More than 30,000 people have been forced to leave the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles due to a fast-moving fire and “life-threatening and destructive” winds.
In the Pacific Palisades Highlands neighborhood, the fire started Tuesday morning at around 10:30 a.m. local time. According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire), the fire spread to over 1,200 acres in a matter of hours. Dry weather and strong winds have been its main drivers, and they are expected to get worse over night.
The windiest areas are predicted to experience gusts of up to 100 mph.
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Pacific Palisades resident Kelsey Trainor, an attorney, claimed she left her neighborhood at 11:30 a.m. only to become caught in heavy traffic on Palisades Drive.
“There was fire everywhere and smoke all around us. Trainor remarked, “People are just honking their horns.” With flames on both sides of the sole exit, she claimed to feel trapped. “Gridlock nowhere to go.”
Trainor got out of her car for a moment to assist an elderly woman who was having trouble breathing and to give her a mask. She claimed that strong winds were causing ash to fly in her face.
According to the trainor, it took over an hour to reach safety.
Trainor stated that she had prepared a “fire bag” and a supply stash and had gone before her phone rang with an emergency notice. “What’s really scary is that it felt really unsafe for people who were doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” she added.
Her words, “It felt really helpless,”
At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, LAFD Fire Chief Kristin M. Crowley stated that the fire threatened about 10,300 homes and 13,200 buildings.
“At this point, we feel very fortunate that there are no reported injuries,” Crowley said, adding that she has heard stories of several structures being destroyed.
Homes on the hillside and condo towers close to Sunset Boulevard were displaying flames.
Living in the Pacific Palisades Highlands neighborhood, where houses were surrounded by dense smoke plumes, Mallory Sobel said it took her two and a half hours to drive out.
Right now, I can feel it in my lungs. I have a sore throat. I was climbing down quite slowly, and my automobile was covered with soot. It was so powerful that I wore a mask,” Sobel remarked.
She stated that she only took her family’s passports and a bag of emergency supplies with her when she left.
According to her, good samaritans may be found on every street, assisting people with their automobiles and guiding them down hills.
The fire department said that in order to ease access, dozers will clear about 30 vehicles that had to be abandoned.
Communities scattered across the canyons west of the Pacific Palisades, such as those in Rustic Canyon and Topanga Canyon, were also at risk from flames.
In a video posted on X, Erik Scott, a public information officer with the Los Angeles Fire Department, told people to “be ready for evacuation orders to come through.” The fire, Scott continued, was “rapidly spreading due to the significant winds.”
More than 250 firefighters were battling the fire, according to Margaret Stewart, another LAFD public relations officer. She said that although firefighters were worried about swirling fires and spot fires in the canyons that might shoot embers in any direction, the fire was typically heading toward the west.
According to Stewart, “they can carry up to a mile,”
Southern California was ready for a rapidly spreading wildfire. The National Weather Service had forecasted “a life-threatening, destructive windstorm” from Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday morning, and Los Angeles hasn’t seen much rain in months.
According to Oxnard-based weather service meteorologist Rich Thompson, since July 1, downtown Los Angeles has only seen 0.16 inches of precipitation.
According to Thompson, the weather service recorded wind gusts of between 50 and 80 mph on Tuesday and predicted that the threat will increase over night.
“It looks like the winds will increase a little in strength later today and tonight,” he stated. “The Hollywood Hills, Beverly Hills area, Palos Verdes they get Santa Ana winds, but not usually this strong.”
The Santa Ana winds, which blow down mountain slopes to deliver hot, dry air to coastal regions, are frequently the cause of winter wildfires in California. The winds can quickly push any fires that start, especially in a dry area, and they usually reduce humidity levels.
Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, stated in a YouTube video that climate change has made such occurrences more likely.
“The occurrence of these wind events and extremely dry vegetation conditions later in the season are overlapping more frequently due to climate change,” he said.
According to Thompson, the terrain will only get dryer over the day, which is a concerning indication for firefighters.
Thompson stated, “The wind will continue to crank tonight and tomorrow.” “Humidities are starting to drop down in the 20 to 30% range and continue to drop down into the teens and single digits tomorrow and into Thursday,” Thompson said. No respite will be provided.
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