Pacific Palisades fire live updates: Evacuations ordered for thousands as ‘life-threatening’ winds erupt in Los Angeles
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Fueled by extreme fire conditions and damaging wind gusts, the Palisades Fire tore quickly over hundreds of acres on Tuesday.
The brush fire has forced evacuations in the Los Angeles, California, community of Pacific Palisades, with orders established from the hills down to the Pacific Coast Highway.
“Evacuate now from the area of Palisades Area. Those not in the evacuation area should shelter in place,” an emergency alert from the city said.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said firefighters were working to aggressively respond to the fire, and that strike teams had been “pre-deployed” in areas prone to wildfire.
The fast-moving wildfire sent a plume of thick, grey smoke into the air, and residents shared videos of bright orange and yellow flames lining the tree-covered hills.
Actor James Woods shared on social media that he was in the process of leaving the area, as the smoke filled the skies of the houses around him.
While there were no major reports of damage yet, Fox 11 Los Angeles’ Matthew Seerdorff said that “homes are burning” as the wind strengthens.
Some other small fires were also reported and more dangerous weather is forecast to last through Wednesday, bringing the potential for power outages. More than 16,000 customers had no power by the early afternoon, according to tracker PowerOutage.US.
Here’s where evacuations have been ordered
Julia Musto7 January 2025 21:56
LAFD member says this is ‘pretty much the worst possible scenario’ for a firefight
More than 100 firefighters and pre-positioned strike teams were battling the Palisades Fire, David Ortiz of the Los Angeles Fire Department, told KTLA.
“This is pretty much the worst possible scenario for a firefight,” he said.
Julia Musto7 January 2025 21:46
Actor Steve Guttenberg urges residents to leave keys in their cars as firetrucks try to reach affected areas
Actor Steve Guttenberg told KTLA on Tuesday that people were abandoning their cars, making it hard for firetrucks to get up Pacific Palisades roads.
“What’s happening is [that] people take their keys with them as if they’re in a parking lot. This is not a parking lot,” the Veronica Mars star said.
Guttenberg said families and pets were stuck in the area.
“We really need people to move their cars. So if you leave your car on Palisades Drive, leave the key in there, so a guy like me can move your car,” he urged viewers.
Julia Musto7 January 2025 21:42
The Palisades Fire spread over 200 Los Angeles County acres on Tuesday, forcing evacuations in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood.
The cause of the blaze remains under investigation, but forecasters had warned of dangerous fire weather conditions through Thursday: a combination of the Santa Ana winds coupled with very low humidity.
Julia Musto7 January 2025 21:36
