LA fires threaten new communities as biggest blaze shifts direction

Water is dropped on homes as the Palisades Fire advances in Mandeville Canyon on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

PACIFIC PALISADES – New evacuations were underway Saturday as the 22,660-acre Palisades Fire made a dramatic shift overnight, moving northeast to threaten the Brentwood area and the western San Fernando Valley.

The massive mandatory evacuation zone stretches from the Pacific Ocean to the west, the San Diego (405) Freeway to the east, San Vicente Boulevard to the south and the Encino Reservoir to the north.

Evacuation warnings were issued for the following two areas: Sunset Boulevard to the south, Mullholland Drive to the north, Bellagio Road/Roscomare Road to the east and the 405 Freeway to the west; and Mulholland/Sepulveda Boulevard to the south, the 405 Freeway to the east, Ventura Boulevard to the north and Louise Avenue to the west.

Authorities closed several off-ramps to the 405 Freeway to limit traffic in the West Los Angeles area Saturday morning, including Getty Center Drive, Skirball Center Drive, Sunset, Wilshire, Santa Monica and Olympic boulevards.

Video from Saturday showed firefighters battling steep terrain in an attempt to protect homes from encroaching flames in Mandeville Canyon northwest of the Getty Center and west of the 405 Freeway and in Brentwood, with some homes overcome by fire.

The northbound 405 Freeway was closed at Sepulveda Boulevard while the southbound freeway was closed at Skirball Center Drive. Other road closures were in effect in the Palisades and Malibu areas, including a stretch of Sunset Boulevard, Pacific Coast Highway and Topanga Canyon Boulevard.

The fire was 11 percent contained as of Saturday morning after burning 22,660 acres. At least 5,316 structures have been destroyed, a number that includes automobiles, and at least 426 homes have been destroyed. Authorities said approximately 105,000 people  are currently evacuated.

A list of evacuation centers can be found here.

The American Red Cross Sheltering Site was also assisting with a mobile animal shelter for small animals only.

A mandatory curfew was in effect nightly from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. in the mandatory evacuation areas, with only firefighters, law enforcement and utility workers allowed in those zones. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday announced that he has doubled the number of California National Guard personnel activated to help maintain order in the fire areas to 1,680 members.

Authorities have pledged that anyone caught looting or committing other crimes in the fire areas will be fully prosecuted.

Some 3,712 personnel were assigned to battle the Palisades Fire.

UCLA officials announced that they will conduct remote instruction for undergraduate and graduate courses through Friday due to the Palisades Fire. Campus operations will continue to be modified during this time. Those who work in the UCLA Health clinical areas will receive further communications from UCLA Health.

Although the campus is not currently under an evacuation order, an evacuation warning has been issued to a zone adjacent to UCLA, and officials were asking those on campus to remain vigilant and “be ready to evacuate, should the alert be extended to our campus.”

At a briefing Saturday morning, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna says authorities have not determined whether any of the fires ravaging the county were intentionally set, but LASD detectives were working with the LA county and city fire departments, the Los Angeles Police Department, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to determine their cause.

“We don’t want any gaps in information any and every clue is important,” Luna said. “If anybody out there has any information on anything suspicious, maybe there’s a conversation, maybe there’s a social media post, something that you think just doesn’t sound right, get it to us.”

The five deaths from the Palisades Fire were in addition to six confirmed deaths in the Eaton Fire in Altadena. On Thursday, representatives of the Los Angeles County Office of Medical Examiner removed remains from the ruins of a home in the vicinity of Duke’s restaurant in Malibu.

Officials from the sheriff’s department told reporters at the scene that deputies received a missing person report, prompting them to conduct a welfare check at the burned-out home, where the remains were discovered.

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said another death occurred at a home in the 15300 block of Friends Street in Pacific Palisades. He said police and the medical examiner responded to the scene, and determined the death was “fire-related.” No other details were released.

“It is safe to say the Palisades Fire is one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history of Los Angeles,” LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley said Thursday morning.

Los Angeles County Fire Department Chief Anthony Marrone said there were a “high number of significant injuries to residents who did not evacuate, in addition to first responders who were on the fire lines.”

Those looking for someone impacted by any of the fires in Los Angeles County were asked to contact the Red Cross at 800-675-5799.

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger signed an emergency proclamation in response to the fire, and the city of Los Angeles also issued an emergency declaration. Newsom later signed a state of emergency proclamation, and President Joe Biden gave approval to federal funding to help cover costs of the firefighting effort.

Biden announced Thursday that the emergency funding, which normally covers 75 percent of costs relating to firefighting and recovery efforts, will cover 100 percent of the costs for 180 days.

The Getty Villa museum in Pacific Palisades was not damaged but will remain closed until at least Thursday. Katherine Fleming, president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust, issued a statement Tuesday evening saying that the staff and art collection at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades “remain safe,” although “some trees and vegetation on site have burned.”

The Villa houses a treasured collection of Greek and Roman antiquities.

Getty officials also said their Brentwood museum near the San Diego (405) Freeway was closed at least through Thursday “out of caution and to help alleviate traffic in the area.”

As is standard during high-fire-danger conditions, Southern California Edison customers in some areas were having their power turned off under the utility’s Public Safety Power Shutoffs program. The program is designed to de-energize power lines that could potentially be damaged and spark a wildfire during red flag conditions.

“As of Sat., 1/11, 9:30 a.m., 51,848 customers are without power.

PSPS numbers will continually change as field reports and system updates are completed,” the utility said. Updated information about power cuts is available at sce.com/outage-center/outage-restoration-time.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said its crews restored power to more than 24,000 additional customers overnight. As of 10:30 a.m.

Saturday, 28,500 out of the LADWP’s 1.5 million electric customers were without power, with 6,900 of those located in the Palisades Fire area.

Also Saturday, the utility disputed reports that fire hydrants in the Palisades were broken during the first days of the fire, hampering firefighting efforts.

“This was an unprecedented hurricane wind-driven wildfire in an urban area. Our crews and our system was prepared, but overwhelmed by the massive demand as firefighting continued,” the DWP said in a statement.

“… Any assertion that fire hydrants in the Pacific Palisades were broken before the Palisades fire is misleading and false. LADWP works with LAFD who is responsible for inspecting fire hydrants citywide. LADWP repaired every hydrant needing repairs as reported by LA Fire Department inspectors. LADWP’s fire hydrant repair list was current and updated, and all reported fire hydrants were fully operational in the Pacific Palisades and in L.A.’s Westside communities prior to the fire.

“No power was lost to LADWP pump stations during the fire, and water supply remained strong to the area,” the statement continued. “Water pressure in the system was lost due to unprecedented and extreme water demand to fight the wildfire without aerial support. This impacted our ability to refill the three water tanks supplying the Palisades causing the loss of suction pressure.

This impacted 20 percent of the hydrants in the area, mostly in the higher elevations. As soon as LADWP identified the risk of losing water in the tanks and water pressure in the system, we immediately deployed potable water tankers to sustain support for firefighting efforts.

“LADWP was required to take the Santa Ynez Reservoir out of service to meet safe drinking water regulations. To commission the support and resources to implement repairs to Santa Ynez, LADWP is subject to the city charter’s competitive bidding process which requires time.
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`The water system serving the Pacific Palisades area and all of Los Angeles meets all federal and state fire codes for urban development and housing. LADWP built the Pacific Palisades water system beyond the requirements to support the community’s typical needs. As we face the impacts of climate change and build climate resilience, we welcome a review and update of these codes and requirements if city water systems will be used to fight extreme wildfires. LADWP is initiating our own investigation about water resiliency and how we can enhance our posture to respond to the impacts of climate change.” (CNS)