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Palisades Fire threatening Santa Monica, West LA
The Palisades Fire is beginning to pose a dangerous threat to parts of Santa Monica, Brentwood and West Los Angeles.
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As strong and damaging winds battered most of Southern California, a large brush fire broke out Tuesday afternoon in Pacific Palisades, destroying homes, forcing evacuations and even destroying a high school.
Fire crews responded around 10:30 a.m. to the area of Piedra Morada and Monte Hermoso drives.
At last check, Cal Fire officials said the blaze burned 2,921 acres.
The fast wind-driven fire is particularly impacting the Pacific Palisades Highlands, according to LAFD Capt. Eric Scott.
State of emergency
California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for Los Angeles and Ventura Counties because of the Palisades Fire. The declaration will do things like bring firefighting resources down from Northern California to help battle the Palisades Fire.
"This is a highly dangerous windstorm creating extreme fire risk, and we’re not out of the woods," Newsom said. He thanked first responders for their rapid response and urged residents to follow evacuation orders.
The city of Los Angeles also declared a state of emergency later Tuesday.
Structures impacted
During a press conference Tuesday afternoon, LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley said roughly 13,200 structures are endangered, including 10,367 residences.
While some structures have been damaged, there is no immediate word on the number of buildings that have been damaged or destroyed.
Video from the scene showed multiple homes on fire in the area of Shadow Mountain Drive and Bienveneda Ave. Due to limited resources, FOX 11's Matthew Seedorff, who was in the area, reported seeing no firefighters in the neighborhood around noontime. Seedorff then sprung into action, taking a garden hose to attempt to put out flames.
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FOX 11 reporter jumps into action to fight fire
FOX 11's Matthew Seedorff jumped into action to fight the flames as a fire spread to homes in the Pacific Palisades.
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Pacific Palisades home goes up in flames
The Palisades Fire continues to spread and is impacting more than 13,000 structures, according to officials. (Credit: Matthew Seedorff via X)
An apartment complex off PCH caught fire to its roof. At a different part of the Palisades, two men and a dog were trapped inside a home as the fire torched their neighborhood on Tuesday.
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2 men, dog trapped in home during fire
Two men and a dog were stuck inside a home during the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles County.
Los Angeles Fire Department station 23 on Sunset Boulevard and Los Liones Drive also caught fire.
The vegetation near the Getty Villa Museum caught fire, but it appears the actual museum remained untouched. The museum will remain closed until Monday.
Katherine E. Fleming, president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust, says the staff and art collection at the Getty Villa remain safe.
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Getty Villa threatened by fire
The Palisades Fire continues to grow and is now threatening the popular Getty Villa Museum. The museum will remain closed till Monday.
"Additional fire prevention measures in place at the Villa include water storage on-site," Fleming says in a statement. "Irrigation was immediately deployed throughout the grounds Tuesday morning. Museum galleries and library archives were sealed off from smoke by state-of-the-art air handling systems. The double-walled construction of the galleries also provides significant protection for the collections."
One firefighter got hurt and several others suffered burns in Malibu, according to LAFD.
The fire destroyed the Palisades Charter High School as it torched the baseball field and several buildings.
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Palisades Charter High School catches fire
The Palisades Fire has scorched over 1,200 acres in Pacific Palisades, and the flames have spread to Palisades Charter High School.
Evacuation orders and warnings
Firefighters say 30,000 people are under mandatory evacuation orders. People in the area of Palisades were urged to evacuate immediately.
Santa Monica residents living between the northern border of the city and San Vicente Boulevard, and between Ocean Boulevard and 26th Street, are also being told to evacuate, according to the city's alert system around 7:30 p.m. on January 7.
According to LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, over 10,000 households were evacuated and another 15,000 buildings, including businesses, were also evacuated.
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Santa Monica evacuated due to Palisades Fire
The Palisades Fire has burned thousands of acres on the west side, leading to evacuation orders and warnings in Santa Monica.
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Palisades Fire burns through power lines
The Palisades Fire continues to rip through the Pacific Palisades community, destroying homes and burning through power lines.
Additional evacuation orders are underway for parts of Los Angeles County, including the area between Merrimac Road and Topanga Canyon Boulevard, south to PCH.
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Fire crews rush to Pacific Palisades amid fire
FOX 11 photojournalist Tony Buttitta reports from Pacific Palisades as blaze continues to grow in the area.
An interactive live map of the evacuation areas can be found below, as well as by tapping or clicking here.
Evacuation Shelter
An evacuation center has been established at the Westwood Recreation Center on 1350 S. Sepulveda Blvd. and the Dream Center at 2301 Bellevue Ave. in Hollywood.
An emergency evacuation shelter for large animals has been established at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, 480 Riverside Drive, Burbank and Pierce College at 6201 Winnetka Ave, Woodland Hills. Those with small animals can go to the Agoura Animal Shelter.
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Officials give update on Pacific Palisades fire
The 200+ acre fire has prompted some evacuation warnings for those in the area.
Road Closures
- Eastbound Pacific Coast Highway has been closed at Topanga Canyon Boulevard.
- PCH is closed between Temescal Canyon Rd. and Las Flores Canyon Blvd.
- Topanga Canyon Blvd. is closed.
- Westbound 10 freeway at McClure Tunnel is closed.
- The westbound 10 freeway at Lincoln Boulevard, along with northbound Pacific Coast Highway, is closed to assist with evacuation efforts.
Traffic is backed up on Pacific Palisades Drive, PCH, and Sunset as residents evacuate.
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Palisades fire: Dozens of drivers abandon their cars
LAFD officials said dozens of vehicles were abandoned at the location, and a bulldozer was used to push some of the vehicles out of the intersection to prevent them from blocking traffic in and out of the area.
Traffic is backed up to Santa Monica. One person told FOX 11 that it took him two hours to get from Pacific Palisades to Santa Monica.
Due to heavy gridlock, people were seen abandoning their vehicles on the street and walking. Fire officials say about 100 vehicles were abandoned, creating even more traffic and road closures.
A bulldozer was brought in to remove the cars.
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PCH gridlocked as fire grows in Pacific Palisades
FOX 11's Matthew Seedorff gives his account of the situation in Pacific Palisades from the Pacific Coast Highway.
People are advised to avoid the area west of the 405 between Sunset Boulevard and the 101 freeway to allow emergency responders to operate.
For more information and a map, visit NotifyLA.
RELATED: Southern California preparing for 'life-threatening' windstorm
According to the city, LAPD is on tactical alert.
School Closures
The following schools will be closed for Wednesday, January 8: Canyon Charter Elementary School, Marquez Charter Elementary School, Palisades Charter Elementary School, and Paul Revere Charter Middle School.
LAUSD is also considering making some of the schools switch to online/remote learning for Thursday.
Topanga Elementary Charter School students will report to Woodland Hills Academy on Wednesday.
All Malibu schools will be closed on Wednesday, Jan. 8, according to the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District. Santa Monica schools are expected to be open on Wednesday, but the final decision will be made at 6 a.m.
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Palisades Charter High School classrooms burn down
The Palisades Fire has made its way to Palisades Charter High School, damaging multiple buildings on campus.
Visit lausd.org for updates. If families need additional support, they are urged to contact the city's Family Hotline at (213) 443-1300.
Weather Conditions
The fire broke out as potentially destructive and life-threatening winds hit the area, dramatically raising the risk of wildfires for the next several days. Red flag warnings are expected to remain in place until Thursday evening.
Forecasters expect the winds to worsen and pick up between 10 p.m. Tuesday to 5 a.m. Wednesday.
National Weather Service forecasters said the windstorm was likely to be the worst to hit the region since 2011.
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Super Scooper picks up water to fight Palisades fire
Video from Pacific Palisades shows a Super Scooper picking up thousands of gallons of water from the ocean to douse nearby flames.