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| Palisades Fire | |
|---|---|
 The fire as seen by the Sentinel-2 satellite at 10:36 a.m. on January 7 | |
| Date(s) | January 7, 2025 |
| Location | Los Angeles County, California, United States |
| Coordinates | 34°04′13″N 118°32′40″W / 34.07022°N 118.54453°W / 34.07022; -118.54453 |
| Statistics | |
| Status | Ongoing wildfire |
| Burned area | >15,832 acres (6,407 ha; 25 sq mi; 64 km) |
| Impacts | |
| Non-fatal injuries | >1 |
| Evacuated | >37,000 |
| Structures destroyed | >1,000 |
| Ignition | |
| Cause | Under investigation |
| Map | |
  The general location of the Palisades Fire in Southern CaliforniaShow map of California Palisades Fire (2025) (the United States)Show map of the United States | |
The Palisades Fire is an active wildfire burning in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles County in Southern California. As of January 8, 2025, at 1:20 p.m. PST, the fire had spread to at least 15,832 acres (6,407 ha; 24.738 sq mi; 64.07 km). The cause of the fire is under investigation. It is so far the largest of four wildfires being driven by an extremely powerful Santa Ana wind event. According to reports from CNN, it is possibly the costliest wildfire in U.S history. Wildfire Alliance statistics indicated that the fire is the most destructive fire in the history of Los Angeles, surpassing the Sayre Fire in 2008.
Progression
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The fire was first reported at about 10:30 a.m. PST on January 7, 2025, covering around 10 acres (4.0 ha) of the mountains close to Pacific Palisades. It quickly spread due to a combination of severe drought, which was the driest 9-month period on record, in Southern California and a worsening Santa Ana wind event which created winds gusts up to 80 mph (130 km/h).
Within 20 minutes, the fire grew from 20 acres (8.1 ha) to 200 acres (81 ha). The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) said the blaze had reached more than 700 acres (280 ha) by 2:10 p.m., with over 250 firefighters tackling it as it started to reach homes. Just one hour later, an update from CalFire stated that the fire had rapidly grown to 1,262 acres (511 ha).
The intensification of the concurrent windstorm at night forced the grounding of firefighting aircraft, further hindering efforts to manage the wildfire's spread. As of 9:23 p.m. PST on January 7, the fire had burned over 2,900 acres. The Los Angeles Fire Department called for all off-duty officers to report for duty. Hours later, there were 1,400 firefighters assigned to the fire which continued to grow. Several burn injuries were reported, and a 25-year-old firefighter suffered a "serious head injury". Several beachfront properties in Malibu were destroyed by the wildfire.
California Governor Gavin Newsom toured the fire on January 7, and said that many structures had been destroyed. In a LAFD press conference on January 8, fire chief Anthony Marrone said that the fire had reached a size of more than 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) and had destroyed around 1,000 structures. Robert Luna, the sheriff of Los Angeles County, said that 37,000 people were under evacuation order due to the fire, adding that 15,000 structures were at risk of burning. The fire grew further and reached a size of 11,802 acres on the morning of January 8.
Evacuation
In a Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) press conference on January 7, at 3:40 p.m., fire chief Kristin Crowley said that over 30,000 people were under evacuation orders, with more than 10,000 houses and 13,000 buildings under threat. During the conference, Marqueece Harris-Dawson, the president of Los Angeles City Council and acting mayor, declared a state of emergency in response to the fire.
Amid the evacuations, large amounts of traffic quickly built up and as flames moved closer to roads, people left their cars and bulldozers had to move almost 200 abandoned vehicles as they blocked evacuation routes. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) sent around 140 officers to assist with evacuations and gridlock. Fire department officials issued an Emergency Alert System message, which was relayed by the National Weather Service, to notify residents of the evacuations, and subsequently ordered residents unable to evacuate to shelter in place.
Impact
According to Wildfire Alliance statistics, the Palisades fire destroyed at least 1,000 structures. The fire became the most destructive in Los Angeles' history, surpassing the Sayre Fire which destroyed 604 structures in 2008, and the Bel Air Fire which destroyed nearly 500 houses in 1961.
The Getty Villa was threatened by the fire, with its grounds catching fire. The Palisades branch of the Los Angeles Public Library was among the structures destroyed. Evacuation orders and warnings were issued for northern Santa Monica.
President Joe Biden arrived in Los Angeles the evening of January 6 ahead of a planned event in Thermal to establish two brand new national monuments and for the birth of his great-granddaughter. He entered his limousine, but due to the fire and ongoing wind event, the motorcade never departed, and he returned to his hotel. The dedication ceremony was rescheduled for the following week at the White House.
The Los Angeles premieres of Universal Pictures' Wolf Man and Amazon MGM Studios' Unstoppable were canceled in response to the fire.
See also
References
- ^ "Palisades Fire". California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. January 7, 2025. Archived from the original on January 7, 2025. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
- Mascarenhas, Antoinette Radford, Jessie Yeung, Karina Tsui, Hanna Park, Holly Yan, Andy Rose, Lauren (January 8, 2025). "Live updates: Los Angeles wildfires race through Pacific Palisades and Eaton Canyon". CNN. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Live updates: Pacific Palisades wildfire is most destructive in LA history with 1,000 structures burned". AP News. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
- Schlepp, Travis (January 7, 2025). "Severe drought conditions fueling dangerous Palisades Fire". KTLA. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
- Swain, Daniel (January 5, 2025). "As extreme California precipitation dipole persists, a high-end offshore wind/fire weather event may unfold in SoCal this week". Weather West. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
- Kurzweil, Tony; Kiszla, Cameron (January 7, 2025). "Palisades Fire in Los Angeles scorches 2,925 acres; many homes burned". KTLA. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
- ^ Hancock, Sam; Gohil, Neha; Wilson, Caitlin (January 7, 2025). "LA firefighters to give update as wildfires destroy buildings and force thousands to flee". BBC News. Archived from the original on January 7, 2025. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
- Knoll, Corina; Mayorquín, Orlando; Petri, Alexandra E. (January 7, 2025). "Officials Warn of 'Devastating Loss' as Southern California Wildfires Burn Out of Control". New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 8, 2025. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
- "California wildfires live updates: Thousands evacuated as strong winds fuel at least 3 blazes in L.A. area". NBC News. January 8, 2025. Archived from the original on January 8, 2025. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
- Ding, Jaimie; Weber, Christopher; Watson, Julie (January 8, 2025). "California governor says many structures already destroyed in Pacific Palisades wildfire". The Independent. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
- Haggerty, Noah; Goldberg, Noah; Fry, Hannah; Flemming, Jack; Vives, Ruben (January 8, 2025). "Fires tear through Pacific Palisades, Altadena, Pasadena and Sylmar; gusts of up to 100 mph reported". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 8, 2025. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
- Castleman, Terry; Gelt, Jessica (January 7, 2025). "Getty Villa Museum grounds catch fire". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 8, 2025. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
- DuBose, Josh (January 7, 2025). "Palisades Fire threatens Southern California cultural touchstone". KTLA. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
- Fox11. "Palisades Branch Library goes up in flames". Google News. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - Lincoln, Ross A. (January 8, 2025). "Mandatory Evacuations Ordered for Northern Santa Monica as Palisades Fire Spreads". TheWrap. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
- Hall, Matthew (January 8, 2025). "Evacuation order issued for northern Santa Monica". Santa Monica Daily Press. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
- Lloyd, Jonathan (January 7, 2025). "President Biden's Riverside County event canceled due to strong winds". NBC Los Angeles. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
- D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 7, 2025). "'Wolf Man' Hollywood Premiere Canceled Due To Pacific Palisades Fire". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 8, 2025. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
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