Pacific Palisades Fire Burns 3,000 Acres, Destroys Homes; Several Injured Fleeing Flames

PACIFIC PALISADES, CA — The Palisades Fire continued growing overnight and into Wednesday morning as the blaze expanded westward into Malibu the surrounding mountains, burning at least 2,925 acres.

But the exact size of the fire remains unclear, even to firefighters, who were forced to ground their aircraft as 80 mph winds whipped the flames and sent embers flying over long distances. Crews won't be able to accurately access the fire's growth — or engage in the aerial firefighting so crucial to controlling the blaze — until winds die down later in the morning, Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman Margaret Stewart told NPR Wednesday morning.

ORIGINAL STORY BELOW:

PACIFIC PALISADES, CA — A brush fire that broke out Tuesday morning in Pacific Palisades exploded to 2,921 acres within hours, threatening structures and forcing 30,000 people from their homes under "immediate threat."

Photos and video from the scene showed some people fleeing on foot after abandoning their cars and homes destroyed by flames due to the fast-moving, wind-driven nature of the fire. Several people had to shelter in place and in swimming pools before firefighters could safely evacuate them. Firefighting bulldozers were forced to plow through dozens of abandoned vehicles to get to the frontline. And late Tuesday, burn victims staggered across PCH seeking aid in Malibu. The chaotic scenes reflected just how explosive this brush fire is.

On Tuesday night, LAFD Capt. Erik Scott said a 25-year-old female firefighter suffered a serious head injury and was taken to a hospital. The circumstances of the injury were unknown. Several other people were treated for burn injuries in the area of the famed Duke's restaurant along Pacific Coast Highway, Scott said. It was also unclear how those injuries occurred, or how many people were affected. Firefighters also treated burn patients at Big Rock Beach in Malibu.

The burn victims at Big Rock Beach and Duke's appeared to have travelled down from the bluffs and crossed PCH to flag down help.

Resident Kelsey Trainor said the only road in and out of her neighborhood was completely blocked. Ash fell all around them while fires burned on both sides of the road.

“We looked across and the fire had jumped from one side of the road to the other side of the road,” Trainor said. “People were getting out of the cars with their dogs and babies and bags, they were crying and screaming. The road was just blocked, like full-on blocked for an hour.”

More than 10,300 homes and 13,000 structures remain threatened, Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley said at an afternoon news conference. Though the powerful Santa Ana windstorm has been driving the flames, the worst is yet to come: Firefighters expect the most intense wind gusts to come between 10 p.m. Tuesday and 5 a.m. Wednesday, officials said.

Shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday, firefighters had to ground their water and fire retardant-dropping helicopters at the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Canyon Fire near Altadena due to powerful wind gusts, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The blaze, dubbed the Palisades Fire, was reported at around 10:30 a.m. on Piedra Morada Drive, just north of the Palisades Hills Recreation Center in the extreme western limits of the city of Los Angeles, near Topanga State Park. Within an hour, crews estimated the fire had grown to 200 acres. By 3:30 p.m., it had burned 1,260 acres, according to Cal Fire.

Social media video and news reports show that multiple homes have burned within the fire zone, though officials haven't yet released an accounting of the damage.

Roads were clogged in both directions as evacuees fled down toward the Pacific Coast Highway while others begged for rides back up to their homes to rescue pets. Two of the homes on fire were inside exclusive gated communities.

Long-time Palisades resident Will Adams said he immediately went to pick his two kids up from St. Matthews Parish’s school when he heard the fire was nearby. Meanwhile, he said embers flew into his wife's car as she tried to evacuate.

“She vacated her car and left it running,” Adams said. She and many other residents walked down toward the ocean until it was safe.

Adams said he had never witnessed anything like this in the 56 years he’s lived there. He watched as the sky turned brown and then black as homes started burning. He could hear loud popping and bangs “like small explosions,” which he said he believes were the transformers exploding.

“It is crazy, it’s everywhere, in all the nooks and crannies of the Palisades. One home’s safe, the other one’s up in flames,” Adams said.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who was in Southern California to attend the naming of a national monument by President Joe Biden, made a detour to the canyon to see “firsthand the impact of these swirling winds and the embers,” and he said he found “not a few — many structures already destroyed.”

He said he was stunned to see people refusing to leave their homes despite evacuation orders, noting that no one ever held a memorial service for a home. Getting to safety is more important than saving possessions, he added.

Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick said members of his family were among those in Southern California forced to evacuate their homes on Tuesday due to the wildfire.

The fire swept through a Los Angeles hillside where Redick lives alongside other celebrities.

The fire broke out as the Southland braces for what the National Weather Service predicts "will likely be the most destructive windstorm" in over a decade. Low humidity and wind gusts of up to 100 mph in some areas are expected to cause extreme wildfire danger.

"Firefighters are now actively and aggressively responding to the #PalisadesFire with support from regional partners. Angelenos in the area are urged to heed evacuation warnings and follow direction from public safety officials. Due to increasing winds, this is a very dangerous situation," Mayor Karen Bass wrote in a social media post.

Eastbound Pacific Coast Highway was closed at Topanga Canyon Boulevard due to the fire at around noon. A portion of the 10 Freeway was shut down in the afternoon to aid evacuations. Topanga Canyon Boulevard remains shut down except for residents.

By early evening, the flames had jumped to the south side of PCH, reaching the coastline. The fire also continued spreading both east and west, jumping part of Tuna Canyon Road as it pushed toward Malibu.

Evacuation Orders

A mandatory evacuation order was issued for a wide swath of the Palisades area, covering 30,000 people, according to Crowley, the fire department chief.

Mandatory evacuation orders were issued in a "polygon"-shaped area from Merrimac Road on the northeast, west to Topanga Canyon Boulevard and south to Pacific Coast Highway. In Malibu, the orders cover north of PCH and south of Rambla Pacifico, between Carbon Beach Terrace on the west and Las Flores Mesa Drive on the east.

Mandatory evacuation orders were issued Tuesday afternoon across a wide area generally stretching from Merrimac Road on the northeast, west to Topanga Canyon Boulevard and south to Pacific Coast Highway, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The orders essentially cover the bulk of Pacific Palisades. Tuesday night, however, the evacuation area was dramatically expanded, stretching east to Kenter Avenue and north to Mulholland Road, still reaching west to Topanga Canyon Boulevard and south to PCH.

People outside of the evacuation area were asked to shelter in place.

An evacuation center for people impacted by the fire has been established at Westwood Recreation Center, 1350 S. Sepulveda Blvd.

With the fire expanding to the east, the city of Santa Monica issued a mandatory evacuation order for all residents north of San Vicente Boulevard between Ocean Boulevard and 26th Street Tuesday . An evacuation warning was issued for all residents north of Montana.

The city of Malibu issued evacuation orders three areas:

• north of PCH, south of Rambla Pacifio Street, east of Carbon Beach Terrace and west of Las Flores Mesa Drive;
• north of PCH, south of Budwood Matway, east of Las Flores Mesa Drive and west of Old Malibu Road; and
• north of Rambla Pacifico Street, south of Pauma Road, Las Flores Canyon Road and Rambla Pacifico, east of Carbon Canyon Road and west of Gorge Road.

Other areas in Malibu were placed under evacuation warnings.

An evacuation center was established at the Westwood Recreation Center, 1350 S. Sepulveda Blvd., while large animals can be taken to Pierce College at 6201 Winnetka Ave., or the Los Angeles Equestrian Center at 480 Riverside Drive in Burbank. Small animals can be taken to the Agoura Animal Care Center, 29525 Agoura Road, Agoura Hills.

Evacuees were instructed to travel south on Palisades Drive to westbound Sunset Boulevard then to southbound PCH. However, the evacuation routes quickly filled with vehicles, prompting some people to simply pull over near Palisades and Sunset, exit their cars and walk out of the area on foot.

LAFD officials said about 30 vehicles were abandoned at the location, and a bulldozer was used to move some of the vehicles out of the intersection to prevent them from blocking traffic in or out of the area.

The Pacific Palisades neighborhood is a celebrity enclave. Actor Steve Gutenberg interrupted a live KTLA interview with a neighbor Tuesday to implore people to evacuate safely.

"I have an important announcement I wonder if I could just make," he said as ash rained down on him. "Here on Palisdades Drive, if anybody has a car, and they leave the car, leave the keys in the car so that we can move your car so that these firetrucks can get up Palisades Drive."

See more: These Areas Are At Risk Of SoCal Public Safety Power Shutoffs

Actor James Woods posted a video on X showing fires burning in a hillside area filled densely with homes, with the flames dangerously close to the structures. He said he was evacuating the area.

The flames came all the way up to LAFD Station 23, burning the vegetation around the building, but sparing the station, a fire department spokeswoman said. "The vegetation around the station was on fire," Margaret Stewart said. "The station was not involved."

The White House issued a statement saying Biden "has been briefed on the wildfires in Los Angeles and at his direction his team is in contact with state and local officials to offer any federal assistance as needed. In response to the governor's request, FEMA has just approved a Fire Management Assistance Grant to support the impacted community and help reimburse California for firefighting costs."

Biden, who was staying in the West Los Angeles/Santa Monica area overnight, issued a statement Tuesday night saying he was "being frequently briefed on the wildfires" and that he has "offered any federal assistance that is needed" to battle the Palisades fire. It was unclear if the fire had forced any changes in Biden's overnight accommodations. He was scheduled to fly via helicopter from Santa Monica to Los Angeles International Airport at 1:40 p.m. Wednesday, then depart LAX at 2 p.m. bound for Joint Base Andrews.

The Los Angeles Police Department went on a citywide tactical alert in response to the fire and dangerous wind conditions. The alert allowed the department to keep officers on duty beyond their normal shifts to respond to emergencies.

Due to the fire and wind conditions, several Los Angeles Unified School District campuses relocated students Tuesday, and district officials said multiple schools will be closed on Wednesday. Canyon Charter Elementary School, Marquez Charter Elementary School, Palisades Charter Elementary School, and Paul Revere Charter Middle School will all be closed Wednesday. District officials said they will monitor the fire on Wednesday and potentially shift those campuses to remote learning on Thursday.

Topanga Elementary Charter School students were instructed to again report on Wednesday to Woodland Hills Academy, 20800 Burbank Blvd.

All Malibu school campuses in the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District will be closed on Wednesday. District officials said Santa Monica campuses are expected to be open, but a final decision will be made by 6 a.m. Wednesday.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued a smoke advisory due to the fire that will be in place until at least 5 p.m. Wednesday, saying smoke from the blaze could lead to dangerously unhealthy air quality, most notably in Pacific Palisades, Malibu and other northwest coastal areas in the county.

"It's best to avoid using swamp coolers or whole house fans that bring in outside air," AQMD officials said in a statement. "Residents should also avoid burning wood in their fireplaces or firepits. And, if they absolutely must be outside, a properly fit N95 mask or P100 respirator may provide some protection."

Another fire broke out around the same time Monday morning at a Sunset Boulevard building and quickly spread to the adjacent Hollywood Hills.

This is a developing story, check back for updates.

City News Service and the Associated Press contributed to this report.