Pacific Palisades Fire Evacuation Orders Issued

PACIFIC PALISADES, CA — Residents were ordered to evacuate in the Pacific Palisades area as a brush fire that exploded to 200 acres within an hour continues to burn Tuesday afternoon.

The fire, dubbed the Palisades Fire, was reported at around 10:30 a.m. on the 1100 block of North Piedra Morada Drive, just north of the Palisades Hills Recreation Center. By 11:20 a.m., crews on the scene estimated the size of the fire at 200 acres.

The fire was burning westward near the Pacific Palisades Highlands community as of 12:30 p.m., according to Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Erik Scott. It's located in the extreme western limits of the city of Los Angeles, near Topanga State Park.

That area includes numerous hillside homes.

Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for a wide swath of Pacific Palisades and parts of Malibu. The orders cover over 25,000 people, an analysis of U.S. Census data shows.

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.

Meantime, evacuation warnings are in place in a large area between Topanga and Carbon canyons.

View a map of evacuation orders and warnings.

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

Evacuees should head southbound on Palisades Drive to westbound Sunset Boulevard to southbound Pacific Coast Highway, Scott said.

• Read the latest on the Palisades fire, which burned 772 acres by 2:30 p.m. Tuesday