In Pacific Palisades, a possible “life-threatening and dangerous” windstorm was igniting a fire that was out of control on Tuesday, destroying houses and forcing residents to leave their vehicles.
Large swaths of the Palisades, Topanga and Malibu were under , an evacuation attempt by the day,  , as people fought traffic jam and heavy smoking trying to escape the local flames. The , Palisades fire , broke out around 10: 30 a. m. near Piedra Morada Drive and was pushed by extreme wind gusts that officers had warned had energy any fire into a fast-moving and uneven fire.
The flames had blackened more than 1, 200 acres by 3: 30 p. m as it continued to demand south. The grounds around the , Getty Villa , caught blaze, as did the school of Palisades Charter High School.
” It’s bad. It’s like an inferno”, said Lori Libonati, who lives in Pacific Palisades. Before evacuating, she saw the fire start to burn Tuesday morning.
By 3: 30 p. m., around 10, 000 residents had been evacuated from 30, 000 homes, with no injuries reported, said Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell at an afternoon news conference. More than half a dozen calls of people who were trapped in buildings were answered by firefighters throughout the day.
Gov. When he urged residents to heed evacuation orders, Gavin Newsom met with first responders in the Pacific Palisades and described the blaze as a “hell of a way to start a new year.” He declared a state of emergency on Tuesday afternoon, and California received a grant to pay federal firefighting costs.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. As families evacuated near hillsides that were glowing orange, massive smoke plumes poured into the sky around the fire. According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the fire quickly spread across Palisades Drive, leaving many people trying to evacuate in a dangerous and chaotic environment. Some people jumped out of their stalled cars and headed for the beach, while others were forced to leave and found shelter, according to residents who spoke to The Times.
When she learned about the fire, Ellen Delosh-Bacher attempted to drive home from downtown Los Angeles with her 95-year-old mother, her mother’s caregiver, and their two dogs, but she was quickly forced to halt at Sunset Boulevard and Palisades Drive.
Then, a fire broke out along the road, and police began yelling” Run for your lives” as people departed their cars. Delosh-Bacher recalled. She ran a half-mile to the beach after leaving her keys in the ignition. Over radio traffic, firefighters could be heard telling dispatchers that up to 100 abandoned vehicles were blocking the road.
” This is like an apocalypse”, Delosh-Bacher said. ” I live on a ridge. If the fire goes up ( there ), I’m going to be pretty screwed.
Although her mother was stranded at her home, she claims that firefighters started ejecting residents and placing them in shelters.
” I don’t know, I’m so scared”, she said.
Capt. Erik Scott, a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson, said some homes had burned in the fire, but a precise estimate was not immediately available.
As dry, unpredictable, and strong offshore winds sweep across the area, severe red flag warnings are still in effect for the region. The National Weather Service said strong north winds were expected around the fire through at least Wednesday, with speeds peaking from 35 to 60 mph between 10 p. m. Tuesday and 5 a. m. Wednesday.
According to UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain, the worst of this appears to be happening in the middle of the night on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. This will not be like a Santa Ana wind event where it’s windy in the mountains and relatively calm in the urban areas; it will be quite a widespread event.
As the dangerous windstorm drags on, gusts up to 100 mph are possible in some areas of Los Angeles and Ventura counties. The National Weather Service reported that some areas of the eastern Santa Monica Mountains, which were close to the fire, were already experiencing wind speeds of 60 to 70 mph on Tuesday.
Magnolia Shin left her home on Piedra Morada Drive about an hour later, and Magnolia Shin responded,” It looks grim.” Shin claimed that she could smell the flames coming from her home just 50 yards before she left. She didn’t have time to try to save anything from her home before evacuating.
” I couldn’t even get my rabbit”, she said. ” I just left. I simply took my purse and drove off.
The wealthy and powerful, as well as many celebrities, can find a secluded neighborhood in the Palisades neighborhood. However, seclusion can also carry risks when things go wrong.
After leaving his hair salon, George Hutchinson watched the fire from his apartment’s rooftop at Sunset Boulevard and Temescal Canyon Road.
He lives in the evacuation zone and his car was packed and ready, but because the traffic was bumper-to-bumper, he decided to wait it out.
” It looks horrible”, he said. You can continue to see homes burn. It jumps and it’s crazy. There is gridlock in this town; there are three ways in and out, and it’s all packed. Lots of chaos”.
Current honorary mayor of Pacific Palisades, Eugene Levy, evacuated early Tuesday along with other residents of the neighborhood.
Levy was stuck in traffic and reported to The Times that” the smoke looked pretty black and intense over Temescal Canyon.” ” I couldn’t see any flames, but the smoke was very dark”.
Along the Pacific Coast Highway, residents gathered along Sunset Boulevard, many of whom called their loved ones who were still stranded in traffic, and others sobbed as they finally reunited.
In the Sunset Beach parking lot, Calvary Christian School students and teachers are waiting to connect students with their families. However, the smoke quickly shifted toward the shore. By noon, ash was dropping from the sky along the coastline.
” I figured it was safer at the beach, but now I’m not so sure”, said Daryl Goldsmith. The wind is violent, and I just hope nothing bad happens. … The poor fire department couldn’t get up there”.
When Goldsmith spotted the fire, she was at her Palisades home with her friends. It quickly exploded, she said.
As she rushed to evacuate, her husband stayed behind to help a disabled neighbor escape. Although firefighters began to direct traffic, Goldsmith decided to leave her car and head for the shore.
Her husband was still shackled up the hill as she waited at Sunset Beach.
Amid a , parched landscape, the major wind event is creating , particularly dangerous , fire weather — similar to the conditions that were in place when both the November , Mountain fire , in Ventura County and Malibu ‘s , Franklin fire in December , erupted.
Although it is indeed bringing dry, offshore winds to the area, officials claim this was not a typical Santa Ana wind event. Beginning on Tuesday and lasting at least through Friday, the widespread wind event is anticipated to cause disruptions from Santa Barbara County through San Diego County.
Red flag warnings are still in effect throughout the area, citing an “increased risk for large fires with very rapid fire spread, extreme fire behavior, and long-range spotting.” Particularly dangerous situations fall under the most stringent a  warning.
Additionally, forecasters are advising that the storm may result in a windstorm that will have a short-lived but incredibly destructive effect, particularly in the San Gabriel foothills and valleys. The “mountain wave wind” activity , occurs when gusts rapidly drop down mountain slopes, then gain strength upon hitting the flat landscape, causing “brief bursts of very strong, dangerous winds”, said Rich Thompson, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
He said this could be the strongest such wind event since the 2011 storm that caused , serious damage , in Pasadena, Altadena and other San Gabriel Valley neighborhoods, including knocking out power for days for more than 400, 000 people.
The mountain wave winds, which could reach up to 80 to 100 mph, are expected to be the strongest across the 118 and 210 highway corridors, including the San Gabriel and San Fernando foothills, the Simi Valley and the eastern Ventura County valleys.
Winds are expected to peak late Tuesday, but linger through at least Friday.
On Tuesday morning, electric service providers began a series of power shutoffs to halt further fire starts. By early on Tuesday afternoon, according to Southern California Edison, about 5, 000 customers in Los Angeles and Ventura counties were without power.
The utility , has warned , that another 400, 000 customers, across Los Angeles, Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, may see shutoffs Tuesday and Wednesday “due to heightened wildfire risk”. San Diego Gas &, Electric , is considering , cutting off power to more than 60, 000 customers but none were yet initiated Tuesday afternoon.
President Biden also canceled plans to travel from Los Angeles to the Coachella Valley to sign a proclamation creating the Chuckwalla National Monument, which will extend farther than 624 000 acres from Joshua Tree National Park.
That proclamation, and one creating another national monument in Northern California, is now expected to be signed at the White House next week.
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