Southern California wildfires: what we know so far …
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Fast-moving wildfires have broken out in southern California, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes
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The Pacific Palisades fire swept through an affluent Los Angeles hillside home to celebrity residences Tuesday, burning homes and prompting evacuation orders. In the haste to get to safety, roads were clogged and people were forced to abandon their vehicles and flee on foot
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The Eaton fire in Altadena started near a nature preserve just before 6.30pm, Associated Press reports. Flames spread so rapidly staff at a senior care center reportedly pushed dozens of residents in wheelchairs and hospital beds down the street
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The Los Angeles Fire department has appealed for off-duty firefighters to help fight the flames that were being pushed by winds topping 60 mph (97 kph) in some places. It was too windy for firefighting aircraft to fly, hampering the fight against the flames
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The exact cause of the fires was unknown and no injuries had yet been reported, officials said
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California Gov Gavin Newsom had visited the area affected and said he found “not a few [but] many structures already destroyed”
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A Santa Ana windstorm is expected to increase overnight and continue for days, producing isolated gusts that could top 100mph (160kph) in mountains and foothills – including in areas that haven’t seen substantial rain in months
Key events
As a consequence of the Eaton fire officials have declared schools in Pasadena, San Marino, Glendale, Alhambra, Burbank and South Pasadena will remain closed on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Reuters is carrying some reports of injuries from the fires. Citing local television station KTLA, it reports “several people were injured, some with burns to faces and hands.”
An official added that one female firefighter had sustained a head injury.
US media are reporting two further fires in the area have developed, and that firefighters are now responding to four different fires. The Tamarack fire and the Sylmar fire are both in suburbs in the San Fernando valley.
CNN reports that the fire near Sylmar “has burned through 100 acres, with an immediate evacuation order issued for the area north of the 210 freeway from Roxford to the Interstate 5-14 split.”
The New York Times quotes Sheila Kelliher, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County fire department, who said of the Palisades fire:
These embers are blowing everywhere, and I’m just watching it chew up the hillside, and as it gets to each new patch of fuel it’s just exploding.
It is approaching midnight in California.
Southern California wildfires: what we know so far …
-
Fast-moving wildfires have broken out in southern California, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes
-
The Pacific Palisades fire swept through an affluent Los Angeles hillside home to celebrity residences Tuesday, burning homes and prompting evacuation orders. In the haste to get to safety, roads were clogged and people were forced to abandon their vehicles and flee on foot
-
The Eaton fire in Altadena started near a nature preserve just before 6.30pm, Associated Press reports. Flames spread so rapidly staff at a senior care center reportedly pushed dozens of residents in wheelchairs and hospital beds down the street
-
The Los Angeles Fire department has appealed for off-duty firefighters to help fight the flames that were being pushed by winds topping 60 mph (97 kph) in some places. It was too windy for firefighting aircraft to fly, hampering the fight against the flames
-
The exact cause of the fires was unknown and no injuries had yet been reported, officials said
-
California Gov Gavin Newsom had visited the area affected and said he found “not a few [but] many structures already destroyed”
-
A Santa Ana windstorm is expected to increase overnight and continue for days, producing isolated gusts that could top 100mph (160kph) in mountains and foothills – including in areas that haven’t seen substantial rain in months
Families tell of last-minute escape from California wildfire
Lois Beckett
In the past few months, Jon Oei’s parents, who live in the highlands of the Pacific Palisades, have received multiple wildfire evacuation orders, the most recent in the early hours of New Year’s Eve, he said.
So on Tuesday, when a wildfire began not far from the family’s home, they did not immediately evacuate.
By 10:30 am however, they could see “smoke coming over the top of the hill,” the 35-year-old said. The fire, ignited as a ferocious windstorm whipped the region, was rapidly growing.
Oei was staying with his parents, and he knew the one main road going out of their neighborhood would be snarled with traffic following the first evacuation order. Soon, videos showed long traffic jams as residents tried to evacuate, empty cars lining some roads as people gave up the wait and continued on foot.
“I think a lot of people ignore the first call,” he said. “You get stuck. There you see people abandoning their cars.”
Meanwhile, the wind was also pushing the fire in the opposite direction from his parents’ home, Oei said. So they waited.
It was not until after 5pm, he said, that they finally decided to flee. The family could see the fire coming over the Malibu side of the hills, which meant that the single road out of the community risked being cut off by fire.
A separate fire in Pasadena, the Bert fire, had expanded to three acres just before 10 pm on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times reports, citing the county fire department.
The fire is in east Pasadena, near San Gabriel, several miles from the Eaton fire.
Authorities say they are responding to a separate brushfire about 30 acres in size.
The Screen Actors Guild Awards has cancelled its live in-person nominations announcement that were scheduled for tomorrow due to the wildfires and strong winds in Los Angeles.
Instead, it said in a statement, nominees will be unveiled via press release and its website tomorrow morning.
The affluent Pacific Palisades neighborhood, which borders Malibu about 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of downtown LA, includes hillside streets of tightly packed homes along winding roads nestled against the Santa Monica Mountains and stretches down to beaches along the Pacific Ocean. It is also home to many Hollywood celebrities, some of whom have been posting about their experiences on social media.
Mark Hamill, of Star Wars fame, posted a “personal fire update” saying he evacuated Malibu so last-minute that he saw “small fires on both sides of the road”.
Actor James Woods posted footage of flames burning through bushes and past palm trees on a hill near his home. The towering orange flames billowed among the landscaped yards between the homes.
“Standing in my driveway, getting ready to evacuate,” Woods said in the short video on X.
Actor Eugene Levy, the honorary mayor of Pacific Palisades, evacuated earlier on Tuesday, telling the Los Angeles Times while stuck in traffic, “The smoke looked pretty black and intense.”
Extreme winds have forced authorities to ground firefighting helicopters.
Firefighting helicopters for the Palisades fire were grounded shortly before 8pm, according to a spokesperson for the Los Angeles fire department, while strong winds have also forced officials to suspend air coverage fighting the Eaton fire in Altadena for the night, a city spokesperson said.
Officials had warned of this probable outcome at a news conference earlier this afternoon, with forecasted strong winds anticipated to make water bombs and fire retardants dropped from the air less effective.
Vice-president Kamala Harris has released a statement:
My heart goes out to all those being impacted by the devastating wildfires in Southern California. Doug and I are praying for our fellow Californians who have evacuated, and we are thinking of the families whose homes, businesses, and schools remain in harm’s way. We are deeply grateful for the heroic first responders who are risking their own safety to fight the flames and help keep communities safe.
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As a proud daughter of California, I know the damage that wildfires have on our neighbors and communities. I also know that the impact is often felt long after the fire is contained. As we respond and as Californians recover, I will ensure that our administration is in constant contact with state and local officials.
Firefighters are in for a long night, with already extreme wind conditions expected to get worse, Los Angeles county fire department captain Sheila Kelliher has warned.
Kelliher said the terrain and wind combined created a “massive fight.” Complicating matters is the nature of the wind, which “doesn’t just stay at one direction,” she told CNN.
“Just when you think you know what the fire is going to do, it swirls around and comes behind you. It’s definitely erratic, I think is one of the best words I can use to describe this wind, and it is strong.”
