Palisades Fire live updates: Wildfires spread in Los Angeles, prompting mandatory evacuations, as Santa Ana winds expected to intensify

The Los Angeles Fire Department issued a mandatory evacuation order for people in the vicinity of the fire.

by David Knowles
January 8, 2025

Heavy smoke from a brush fire in Pacific Palisades rises over the Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica, Calif., on Tuesday. (Eugene Garcia photo

Fueled by strong Santa Ana winds gusting to 80 miles per hour, low humidity and ongoing drought conditions, wildfires erupted Tuesday in Southern California, threatening homes in Pacific Palisades.

The Palisades Fire sprang to life Tuesday morning in the hills north of Malibu, leading officials to issue evacuation orders for thousands of residents.

"In preparation for high winds, LAFD pre-deployed strike teams in and near areas prone to wildfire," Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a message posted to social media. "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."

The National Weather Service has upgraded the wildfire risk to much of the Los Angeles area to "extremely critical," the most serious designation, through Wednesday morning.

Here are the latest developments.

LIVE20 updates

Tue, January 7, 2025 at 4:29 PM PST
David Knowles
L.A. fire chief: 30,000 people under evacuation orders


Plumes of smoke in Pacific Palisades as seen from Santa Monica, Calif., on Tuesday. (Agustin Paullier/AFP via Getty Images)
At a Tuesday afternoon press conference, Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley said that roughly 30,000 people were under evacuation orders due to the Palisades Fire.

The fire poses a threat to approximately 10,000 homes and another 13,000 structures, Crowley said.


Tue, January 7, 2025 at 4:24 PM PST
David Knowles
Newsom: 'We're not out of the woods'


California Gov. Gavin Newsom. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)
At a Tuesday afternoon news conference in Pacific Palisades, Gov. Gavin Newsom made clear that the dangers posed by the Palisades Fire and ongoing Santa Ana winds would continue through the night.

"We're not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination," Newsom said. "You may feel at home, that you're fine in Riverside County, San Bernardino County, Ventura County, other parts of the state, but there's a reason we prepositioned hundreds of assets and personnel on Sunday in anticipation of this wind event."

Los Angeles County Fire Chief Marrone also stressed that the worst might not be over.

"I want to let all of the viewers and listeners know that we are not out of danger. The National Weather Service has predicted that the winds are going to pick up and get worse," Marrone said. "We're going to have the most significant wind event between 10 p.m. [PST] this evening and 5 a.m. tomorrow morning."

Red flag conditions are due to various factors, including low humidity and high winds. Those conditions were in evidence Tuesday, made worse by an ongoing drought that has dried out vegetation.

"At the time of the fire, the relative humidity was 12 and the winds were approximately 25 miles per hour with gusts of up to 50 miles per hour," Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley said.


Tue, January 7, 2025 at 3:45 PM PST
David Knowles
Palisades Fire grows to 1,262 acres


A firefighter protects a structure from the advancing Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on Tuesday. (Etienne Laurent/AP)
The Palisades Fire continues to grow. As of 3:30 p.m. PT, the wildfire had burned 1,262 acres, Cal Fire said on its website.

Thanks to persistent Santa Ana wind gusts, some measuring over 80 miles per hour, the fire has grown steadily since it began Tuesday morning. Early Tuesday afternoon, the fire had burned 200 acres; a little after 2 p.m. PT, it had grown to 772 acres, Cal Fire said.


Tue, January 7, 2025 at 3:32 PM PST
Katie Mather
Gov. Gavin Newsom tours Pacific Palisades, asks residents to 'heed evacuation orders'

California Gov. Gavin Newsom shared footage on social media from Pacific Palisades, where thousands of residents were ordered Tuesday to evacuate from the Palisades Fire.

In a follow-up post, Newsom reminded Californians to "heed evacuation orders" and shared a website that provided evacuation information. It contained the following guidance:

Sign up for free emergency alerts.

Make plans in case of potential power outages. When it comes to evacuations, it's recommended to make sure roads aren't closed and that family members know where to go. It's also important to have a go bag with necessities — money, important documents and medicines — packed.

Understand that an "evacuation warning" means you should prepare to leave. An "evacuation order" means you should leave immediately.


Tue, January 7, 2025 at 3:13 PM PST
Katie Mather
This is the 2nd major fire in Los Angeles in a month

The Palisades Fire is the second major fire to hit the Los Angeles area in a month.

Starting on Dec. 9, the Franklin Fire, which burned over 4,000 acres in just 48 hours, forced thousands of people to be evacuated from the Malibu area, even shutting down parts of the Pacific Coast Highway and destroying several homes and buildings.

The Santa Ana winds at the time, which went up to 50 mph, made it harder for firefighters to keep the fire under control. Wind gusts Tuesday have been measured near 80 mph and could top 100 mph overnight.

More from Yahoo News: Photos show firefighters battling the Franklin Fire in Malibu, Calif.


Tue, January 7, 2025 at 2:57 PM PST
David Knowles
L.A. firefighters use bulldozer to clear abandoned cars left by fire evacuees

In one of several surreal scenes Tuesday, Los Angeles firefighters were forced to clear dozens of abandoned cars at the intersection of Palisades Drive and Sunset Boulevard using a bulldozer.

The cars were blocking the roadway following a chaotic evacuation ordered in response to the Palisades Fire. Residents caught in an intense traffic jam Tuesday morning ditched their vehicles and fled on foot, KTLA reported.

That led actor Steve Guttenberg, who lives in the area, to issue a plea for people tempted to do the same to leave their keys inside their cars so that they could be moved.

The bulldozer that was used to push Teslas and Mercedes Benzes aside did some serious damage to the vehicles.


Tue, January 7, 2025 at 2:27 PM PST
David Knowles
Palisades Fire grows to 772 acres


Plumes of smoke from the Palisades Fire. (David Swanson/AFP via Getty Images)
The Palisades Fire has grown to roughly 772 acres, Cal Fire said on its website.

In the early afternoon on Tuesday, the size of the fire was reported to be 200 acres, but persistent Santa Ana winds have caused it to grow significantly.

The worst winds, which could include gusts of over 100 miles per hour, are expected to arrive after midnight early Wednesday morning.


Tue, January 7, 2025 at 2:09 PM PST
David Knowles
Santa Monica watches fire as evacuation orders come to city's border


A lone sunbather watches a plume of smoke near Santa Monica, Calif., on Tuesday. (Richard Vogel/AP)
Evacuation orders for the Palisades Fire were extended to the border with Santa Monica on Tuesday. With smoke from the fire in the Santa Monica Mountains forcing residents of Pacific Palisades to evacuate, residents of towns at lower elevations, including Santa Monica, have been keeping a wary eye on its progress.

Via the Santa Monica Daily Press:

The City of Santa Monica said it is monitoring the brushfire but there is no threat to Santa Monica at this time. Officials said residents should avoid non-essential travel on Pacific Coast Highway and Sunset Blvd. Keep 911 open for life safety emergencies.


Tue, January 7, 2025 at 1:55 PM PST
Katie Mather
Meteorologist predicts these are likely the strongest Santa Ana winds in the last few years

Jonathan Erdman, the senior meteorologist for Weather.com, predicted Tuesday that the Santa Ana winds fueling the Palisades Fire are "likely to be the strongest" for this year's season "and, possibly, in the last few years."

The strongest Santa Ana winds on record were in December 2011, when the San Gabriel Valley was hit with winds at 97 mph and gusts up to 167 mph. Hundreds of trees were knocked down and power was out for days in the aftermath of the storm.

The most dangerous hours for Santa Ana winds are overnight, usually between 10 p.m. and 10 a.m.

"These strong winds will last through Wednesday afternoon or evening," Erdman added.


Tue, January 7, 2025 at 1:50 PM PST
David Knowles
Buildings in flames as Palisades Fire advances

As Santa Ana wind gusts continue to spread the Palisades Fire, flames began to reach homes and buildings in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, KTLA reported.

Multiple buildings appeared to be on fire, including a senior living facility with more than 200 residents.

Mandatory evacuations of the area have been ordered, and residents are contending traffic jams as they seek safety.


Tue, January 7, 2025 at 1:30 PM PST
David Knowles
Power outages spike as winds and wildfire worsen


Firefighters work to extinguish the Palisades Fire in the L.A. area. (David Swanson/AFP via Getty Images)
As the Palisades Fire continues to grow and the Santa Ana winds continue to strengthen, power outages have spiked in Los Angeles County.

Citing the wildfire threat, Southern California Edison cut power to more than 4,000 customers in the county, the New York Times reported. That number could rise significantly in the coming hours, as wind gusts are forecast to reach as high as 100 miles per hour between midnight and 6 a.m. ET Wednesday.

"This fire is moving well into populated areas," UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said in a Tuesday briefing, adding that power outages could hamper the ability of officials to communicate evacuation orders to local residents.


Tue, January 7, 2025 at 1:04 PM PST
Dylan Stableford
Santa Ana windstorm forces Biden to cancel event

President Biden, who is in Los Angeles, was scheduled to visit Thermal, Calif., to make remarks about the creation of a pair of new national monuments in California. But those plans were scrapped due to high Santa Ana winds, the same winds that are fueling the Palisades Fire.

“Today’s event will be rescheduled for next week at the White House so that key stakeholders can attend,” the White House said in a statement.

According to NBC Los Angeles, Biden was preparing to sign a proclamation that would establish the Chuckwalla National Monument south of Joshua Tree National Park and the Sáttítla National Monument in Northern California.


Tue, January 7, 2025 at 12:54 PM PST
David Knowles
Peak winds still 12 hours away, UCLA climate scientist says

The Santa Ana winds fueling California's Palisades Fire are far from over, UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain told reporters in a Tuesday briefing.

"The peak winds are still 12 hours away," Swain said.

A veritable wall of smoke can be seen pushing from the Santa Monica Mountains out to the Pacific Ocean, and evacuations have been ordered in the Pacific Palisades area.

"Just about everything is going to get worse before it gets better," Swain said about the winds that are helping the fire to grow.


Tue, January 7, 2025 at 12:47 PM PST
Dylan Stableford
Here's a map showing where the Palisades Fire is

Cal Fire has posted a map showing where the Palisades Fire is in relation to other areas of Los Angeles. The fire has now grown to 200 acres, fire officials say.


Map: CalFire

Tue, January 7, 2025 at 12:33 PM PST
Dylan Stableford
Schools evacuated as Palisades Fire grows

At least three schools near the Palisades Fire were evacuated. The Los Angeles Unified School District announced the evacuations on X shortly before the city's fire department issued evacuation orders for people in the area.


Tue, January 7, 2025 at 12:29 PM PST
David Knowles
What are Santa Ana winds?

For residents of Southern California, Santa Ana winds are nothing new.

“Santa Ana winds are dry and warm (often hot) winds in the Southern California area that blow in from the desert — which includes the Great Basin of the western United States, incorporating Nevada and part of Utah,” Robert Fovell, a professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences at UCLA, said in an FAQ posted to the university’s website.

The winds can blow any time the Great Basin becomes cooler than Southern California. Most typically, that occurs between September and May.

“The Great Basin resides at a higher elevation than the L.A. Basin, which is near sea level. The air flowing into Southern California, forming the Santa Ana winds, is subsiding. When air descends, it is compressed, and its temperature rises,” Fovell explained.

Author Joan Didion introduced many Americans to the famous winds in her 1969 essay “The Santa Anas.”

“It is hard for people who have not lived in Los Angeles to realize how radically the Santa Ana figures in the local imagination. The city burning is Los Angeles's deepest image of itself,” she wrote.

Read more from Yahoo News.


Tue, January 7, 2025 at 12:26 PM PST
Dylan Stableford
Video shows how quickly Palisades Fire grew

The University of California-San Diego shared a time-lapse video taken from a fixed camera in Los Angeles showing how quickly the Palisades Fire grew on the morning of Jan. 7.


Tue, January 7, 2025 at 12:25 PM PST
David Knowles
Cal Fire tips on staying safe during heightened risk of wildfires

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire, has issued some tips "to keep you and your family safe" during the heightened risk of wildfires brought on by the arrival in Southern California of Santa Ana winds.

Those include:

Be attentive while driving to avoid debris in the roadway

Do not park vehicles over dry vegetation

Outside burning is not permitted

Avoid outdoor activities that may spark a fire

If you see a downed power line, stay at least 100 feet away and call 911 immediately

Create a "go bag" in case of an emergency

Dylan Stableford
by January 7, 2025

Mandatory evacuation order issued for Palisades

The Los Angeles Fire Department issued a mandatory evacuation order for people in the vicinity of the Palisades Fire:

This is a message from NotifyLA, issued by the Los Angeles City Fire Department: Evacuation order for the Palisades Fire. Evacuation Center located at Westwood Recreation Center. People in the area of Palisades need to evacuate now due to a rapidly moving wildfire. Pack all people and pets into your vehicle and leave the area immediately. If you are not in the mandatory evacuation zone, stay off the roads to allow first responders and evacuees to move quickly. More information, including a map, can be found at www.lafd.org/alerts.