Major brush fires burning in SoCal amid powerful windstorm

Last updated: Wednesday, January 8, 2025 7:42PM GMT
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LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A windstorm that forecasters described as potentially destructive and life-threatening is impacting a large swath of Southern California, dramatically raising the risk of wildfires for the next several days.

Firefighters are battling a fire in the foothills of Pacific Palisades, a Los Angeles coastal neighborhood. Another brush fire erupted in the evening in the Eaton Canyon area near Altadena, prompting mandatory evacuations. Then late Tuesday night, the Hurst Fire erupted in the Sylmar area.

Winds are expected to peak in the early hours of Wednesday, when gusts could reach 80 mph, the National Weather Service said. Isolated gusts could top 100 mph in mountains and foothills.

Red flag warnings are in effect and will and remain in place until 6 p.m. Thursday for the Malibu coast, the Santa Monica Mountains Recreational Area, the San Gabriel Valley, the San Fernando Valley, Calabasas, the Santa Clarita Valley, the San Gabriel Mountains, and the 5 Freeway and 14 Freeway corridors.

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Jan 08, 2025, 6:00 PM

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2:10 AM GMT

Governor Newsom proclaims state of emergency amid dangerous fire weather

California Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency Tuesday to "further support the communities impacted" by the Palisades Fire.

The Governor met with local and state fire officials and announced that California had secured a Fire Management assistance Grant (FMAG) from the Federal Emergency management agency (FEMA) to ensure the availability of vital resources to suppress the fire.

The fire was burning 1,262 acres as of 6 p.m. Tuesday. 30,000 people were evacuated, including 10,000 homes and 15,000 structures. No injuries have been reported.

"It's incredibly important that we heed the warnings, the calls. We're not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination," said the Governor. "You may feel at home that you're fine down in Riverside County, San Bernardino County, down in Ventura County, but there's a reason why we prepositioned hundreds of assets and personnel on Sunday."

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12:26 AM GMT

City of Los Angeles declares state of emergency

The city of Los Angeles has declared a state of emergency for the wind event, the L.A. City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson announced during a press conference Tuesday. He added that the most severe part of this windstorm is yet to come, but the city has "all resources on deck".

"We want everybody to know that the city is well prepared and has a tremendous emergency management infrastructure," said Harris-Dawson. "If you can stay off of our roads, please do so to allow emergency vehicles to go across the city."

The city of Los Angeles has declared a state of emergency for the wind event, the L.A. CIty Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson announced during a press conference Tuesday.
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12:19 AM GMT

Fire explodes to more than 1,200 acres, reaches beach in Malibu

The Pacific Palisades fire reached the Malibu coast Tuesday afternoon. The fire has exploded to 1,262 acres.

Road closures are in place for southbound Pacific Coast Highway at Las Flores Canyon Road and Topanga Canyon Boulevard. The road is also closed at Coastline Drive and southbound Pacific Coast Highway.

Video sent into our newsroom showed flames burning near the beach in Malibu close to the Pacific Coast Highway amid the Palisades Fire.
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Jan 07, 2025, 11:25 PM GMT

Homes erupt in flames in Pacific Palisades as wildfire burns uncontrolled

Several homes erupted in flames in a residential area of Pacific Palisades on Tuesday afternoon as a massive wildfire continued to burn uncontrolled.

The hillside homes were burning around 2:30 p.m. in the 1200 block of Rimmer Avenue, on the edge of a residential area north of Sunset Boulevard.

The houses were among those under a mandatory evacuation order, but it was unclear if any residents were inside.

Several homes erupted in flames in a residential area of Pacific Palisades as a massive wildfire continued to burn uncontrolled.

Meanwhile, sections of the 10 Freeway and Pacific Coast Highway were closed to all non-essential traffic to aid in evacuation efforts. But other roads were blocked.

Some residents jumped out of their vehicles to get out of danger and waited to be picked up.

Kelsey Trainor, who lives in the Highlands above the Pacific Palisades, 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."