L.A. Wildfires: Nearly 2,000 Structures Burned Across Los Angeles – Update

UPDATED with latest: Nearly 2,000 structures have been burned across Los Angeles in the past 48 hours, 1,000 in the Palisades Fire and 972 in the Eaton Fire in and around Altadena. Additionally, in addition to the five people who have been killed in the latter blaze, five firefighters have also been injured. Of note, at least one firefighter was hurt battling the Palisades Fire.

The area scorched by the Palisades Fire was updated late tonight from a bit over 15,000 acres to 17,234 acres.

Three more structures burned in Studio City when what seemed to be spot fires caused multiple ignitions. On the other side of the hill, the Sunset Fire near Runyon Canyon scorched 60 acres in the Hollywood Hills.

In Santa Monica, city officials instituted a curfew from from sunset to sunrise in the areas where a mandatory evacuation order is in effect.

PREVIOUSLY at 2:54 p.m.: Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna says five people have now died in the Eaton Fire burning in the Altadena and Pasadena areas. Luna told KNX News there is no additional information available about the deaths. The number of lives lost stood at two this morning.

President Joe Biden has approved a major disaster declaration in response to the wildfires burning in the Los Angeles area, which allows those impacted to immediately access federal funds. FEMA also approved a grant to reimburse the state for firefighting costs. The federal government has provided five U.S. Forest Service tankers and 10 firefighting helicopters to support local and state operations. Biden appeared at a Santa Monica fire station and in a statement posted to X, he said, “Over 100,000 people have been ordered to evacuate communities impacted by the Southern California wildfires. At least two people have been killed. And many more are injured — including firefighters. It’s devastating. To the residents of Southern California: We are with you.”

Meanwhile, Former President Barack Obama also weighed in.

Also, the City of Santa Monica has updated its evacuation order to include the portion of the city north of Montana and west of 11th Street. The area was previously under an evacuation warning. A new warning was issued for the section of the city that runs south to Wilshire Blvd., west to the Pacific Ocean and east to 10th Ct.

President Biden was briefed by local officials this morning on the battle against the four major wildfires ringing Northern Los Angeles and it wasn’t good news.

Per an Associated Press analysis, the Palisades Fire on L.A.’s Westside is now the most destructive in the city’s history, having destroyed 1,000 structures. Previously, the 2008 Sayre Fire in Sylmar that destroyed 604 structures held that dubious distinction. For those with longer memories who recall the devastating Bel-Air Fire in 1960, that blaze took close to 500 structures.

Among those structures was Will Rogers’ historic ranch house at Will Rogers State Park. The State Parks and Recreation Department announced the loss today along with “more than 30 structural losses at Topanga State Park and Will Rogers SHP.”

As of 11:20 a.m. this morning, the Palisades Fire had grown to more than 11,800 acres, more than double the number released earlier this morning. By 1:30 p.m., that number had jumped to 15,832 acres.

The Associated Press reported that over 1.5 million people in Southern California were without power due to the fires and winds. Of those, 957,000 were in L.A. County and 334,000 in Ventura County.

On the opposite end of L.A. County the Eaton Fire, which started last night above Altadena, had grown nearly as large at 10,600 acres burned. Two other fires, the Hurst Fire which broke out in Sylmar near the junction of the 5 and 14 Freeways and the Woodley Fire in the Sepulveda Basin, were at 700 acres and 30 acres, respectively.

Around 1 p.m., Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said between 200 to 500 structures had been destroyed, and another 13,000 structures were at risk. More than 32,500 residents were placed under evacuation orders in the nearby regions including Pasadena and Altadena, she said.

One of the structures that was destroyed in the fire was the Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center.

All those blazes were fanned by heavy, unpredictable winds. The top gusts over the past 48 hours include Mount Lukens Truck Trail above La Crescenta at 100 mph, Magic Mountain Truck Trail near Sylmar at 90 mph, Saddle Peak in Malibu at 98 mph, Hollywood-Burbank Airport at 84 mph and Eaton Canyon at 70 mph. A portion of that flank of the fire was nearing the Franklin Fire burn scar, which could prove helpful to firefighters.

Per the National Weather Service, “The high speed river of air remains over LA County this morning and is fueling a widespread major wind event. The core of this low level jet will slowly move southward during the day and this will cause the winds over LA to slowly decrease. Since the wind speeds are so high now (mtn gusts 70 to 90 mph) the slow decrease will not bring the winds down to below warning levels until early evening.”

Another Santa Ana event is on tap for Friday, according to the NWS.

L.A. County emergency officials said this morning that more than 50,000 people had been evacuated due to the fires and more than 1,400 firefighters were engaged. More than 320,000 people were reportedly without power.

The evacuation/warning zones for the Palisades blaze was expanded to the west this morning, with an area west of Malibu Canyon Road encompassing Malibu Creek State Park and the historic M*A*S*H set and the area where the original Planet of the Apes and many other films and TV shows were shot. See the yellow area on the left of the map below.

At noon, KTLA5 broadcast video of the fire making a push north toward Old Topanga and Calabasas at Saddle Peak Road. The outlet’s airborne reporter, from his vantage in a helicopter, said the fire seemed to be spreading “in every direction.”

In addition to the devastation in the hills, homes along PCH were also hit.

The good news is that the evacuation order zone established last night in Santa Monica — north of San Vicente — did not grow.

Over near Altadena, the evacuation zone — in red below — grew massively overnight as flames moved into neighborhoods below Eaton Canyon, where the fire sparked. The evacuation warning zone expanded in nearly every direction, including into the City of Pasadena north of the 210.

All of those blazes are currently at 0% containment.

PREVIOUSLY at 8:39 a.m.: Fierce winds continue to drive multiple wildfires in the Los Angeles area, leaving two people dead, multiple people injured and more than 320,000 people without power.

The Palisades Fire has churned through more than 5,000 acres and destroyed some 1,000 structures, Los Angeles County Fire Anthony Marrone said at a morning news conference in Pacific Palisades, covered by all major broadcast and cable networks. There are a “high number of significant injuries to residents who did not evacuate, in addition to first responders who were on the fire lines,” he said. The cause of the fire is unknown and is under investgation.

Television news footage shows homes on the beach in nearby Malibu burned to the ground.

The Eaton Fire in Pasadena, which broke out late last night, has burned over 2,000 acres. Two civilians are reported dead and multiple people have suffered significant injuries, Marrone said. An estimated 100 structures have been destroyed. The cause of the Eaton Fire also is unknown and under investigation.

One of the structures destroyed in the Eaton fire was the Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center, NBC4 reported.

The Hurst Fire in the San Fernando Valley, which also broke out late yesterday, has burned 500 acres.

In addition to the Palisades, Eaton and Hurst fires, a fourth fire — the Woodley Fire in Sepulveda Basin — has broken out. A fifth one, the Tyler Fire, started burning in Riverside County, scorching 15 acres so far.

A smoke advisory has been issued around much of the Malibu Coast to Santa Monica, stretching all the way east to Pasadena, through 5 p.m. Wednesday.

The Palisades Fire has destroyed many parts of its namesake enclave, including portions of Palisades Village and, up the coast a bit, The Reel Inn and Topanga Ranch Motel on PCH at Topanga Canyon Boulevard.

The fires have forced the closure of Universal Hollywood Studios theme and Universal CityWalk, as well as access to the Hollywood Sign, Griffith Park and Los Angeles Zoo.

The blaze continued to spread, fanned by high winds that topped out at 38 mph in the Palisades, 56 mph in Topanga and 59 mph at the Santa Monica Airport at 9:34 p.m. In Eastern Malibu, Saddle Peak clocked gusts to 98 mph at 9:37 p.m. Those wind speeds are expected to increase in the coming hours before lessening somewhat just before dawn. Winds are expected to remain high until Wednesday evening in most areas, with some pockets seeing elevated gusts through Friday.

As a result of the firestorm, a 25-year-old female firefighter sustained a serious head injury as a result of the Palisades Fire. She was treated at the scene and taken to a hospital for further evaluation and treatment, according to Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Capt. Erik Scott.

Scott also said multiple burn victims were reported walking toward Duke’s Malibu restaurant at approximately 9 p.m. Incident operations redirected medical resources to the location to provide evaluation and treatment.

The City of Santa Monica has issued an evacuation order for all areas of the city north of San Vicente. “Evacuation Order: Immediate threat to life. This is a lawful order to LEAVE NOW. The area is closed to public access.”

See the map below from the Santa Monica Police Department for the exact parameters of the order (in red) as well as the area north of Montana, which is under an evacuation warning. Per the city, an evacuation warning is defined thusly: “Potential threat to life and/or property. Those who require additional time to evacuate, and those with pets and livestock should leave now.”

All Malibu schools will be closed again tomorrow due to the continuing winds and the Palisades Fire, according to the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District.

Even as today’s devastating Palisades Fire has scorched close to 3,000 acres and prompted evacuations through the Pacific Palisades and Topanga “get set” warnings north to Calabasas, a new blaze is spreading rapidly in the hills above Altadena.

Multiple evacuations have already been issued in Altadena itself and even a portion of Pasadena. See portions in red in map below. Evacuation warnings have been issued down to the 210 Freeway in Pasadena proper. See areas in yellow below.

Meanwhile on the west side, the Palisades Fire has reached the campus of Pali High, with CBS News National Correspondent sharing video of the conflagration.

PREVIOUSLY at 6:30 p.m.:The size of the Palisades Fire and its evacuation zone have nearly doubled in size in just under two hours. From 1,260 acres just before 3 p.m. today, the fire exploded to 2,920 acres at 6:30 p.m.

Likewise, while the “must leave” list included most of the Palisades and a section of the Malibu coast moving west, at 6 p.m. the evacuation orders were expanded to include most of Topanga Canyon and the Malibu coast past Las Flores Canyon to just east of the pier. See updated chart, with evacuation orders in red and evacuation orders in yellow, directly below.

Also of note: For the first time the evacuation warnings include areas of Calabasas south of the 101 as well as the area around the Malibu Pier, potentially indicating the directions in which the fire is moving.

The environs of central Malibu outside city hall and the shopping district were, of course, scorched less than a month ago by the Franklin Fire. That blaze scorched thousands of acres which could act as a buffer to further spread of today’s fire to the west.

KTLA5 has reported that brush near the Getty Center had caught fire, prompting concerns for the building itself. A post on the facility’s X account confirmed some trees and vegetation had been scorched, but “no structures are on fire, and staff and the collection remain safe.” Deadline confirmed earlier that

The following Los Angeles Unified School District schools will be closed tomorrow due to the Palisades Fire: Canyon Charter Elementary School, Marquez Charter Elementary School, Palisades Charter Elementary School, and Paul Revere Charter Middle School. District officials say they will monitor the fire on Wednesday and potentially shift those campuses to remote learning on Thursday.

PREVIOUSLY at 4:15 p.m.: “Hell of a way to start a new year,” said California Governor Gavin Newsom this afternoon at a news conference related to the Palisades Fire. After thanking local officials and first responders he added, “By no stretch of the imagination are we out of the woods.”

Indeed, city, county and federal officials have already declared states of emergency.

Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said 30,000 people had been evacuated in the approximately sic hours since the blaze began in the area of N Piedra Morada Drive. Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristen Crowley indicated that 10,000 households had been evacuated. While no injuries had thus far been reported, she said that “multiple structures” had been damaged. The fire was moving west.

PREVIOUSLY at 2:50 p.m.: Homes have been destroyed as high winds forecast to increase to between 40 and 60 miles per hour later this afternoon fanned a wildfire that has now scorched 1260-plus acres in Pacific Palisades. According to reports multiple homes have been destroyed.

While it began as a 10 acre blaze at about 10:30 a.m. in the area of N Piedra Morada Dr near The Highlands, the incident quickly became a 200-plus acre blaze in less than an hour, threatening homes with smoke blowing West toward the Getty Villa. The museum is closed to the public today, but a source tells Deadline the people working there were told to leave. The facility reportedly has a very detailed plan to keep the art safe, including fireproof walls.

There are over 250 LAFD firefighters battling the blaze, in addition to those from neighboring agencies. 

Eastbound Pacific Coast Highway has been closed at Topanga Canyon Boulevard. Eastbound lanes of PCH were also closed at Las Flores Canyon Road, according L.A.C.S.D Public Information Officer Tuyet Alcala. Traffic was being diverted on the Santa Monica Freeway at Lincoln Boulevard to keep people from entering the area. Sunset Boulevard at Palisades Drive was also reportedly impassible, with firefighters potentially using the thoroughfare as a firebreak.

At about 12:30 p.m., with local roads choked with traffic and some people abandoning their cars, residents were evacuating on foot, according to Captain Eric Scott of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

On KTLA5, a local resident — who the young reporter did not recognize as actor Steve Gutenberg — plead with people who were abandoning their cars to at least leave the keys in them so others could move the vehicles blocking their way. “This is not a parking lot,” said the actor. “If you leave your car on Palisades Drive, leave the keys in it so a guy like me can move it.”

Evacuation orders were issued at about noon for the area around Piedra Morada, according to multiple news outlets. Areas near Topanga to the west and Rustic Canyon to the east were reportedly under evacuation warnings. Emergency officials are urging anyone in the path of the fire to leave the area.

In fact, one former ABC7 local TV reporter was live on the air from her home and had to get off when she received the evacuation order. An alert sent out by the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff Station warned of “immediate threat to life.” See map below for current evacuations as of 1 p.m. Mandatory evacuations are in red and evacuation warnings are in yellow.

Local TV stations broke into coverage of former President Jimmy Carter’s memorial services to cover the incident, with remote crews staging shots from the beach parking lots on PCH with a billowing black plume in the background. The smoke could also be seen across most of West Los Angeles.

Actor James Woods posted close-up video of flames approaching the back deck of his home.

The Emmy-winner also indicated that he had safely evacuated writing, “We were blessed to have LA fire and police depts doing their jobs so well. We are safe and out. There are several elementary schools in our neighborhood and there was an enormous community effort to evacuate the children safely. Can not speak more highly of the LA fire and LAPD.”

Former Fall Guy actress and writer Heather Thomas posted several videos of the fire on a hill nearby, noting in one clip that “both of my daughters live across the canyon and [are] evacuating over here.” Thomas’ husband is Ziffren Brittenham LLP founding partner Skip Brittenham.

The National Weather Service in has been warning for several days that today’s windstorm would bring extreme fire conditions as it couples very high winds with very low humidity. Winds were clocked at 46 mph in the Palisades this morning. Humidity is expected to be critically low on Wednesday.

As of about noon, SCE had begun emergency power shutdowns to prevent power lines blown down by winds from sparking fires. Areas effected included the Point Dume area and up the the coast into Western Malibu.

You can watch a time lapse video of the start and growth of the Pacific Palisades fire below.

City News Service contributed to this report.