Winds Whip Fires Across Los Angeles; Five Reported Dead
Dry Winds Push Blazes to 27,000 Acres; Santa Barbara County Sends Engine Crews
[UPDATE: Jan. 8, 2025, 5:20pm] Fire acreage updates this afternoon quintupled to 27,000 acres in the Palisades, Eaton, and Hurst fires blazing in Los Angeles County. The Eaton Fire erupted on Tuesday just after nightfall, and Los Angeles authorities report five people have been found dead in the Altadena/Pasadena area. The Angeles National Forest reported gusts nearing 100mph at the height of the windstorm just north of Eaton Canyon.
The unified command among Los Angeles city and county chiefs has transferred to Calfire, with 1,400 firefighters from many locations on the fire. More than 110,000 people have evacuated as the evac order expanded in Santa Monica to areas north of Montana from the beach to 11th Street. Santa Barbara has become a safe harbor to some. In Solvang, the Alisal guest ranch is offering discounts to refugees from Los Angeles (call 800-425-4725 for information).
[Original Story] Driven by extreme winds, low humidity, and tinder-dry vegetation, at least four fires are burning in Los Angeles County, which has called for resources from across the region. Fire departments in Santa Barbara County responded, dispatching 14 engine crews in a task force headed by a battalion chief to help bring the fires under control. The fires totaled more than 5,000 acres on Wednesday morning with zero containment.
Two people are known to have died in the Altadena fire, which started in Eaton Canyon on Tuesday and has consumed more than 2,000 acres. A 3,000-acre fire in Pacific Palisades, the Hurst Fire in Sylmar, a smaller fire in the Sepulveda Basin, and the Eaton Fire have resulted in many injuries to residents and first responders, fire officials reported during a press conference on Wednesday morning.
More than 60,000 residents are under mandatory evacuation orders; fire officials pleaded with residents to leave when ordered to do so, as a number of injuries were among people who had stayed in their homes. Firefighting aircraft were grounded as winds blasted gusts approaching 80mph at times, hurling embers ahead of the flames.
The quick evacuation from the Palisades — which lies west of Santa Monica in steep hills overlooking the Pacific Ocean — packed the roads on Tuesday morning, requiring bulldozers to push abandoned cars aside to make a path for fire engines. An estimated 1,000 structures had been destroyed, L.A. County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said. The grounds of the Getty Villa were reported to have suffered some damage, though the villa and the artworks it contains were safe.
Nearly 100 of the Los Angeles school district’s 1,000 schools were closed due to poor air quality, the schools superintendent, Alberto Carvalho, said.
As fire teams from Nevada, Washington, Oregon, and across California responded to the call for mutual aid, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) authorized federal funds on January 7 and 8 to help fight the Palisades, Eaton, and Hurst fires.
L.A. City Fire Chief Kristin Crowley warned the four million residents of Los Angeles, “We are absolutely not out of danger yet. Strong winds are expected today across the city and the county.”
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