At least five people have died in the wind-whipped wildfires that exploded overnight and continued to burn out of control Wednesday from the Pacific Palisades to Pasadena, a spokesperson with L.A. County Fire confirmed to Rolling Stone.
L.A. County Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone announced the first two confirmed fatalities at a morning press conference, adding that others, including firefighters, suffered “significant” injuries. Authorities said the five victims perished in the fast-moving Eaton Canyon fire that sparked around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Altadena and Pasadena areas of northeastern L.A. County and grew to about 1,000 acres by midnight. The fire doubled again in size by sunrise and was estimated at 10,600 acres by late morning.
“The fire continues to grow with zero percent containment,” Marrone said, adding that an estimated 100 structures were destroyed in the Eaton Canyon blaze. He said two more fires dubbed the Sylmar and Hurst fires were causing concern and evacuations in the San Fernando Valley.
Meanwhile, the devastating Palisades Fire that started Tuesday morning in the Santa Monica Mountains near the Pacific Ocean was still raging with no containment Wednesday. Officials said that fire reached 15,832 acres by early afternoon and was especially challenging to battle due to the topography of the mountains, the area’s drought-stricken vegetation and the nearly hurricane-force winds of up to 100 m.p.h that continued overnight. Marrone said there were no immediate reported fatalities in the Palisades blaze, but he cited “a high number of significant injuries to residents who did not evacuate.” He said an estimated 1,000 structures, including homes and businesses, were “destroyed.”
“It’s a war zone,” Denisa Hanna, music director of the Palisades Lutheran Church that hosts the Palisades Symphony tells Rolling Stone. She said several grocery stores and nearby apartment buildings were completely destroyed. At least two members of the symphony lost their homes, she said. “It’s awful, just awful.”
The Hurst fire broke out around 10:10 p.m. Tuesday not far from the 5 Freeway in the Sylmar area north of Burbank. It was burning Wednesday in the footprint of the historic Saddleridge fire that burned the area in 2019. It grew rapidly to 500 acres in a matter of hours thanks to the fierce winds. The Woodley fire in the Sepulveda Basin near the intersection of the 405 and 101 freeways started in a park around 6:15 a.m. Wednesday and was burning about 30 acres, officials said. Around 70,000 residents were under evacuation orders around the county. Evacuation updates can be found here.
Los Angeles City Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said the fires were “intense” but that the powerful winds had grounded water-dropping aircraft overnight. The flights resumed Wednesday. Windswept ash and the smell of smoke blanketed the Los Angeles region, with the sky glowing an ominous orange amid the haze. Downed branches, trees and even some power lines littered the streets
“Together, these fires are stretching the capacity of emergency services to their maximum limits,” Crowley said, adding that “several” firefighters were among those injured in the Palisades Fire. “We are absolutely not out of danger yet with the strong winds that continue to push through the city and county today.”
L.A. County Sheriff Robert G. Luna said that as he was approaching the podium to speak Wednesday, he was receiving messages about employees who had lost their homes. He said the Altadena sheriff’s station was partially on fire at one point.
“This is a tragic time in our history here in Los Angeles, but a time where we’re really tested,” LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said. “The winds were like something that I have never seen before.” He called conditions around the city “unprecedented.”
Earlier this week, forecasters warned of a “life-threatening, destructive” windstorm that could hit Southern California. The dire predictions were realized when the powerful winds led the Palisades fire to burn land at a rate of three football fields every minute, said the New York Times.
The Palisades fire ripped through residential areas down to the Pacific Coast Highway. On Tuesday afternoon, the grounds of the Getty Villa had caught fire, too, but it appeared the damage there was contained. Katherine E. Fleming, president and chief executive of the J. Paul Getty Trust, said the museum had “made extensive efforts to clear brush from the surrounding area as part of its fire mitigation efforts throughout the year. Some trees and vegetation on site have burned, but staff and the collection remain safe.”
While wind speeds were due to subside Wednesday, the Santa Ana windstorm described as the strongest in a decade was expected to cause unpredictable conditions through Thursday. Forecasters were worried about changes in the wind direction, with Andrew Rock of the National Weather Service saying winds blowing from the northeast would push the Palisades fire west toward more structures. Swirling wind patterns known as eddies have also formed near the Eaton fire and could push the fire in unexpected directions.
Dangerous winds led to Southern California Edison shutting off power to thousands of residents to prevent its electric system from sparking a wildfire. By late Tuesday afternoon, more than 1.5 million customers were without power in Southern California, with about 334,000 without power in Ventura County, and more than 957,000 with no power in Los Angeles County.
“It’s bad. It’s like an inferno,” Lori Libonati, a Palisades resident who evacuated, told the Los Angeles Times.
As the fire quickly spread across the area, multiple people left their cars and fled on foot. Traffic was gridlocked as people evacuated the neighborhood, and a bulldozer was needed to move 30 abandoned vehicles to clear a path for fire crews and evacuations on Palisades Drive and Sunset Boulevard.
“It looks horrible,” George Hutchinson, who lives in an apartment on Sunset Boulevard and Temescal Canyon, told the Times. “You can keep seeing houses burn. It jumps and it’s crazy. Traffic is gridlock — there are three ways in and out of this town and it’s all packed. Lots of chaos.”
L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath called the fires “immensely painful” for countless people. “This morning we woke up to a dark cloud over all of Los Angeles,” she said at the Wednesday morning press conference. “It is difficult to process the immensity of the destruction and loss.”
This story was updated 1/8/25 @ 4:40 p.m. ET.
From Rolling Stone US
