A fast-moving wildfire erupted in the Southern California coastal city of Pacific Palisades, about 20 miles west of Los Angeles, destroying homes as Santa Ana winds ripped through the region Jan. 7.
The Palisades Fire burned an unknown number of homes in the city as thousands of residents were forced to flee.
The fire had grown to about 2 square miles (1,300 acres) by 3 p.m. and was continuing to spread throughout the residential area.
Many homes could be seen burning in the fire area, and there were reports of police and fire crews rescuing people from burning buildings, but no reports of injuries surfaced by the afternoon.
Traffic slowed nearly to a halt on the Pacific Coast Highway as residents attempted to evacuate. Some opted to exit their cars and start walking out of the area.
Los Angeles County officials closed the westbound lanes of the Santa Monica 10 Freeway at Lincoln Boulevard, a major artery in the region, just before 2 p.m.
Northbound Pacific Coast Highway was also closed to help officials evacuate residents from the growing blaze.
Flames also destroyed the Los Angeles Fire Department Station 23 on Sunset Boulevard and Los Liones Drive Tuesday afternoon.
Crews were responding to multiple reports of structures burning throughout the fire area.
Officials ordered evacuations in a section of Topanga State Park that reached to the Pacific Coast Highway, which covers most of Pacific Palisades, home to about 20,000 residents.
Parts of nearby Malibu were under evacuation warnings Tuesday.
The Westwood Recreation Center at 1350 S. Sepulveda Blvd. was open for evacuees and accepted small animals, allowing people to stay overnight.
Homes were on fire in Pacific Palisades by about 11:30 a.m., according to local reports.
“We were blessed to have LA fire and police [departments] doing their jobs so well,” Woods posted on X. “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.”
Fire crews responded to several smaller brush fires throughout the day across the region. Air tankers and helicopters dropped water on the blaze as firefighters from Los Angeles Fire Department rushed to respond.
The Angeles National Forest also sent aircraft and personnel to help with the fire.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass urged residents to heed evacuation orders, calling it a “dangerous situation.”
Los Angeles and Ventura counties were expected to see widespread north and northeast wind gusts of up to 80 miles per hour Tuesday, with isolated gusts reaching up to 100 miles per hour in the mountains and foothills.
The city of Los Angeles also issued a red flag parking restrictions starting at 8 a.m. Tuesday, restricting parking of illegally parked vehicles in zones that are especially susceptible to fire.
Fire commanders have identified several areas where parked vehicles could delay citizens trying to evacuate and fire companies gaining access during brush fires.
All schools were closed in the coastal city of Malibu Tuesday because of the extreme windstorm.
The Southern California coast was expected to see winds reach up to 30 knots and gusts up to 50 knots from the northeast later Tuesday.
Los Angeles County lifeguards warned mariners to change their plans and remain in port to avoid the hazardous conditions.
Thousands of residents lost power Tuesday morning, either after an intentional utility safety shut down or from the strong winds.
Southern California Edison (SCE), which serves 5 million customers in Southern California, reported nearly 9,000 customers were without power at 3:30 p.m. Many of the customers without power were in the northern part of Malibu along the coast.
Of those, 5,000 were in Los Angeles County, and nearly 3,000 were in Ventura County.
The utility was considering more than 413,000 utility shutdowns Tuesday afternoon. California utilities are allowed to shut power down during dangerous weather events to avoid the risk of wildfire.
San Diego Gas and Electric Company also said they may have to shut off power to nearly 118,000 customers to reduce wildfire risk from downed power lines.
