A fast-moving brush fire that broke out Tuesday in Los Angeles threatened homes and forced thousands of residents to evacuate, prompting both city and state officials to declare a state of emergency.
Later in the day, a second fire ignited, leading to additional evacuations as strong winds continued to fuel the flames across Southern California. The Pacific Palisades fire, which had spread to nearly 3,000 acres by 6:30 p.m. local time, was first reported before 11 a.m. and quickly triggered evacuations in the region, extending into Malibu. By evening, the fire had crossed the Pacific Coast Highway, getting dangerously close to Will Rogers Beach State Park.
Just hours later, another fire broke out in Altadena, northeast of Pacific Palisades. The Eaton fire, driven by the fierce winds, grew from 10 acres to 400 acres in under two hours, prompting mandatory evacuation orders in several areas.
President Joe Biden, currently in Los Angeles, received two briefings on the rapidly spreading fires.
The Hurst fire, which ignited around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday night north of San Fernando, has spread to 500 acres, according to CAL Fire, prompting evacuations in the nearby Santa Clarita area.
Seven regions are currently under evacuation orders, while two areas are under evacuation warnings. The number of active evacuation orders has fluctuated rapidly throughout the night.
"California has deployed 1400+ firefighting personnel & hundreds of prepositioned assets to combat these unprecedented fires in LA," Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote on X. "Emergency officials, firefighters, and first responders are all hands on deck through the night to do everything possible to protect lives."
The Palisades fire has been racing through the area at a terrifying pace, consuming five football fields per minute, rapidly expanding and destroying homes. Tens of thousands of people, from Malibu to Santa Monica, have been issued evacuation warnings.
Amid this chaos, many evacuees were forced to leave their cars behind as traffic delayed evacuations. With flames jumping over the highway, some residents even considered seeking shelter on the beach. This fire comes after December's Franklin fire, which had already ravaged the same region.
The situation as of 5.30 AM EST:
- The Palisades is at almost at 3,000 acres
- The Eaton fire near the Angeles national forest is at 1,000 acres
- The Hurst fire near Sylmar is just at 100 acres
