A fast-moving fire has forced more than 30,000 residents to evacuate from the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles amid “life-threatening and damaging” winds.
The fire, which broke out Tuesday morning at around 10:30 a.m. local time, was burning in the Pacific Palisades Highlands community. Within just hours, the fire spread to nearly 3,000 acres. According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Calfire). It may be fueled by a combination of dry conditions and strong winds, which are likely to strengthen overnight.
Wind speeds are expected to reach 100 mph in the windiest areas.
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Kelsey Trainor, an attorney who lives in Pacific Palisades, said she fled her neighborhood around 11:30 a.m., only to get stuck in busy traffic on Palisades Road.
“There was smoke all around us, fire everywhere. People were just honking their horns,” Trainor said. She said she felt stuck, with flames on either side of her only way out. “Imlock – there is nowhere to go.”
Trainor briefly left her car to provide aid and a mask to an elderly woman who was having trouble breathing. She said that ash was being thrown at her face by strong winds.
Trainor said it took more than an hour to get to safety.
“What was really scary was that people who were doing what they were supposed to do felt really unsafe,” Trainor said, noting that she had a stock of supplies and a “firefighter bag” packed and left before her phone rang. With emergency alert.
“I felt really helpless,” she said.
More than 10,300 households and 13,200 structures were threatened by fire as of Tuesday afternoon, Los Angeles Fire Chief Christine M. Crowley said at a news conference.
“We feel very fortunate at this point that no injuries have been reported,” Crowley said, but added that she had received reports of several buildings being damaged.
Flames could be seen coming from apartment buildings near Sunset Boulevard and from homes on the hillside.
Mallory Sobel, who lives in the Pacific Palisades Highlands neighborhood, said it took two and a half hours to leave the neighborhood, where thick plumes of smoke covered homes.
“I can feel it in my lungs now. My throat is sore. My car was filled with soot as I was making this slow climb. I wore a mask because it was that strong,” Sobel said.
She added that she left with only a bag containing emergency supplies and her family’s passports.
“Good Samaritans are everywhere on the street, helping people get down the hill and helping people drive their cars,” she said.
According to the fire department, about 30 vehicles that had to be abandoned were cleared by tractors to facilitate access for firefighters.
The fire also posed a threat to communities that dot the canyons west of Pacific Palisades, including those in Rustic Canyon and Topanga Canyon.
“Be prepared to receive evacuation orders,” Eric Scott, public information officer for the Los Angeles Fire Department, said in a video on X addressing residents. Scott added that the fire was “spreading rapidly due to strong winds.”
Margaret Stewart, another Los Angeles public information officer, said more than 250 firefighters were responding to the blaze. She added that the fire was generally moving toward the west, although firefighters were also concerned about smoldering fires and fires detected in gullies that could send embers in any direction.
“They can carry up to a mile,” Stewart said.
Conditions in Southern California were ripe for fast-moving wildfires. Los Angeles has not had heavy rain in months, and national meteorologists predicted a “devastating, life-threatening storm” from Tuesday afternoon until Wednesday morning.
Downtown Los Angeles has received just 0.16 inches of rain since July 1, said Rich Thompson, a weather service meteorologist based in Oxnard.
The weather service observed wind gusts between 50 and 80 mph on Tuesday and expected the danger to increase overnight, Thompson said.
“It looks like the winds will get a little stronger later today and tonight,” he said. “Hollywood Hills, Beverly Hills area, Palos Verdes – they get Santa Ana winds, but usually not this strong.”
Winter wildfires in California are often driven by Santa Ana winds, which sweep down mountain slopes to bring hot, dry air to coastal areas. Winds typically lower humidity levels and can quickly push out any smoldering fires, especially when the landscape is dry.
Climate change has increased the risk of such events, says Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, California. he said in the YouTube caption.
“Climate change is increasing the overlap between very dry vegetation conditions later in the season and the occurrence of these wind events,” he said.
Thompson said the landscape will become drier as the day goes on, a scary sign for firefighters.
“Humidity is starting to drop into the 20 to 30 percent range and will continue to drop into the highs and single digits tomorrow and into Thursday,” Thompson said, adding that “the winds will continue to move tonight and tomorrow. There won’t be any ‘relief’ weather.”