by DAVID SWANSON/AFP via ... [+]
The Palisades Fire burns north of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). (Robbin Goddard/Los ... [+]
A firefighter tries to extinguish a fire as it damages a property in the Pacific Palisades. (AP ... [+]
A brush fire burns near homes in Pacific Palisades. (Photo by DAVID SWANSON/AFP via Getty Images)
The Palisades Fire burns near homes amid a powerful windstorm on January 7, 2025 in Pacific ... [+]
Los Angeles International Airport, which is about 19 miles south of the Pacific Palisades, has not experienced significant flight delays or cancellations as of Tuesday afternoon, according to FlightAware.
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.
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)