CA - Pacific Palisades - 30,000 People Ordered to Evacuate From L.A. Wildfires

[JennieM]

Palisades fire grows to 15,000 acres​

The Palisades wildfire, to the west of Los Angeles between Santa Monica and Malibu, is now covering 15,000 acres - that's approximately 23 square miles. For context, one acre is about the same size as an NFL field.

Previously, CalFire had reported the size of the fire at 11,800 acres.

California's fire death toll doubles as chaos grips LA

Ten deaths have been confirmed so far in the Los Angeles fires, which have been fanned by powerful winds.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[JennieM]

​

More than 1.5 million people without power​

IMAGE SOURCE, GETTY IMAGES
The wildfires have caused massive issues for power supply in the region, and more than 1.5 million customers are without power in California.

In Los Angeles County, nearly one million are without power, and in nearby Orange County 162,428 customers have lost electricity, according to PowerOutage.us.

The four biggest fires, all within the Los Angeles area, have burned more than 26,000 acres since igniting on Tuesday night, and so far have shown no signs of slowing down. All of the fires are 0% contained.

California's fire death toll doubles as chaos grips LA

Ten deaths have been confirmed so far in the Los Angeles fires, which have been fanned by powerful winds.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[JennieM]

How military cargo planes can help fight the fires​

It's been confirmed that the US Department of Defense is mobilising military aircraft to help firefighters in Los Angeles tackle the large Palisades fire to the west of the city.

Both the California and Nevada Air National Guards have C-130 Hercules transport planes which can be fitted with equipment that spreads 3,000 US gallons (11,000 litres) of fire retardant on wildfires.

These aircraft are not like waterbombers which take water from the sea or lakes and drop them on fires and are intended to be used in addition to civilian firefighting aircraft.

According to the US Air Force it takes about two hours to fit a C-130 with the firefighting system. Once it has discharged its fire retardant it needs to return to base to be refilled and can be back in the air in 20 minutes.

Air National Guard C-130s have been used as recently as last July to tackle wildfires in California.

US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

California's fire death toll doubles as chaos grips LA

Ten deaths have been confirmed so far in the Los Angeles fires, which have been fanned by powerful winds.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[DS2021]

5 dead

 

[JennieM]

January is usually California's 'wet' season - not this year
​

Matt Taylor
BBC Weather

The chart below from the National Weather Service in Sacramento shows one of the reasons the wildfires have been unusually bad.

This part of the year should be Southern California’s "wet" season, but much of the south and east of the state has seen less than half the normal rainfall expected to fall between the 1 October and now. That contrasts with above-average rainfall in north-west of the state.

It's meant that the ground and vegetation have become parched and perfect fuel for fires. Only in the last week did the US Drought Monitor categorise much of the area around Los Angeles as being in "moderate drought".

California's fire death toll doubles as chaos grips LA

Ten deaths have been confirmed so far in the Los Angeles fires, which have been fanned by powerful winds.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[JennieM]

Pacific Palisades fire is the most destructive in LA history
​

The fire in the Pacific Palisades has become the most destructive in the history of the city of Los Angeles, and could potentially become the most destructive in the history of the state of California.

Officials say that at least 1,000 buildings have been destroyed so far.

According to the Los Angeles Regional Fire Safe Council, the most destructive fire in California's history was the Woolsey fire in 2018, which burned 1,121 structures.

Other fires in California have caused more deaths, and have burned greater areas. But the destruction of buildings happening right now is historic.

California's fire death toll doubles as chaos grips LA

Ten deaths have been confirmed so far in the Los Angeles fires, which have been fanned by powerful winds.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[airportwoman]

I cannot reach my cousin who lives in Burbank. Is that near the fires?

I don't know, just looking at Google Maps, exactly where the active fires are, but the power and Internet outages are much, much bigger than the burned zone. They're probably also cutting the power in advance so new fires don't spark.

 

[JennieM]

Law enforcement have blocked off several streets in the north of Santa Monica, saying homes are burning.

California fires live: Los Angeles fighting largest blaze in its history as deaths rise to five, officials say

Local police say death toll has risen to five as Palisades fire grows to 15,000 acres and Eaton and Hurst fires also expand

www.theguardian.com

 

[Knox]

Cal Fire Links

Palisades Fire | CAL FIRE - Largest

Eaton Fire | CAL FIRE - 2nd Largest

Incidents | CAL FIRE - All incidents link

 

[Izzylizzy]

I cannot reach my cousin who lives in Burbank. Is that near the fires?

Keep checking Burbank's website.
So far no evacuation orders.

https://www.burbankca.gov/redflagupdates

 

[JennieM]

16 min ago
EVACUATIONS

Evacuation orders issued for some densely populated areas of Santa Monica​

BY REBECCA BOONE

Evacuation orders and warnings have been issued for some densely populated Santa Monica neighborhoods just north of the city’s famous pier.

City officials say people in the affected zones should leave now, including those in evacuation warning areas who may need additional time to get out. Police were being deployed to help with evacuations, the city wrote on its website.

The city says its Big Blue Bus is offering free transport every hour to evacuation centers.

Los Angeles-area wildfires: Updates from Jan. 8, 2025

AP coverage of the California wildfires on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025.

apnews.com

 

[Dotta]

MSM in my country in Europe follows the situation closely.

"It's Like to Be Under the Influence of a Flamethrower.​

The retired Chief Brigadier of the State Fire Service and former Rector of the Main School of the Fire Service,
says that the forecasts for bringing the situation under control on site do not look optimistic at the moment.

'The weather conditions are catastrophic -
very strong winds and very low humidity
- all this favors the spread of the fire' -
says the expert.

'Los Angeles is a very difficult area to conduct firefighting operations.
- Quite wide, very long and mostly straight streets, very intensively developed -
although it is not about the fact that there is a house next to a house,
because the distances between them are large,
but everything between the houses is overgrown with trees'.

'With such a strong wind as there is now - gusts of up to 160 km/h - it is really a hurricane' -
he explains and adds:
'With such terrain coverage,
this fire spreads as if under the influence of a flamethrower'.

The expert also noted that it is likely that they are talking about forest top fires.

'We fought something like that here in Poland in Kuźnia Raciborska
(the fire took place in 1992 - ed.).
It is something monstrous' -
emphasized the General.

'We must also remember that most buildings in the United States are wooden, frame buildings.
At high temperatures and low humidity - and this is the case in this part of the USA at the moment - they burn like matches,
they burn with more or less the same intensity as trees' -
said the expert.

As he also reported,
'the conifers that are there,
emit flammable terpenoids, and palm trees, which emit oils, burn really very intensely'.

When asked what is most important in this action, the expert immediately said

'the evacuation of people'.

'It is definitely the most important.
And that is what firefighters do -
they evacuate people and animals'."

Pożary w Los Angeles. Ekspert: Jak pod wpływem miotacza ognia

- To w tej chwili jest jedno wielkie palenisko, z którym z racji wiatru bardzo trudno jest walczyć - mówi w rozmowie z Wirtualną Polską były zastępca komendanta głównego Państwowej Straży Pożarnej gen. Ryszard...

wiadomosci.wp.pl

 

[Herat]

January is usually California's 'wet' season - not this year​

​

Matt Taylor
BBC Weather

The chart below from the National Weather Service in Sacramento shows one of the reasons the wildfires have been unusually bad.

This part of the year should be Southern California’s "wet" season, but much of the south and east of the state has seen less than half the normal rainfall expected to fall between the 1 October and now. That contrasts with above-average rainfall in north-west of the state.

It's meant that the ground and vegetation have become parched and perfect fuel for fires. Only in the last week did the US Drought Monitor categorise much of the area around Los Angeles as being in "moderate drought".

California's fire death toll doubles as chaos grips LA

Ten deaths have been confirmed so far in the Los Angeles fires, which have been fanned by powerful winds.

www.bbc.co.uk

That is an AMAZING map. Thank you for this, JennieM.

Here is another drought map the KTLA Weatherwoman was using last night. It's not as dramatic as the NWS one, but the very interesting part is the extreme drought on the southwestern border of California with Arizona. The Colorado River makes up the borderline there and that tells you a lot about the state of the Colorado River itself and it's inability to support the LA basin or any other major metropolitan area.

Basically, southern California is draining the northern California rain basins to fill its tanks and there are ambitious plans to get even more northern California water from the Sacramento River delta area. Big political fights about this ahead.

Basically southern California is overbuilt for it's own water supply.

| U.S. Drought Monitor

droughtmonitor.unl.edu

 

[Izzylizzy]

CNN live updates:

9 min ago

'Los Angeles city officials to share updates on fires at 8 p.m. ET'​

From CNN's Taylor Romine

"Los Angeles city officials will share updates on some of the local fires at 8 p.m. ET (5:00 p.m. local time).

They plan to discuss their “continued aggressive response to the Palisades Fire, Hurst Fire and Eaton Fire brought on by the dangerous ongoing wind storm and extreme weather conditions impacting the L.A. region,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’s office said in a news release.'


cont:

https://www.cnn.com/weather/live-news/los-angeles-pacific-palisades-eaton-wildfires-01-08-25/index.html

 

[Izzylizzy]

LA Times live udates

What happened during the first four days of the Eaton, Palisades fires in Southern California

Coverage of the fires ravaging Altadena, Malibu, Pacific Palisades and Pasadena, including stories about the devastation, issues firefighters faced and the weather.

www.latimes.com

 

[JennieM]

19m ago10.40 AEDT
Gabrielle Canon
I am at the beach now, it’s rough over here. Sending this while I have service: Very thick smoke. Santa Monica is being quickly evacuated. Driving through from Brentwood you can see the aftermath of the wind even in areas that haven’t burned. Large trees buckled across roads, piles of palm fronds, and cars smashed by fallen debris.

Another loud ‘Evacuate Now’ siren is sounding from phones as the evacuation area continues to grow. [Authorities have issued an evacuation order in Santa Monica for all areas north of Montana Avenue from the beach to 11th Street.]

But there are still private security guards standing in the affluent neighborhoods or positioned in vehicles, there to monitor the abandoned homes

California fires live: Los Angeles fighting largest blaze in its history as deaths rise to five, officials say

Local police say death toll has risen to five as Palisades fire grows to 15,000 acres and Eaton and Hurst fires also expand

www.theguardian.com

 

[JennieM]

1m ago00.07 GMT
As five wildfires blaze in Los Angeles County – which is home to an estimated 75,312 people experiencing homelessness, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority has issued the following statement from its CEO, Va Lecia Adams Kellum:

Since Friday, LAHSA outreach teams have been providing proactive fire education and awareness for people experiencing homelessness, especially in high-risk fire zones.

When the winds picked up on Tuesday, LAHSA moved into high alert, ready to support first responders in both the City and County of Los Angeles as they address emergency situations. LAHSA staff have also been assisting people experiencing homelessness to access motel rooms through the Augmented Winter Shelter Program, which has been activated in both the City and County of LA. While LAHSA outreach teams have not yet been cleared to go into any of the current fire zones, we stand ready to act and help additional people find shelter.

LAHSA is monitoring evacuation zones and power outages and is actively working with service providers who operate interim housing sites impacted by this emergency to ensure client safety at these facilities and relocation coordination as needed. We are also working to distribute masks to front line staff and people experiencing homelessness in areas with poor air quality.

California fires live: Los Angeles fighting largest blaze in its history as deaths rise to five, officials say

Local police say death toll has risen to five as Palisades fire grows to 15,000 acres and Eaton and Hurst fires also expand

www.theguardian.com

 

[Izzylizzy]

Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo is holding a presser, it just began.
I can't find it to post it here,

 

[JennieM]

Looters warned they will feel 'the full weight of the county'
​

IMAGE SOURCE, REUTERS
LA County Supervisor Kathryn

LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger says she has toured the damage in the Pasadena area, and "it is surreal".

She says she has no words to describe it.

Barger also asks that spectators stay away from firefighting efforts.

"These are fires that are actively taking place as we speak," she says.

She also sends a message to potential looters: "The full weight of the county will come down on you."

'The battle continues'​

Pasadena City Manager Miguel Marquez is next to speak.

He begins saying it's been "a brutal 22 hours here".

When firefighters first arrived at Eaton Canyon, "they found darkness, and they found fire, and they found 80mph winds".

By going door-to-door to warn people to flee, "they saved many lives", he says, calling their efforts "heroic".

"The battle continues. As does our resolve. We will put out the fire," he adds.

More than 100,000 people forced to flee Eaton fire so far​

Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo begins the news conference saying that his thoughts and prayers are with all of the victims of the Eaton fire, which is impacting the community.

More than 100,000 people are under mandatory evacuation orders, and another 100,000 have been warned that they may soon be forced to flee.

Five fatalities have been reported so far from the fire.

Pasadena mayor speaks to media

Pasadena Victor Gordo is currently speaking to the media. He confirms five people have died in the wildfires.

Stick with us, we'll bring you any updates from the briefing. And a reminder that you can watch it live at the top of this page.

California's fire death toll doubles as chaos grips LA

Ten deaths have been confirmed so far in the Los Angeles fires, which have been fanned by powerful winds.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[JennieM]

'Obey the evacuation orders'​

Congresswoman Judy Chu begins by saying she just arrived from Washington DC, and has many friends who have lost their homes.

She goes on to say that the federal government will finance all of the firefighting efforts being paid by local fire crews.

"I just urge everybody to obey the evacuation orders," she says, adding that federal lawmakers are also taking measures to close state forests to visitors.

California's fire death toll doubles as chaos grips LA

Ten deaths have been confirmed so far in the Los Angeles fires, which have been fanned by powerful winds.

www.bbc.co.uk