Wildfires latest: Hundreds of thousands without power as wildfires tear across California
Wildfires tore across the Los Angeles area with devastating force on Wednesday after setting off a desperate escape from burning homes through flames, ferocious winds and towering clouds of smoke.
Flames broke out on Tuesday evening near a nature preserve in the inland foothills northeast of LA while another blaze that started hours earlier ripped through the city’s Pacific Palisades neighborhood. A third wildfire started around 10:30 p.m. and prompted evacuations in Sylmar, the northernmost neighborhood in Los Angeles. The causes of all three fires were under investigation.
Here’s the latest:
Vice President Harris’ home in Los Angeles is affected
A spokesman for Vice President Kamala Harris says her neighborhood in Los Angeles was put under an evacuation order Tuesday night.
Ernesto Apreza said in a Wednesday post on the social platform X that no one was in the house at the time.
The sounds and scene on the ground
The smoke is thick and gray, and the headlights of vehicles in badly hit areas are glowing well after sunrise. There is the crackling of the flames and the rustling of palm trees in the strong wind, and the exclamations of emergency responders.
One firefighter stands on top of a truck and watches a home burn. There is a bin for recycling sitting outside the blazing home, abandoned.
Litter blows by. Every stray piece could become another flame.
Thousands of Southern California Edison customers face power shut-offs
Southern California Edison shut off power to nearly 120,000 customers in six Southern California counties over safety concerns due to high winds and the risk of wildfires.
Another 440,000 customers could face similar shutoffs depending on weather conditions, the utility said Wednesday on its website.
Much of Pasadena is under evacuation orders, fire chief says
Pasadena Fire Chief Chad Augustin said much of the city of Pasadena is under evacuation orders as his department waits for winds to die down so he can get aircraft up to start dousing the flames from overhead.
Until that happens, it’s going to be difficult to get the blaze there under control, Augustin told KABC-TV, the ABC affiliate.
Fire departments from across California were sending in firefighters as crews in the Los Angeles area were stretched to their limit, he said.
He said there had been no loss of life and thanked public safety officers for “pulling people out from burning buildings” overnight.
Wildfires lead to several school closures in the Los Angeles area
Pasadena, where the Eaton fire is burning, and neighboring Glendale canceled classes Wednesday.
Los Angeles Unified School District also closed several elementary schools in the evacuation area of the fire burning in Pacific Palisades.
Palisades Charter High School, which burned in the fire, was not back in session yet.
Eaton fire grows to over 3 square miles
Fire crews assigned to the Eaton fire burning in Pasadena are working to keep the blaze north of the 210 Freeway, east of Angeles Crest Highway, west of Santa Anita Avenue and south of Mount Wilson, according to an incident action plan developed for Wednesday operations.
The fire rapidly grew to more than 3.13 square miles (8.11 square kilometers) overnight amid dangerous fire weather conditions caused by strong winds and low levels of relative humidity.
Power outages affecting thousands in Los Angeles County
More than 180,000 customers were without power in southern California, with the vast majority of them in Los Angeles County, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide.
Statewide, over 320,000 customers were without power on Wednesday morning.
A full incident management team has been activated to combat the wildfires
It’s only the third time in 30 years that has happened in January, said David Acuña, a battalion chief for Cal Fire. Such a team, of officials from various agencies, is only assembled during major, complex events.
“This is a rare event” to have incidents like this in January, Acuña said, adding that wildfires are so common during other months that fire officials no longer talk about “fire seasons.”
“We now talk about ‘fire years,’” said Acuña. “We had wildfires pop up in December and now we have these in early January.”
Where are the fires currently burning?
Palisades fire: West of Los Angeles, by the sea. It has burned about 4.5 square miles (11.6 square kilometers).
Eaton fire: Altadena area, north of Pasadena. It has burned about 1.6 square miles (4 square kilometers).
Hurst fire: In the San Fernando Valley. It has burned about 500 acres (202 hectares).
Tyler fire: In Coachella, near Joshua Tree National Park. It has burned about 15 acres (6 hectares).
All four fires are currently at 0% containment.
Celebrities among those fleeing the Los Angeles fires
Wildfires that ripped through the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles forced many Hollywood stars, including Mark Hamill, Mandy Moore and James Woods, to evacuate their homes.
California firefighters are battling wind-whipped wildfires that are tearing across the area, destroying homes and straining resources as the fires burned uncontained early Wednesday.
The Pacific Palisades neighborhood is a hillside area along the coast dotted with celebrity residences and memorialized by the Beach Boys in their 1960s hit “Surfin’ USA.”
Flames jumped the famous Sunset Boulevard and burned parts of the Palisades Charter High School, which has been featured in many Hollywood productions including the 1976 horror movie “Carrie,” the 2003 remake of “Freaky Friday” and the TV series “Teen Wolf.”
Read more about the stars whose homes are threatened by the fires
Daybreak sheds light on the destruction
As the sun rose Wednesday the devastation was stunning with morning news crews showing home after home engulfed in flames, some collapsing live on camera.
Roads were strewn with power lines, some flickering with fire.
Voices from the flames
The sun is rising behind a wall of smoke in the Pacific Palisades that looks as black as night. Here’s what witnesses have been saying.
“We looked across and the fire had jumped from one side of the road to the other side of the road,” Kelsey Trainor said. “People were getting out of the cars with their dogs and babies and bags, they were crying and screaming.”
“As soon as I opened my door, it was like right there,” Sheriece Wallace said. “The first thing I did was look at the trees to see where the wind was blowing. Because it hit me. It blew me back.”
“It is crazy, it’s everywhere, in all the nooks and crannies of the Palisades. One home’s safe, the other one’s up in flames,” Will Adams said.
What should be in a ‘Go bag’?
Cal Fire says a “go bag” should include:
— A map with at least two evacuation routes
— Necessary prescriptions or medical items like eyeglasses
— Extra car keys, cash or credit cards
— A basic first-aid kit
— A flashlight and battery-powered radio with extra batteries
— Copies of important documents like passports or birth certificates.
It should also include a three-day supply of non-perishable food and water per person, as well as food and water for any pets. N95 masks can help filter out many of the particles in wildfire smoke, and an extra cellphone battery or charger can also be helpful.
“Plan like you’re going on a trip for seven days. Have clothes, toilet paper, toothbrush, soap, a towel in there,” said Jesse Torres, a battalion chief for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, said.
Safety tips on what to do before and when evacuating
Don’t wait for an evacuation order, experts say
Evacuating a wildfire area can be scary, but experts say people can significantly improve their own safety with a little preparation and common sense.
Creating a wildfire action plan, packing a “go bag” and maintaining basic situational awareness during evacuations can make a big difference when escaping a disaster, Jesse Torres, a battalion chief for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, said.
But the most important tip? Don’t wait around for an evacuation order, Torres said.
“The biggest thing is to get out early, before the notifications come out. It’s so important to avoid the congestion,” he said.
A city aglow
The morning sky is lightening, and soon the scope of the devastation will be more clear. Some hillsides are glowing from the scattered fires.
When does California’s wildfire season typically begin?
Generally, it starts in June or July and runs through October, according to the Western Fire Chiefs Association.
However, January wildfires are not unprecedented — there was one in 2022 and 10 in 2021, according to CalFire.
Recent data shows the season is beginning earlier and ending later due to rising temperatures and decreased rainfall tied to climate change. That means rains that usually end fire season are often delayed and fires can burn through the winter months as a result, the association says.
Strong Santa Ana winds are driving the fires
The National Weather Service is receiving reports of winds up to 80 mph (129 kph) this morning. They could top 100 mph (160 kph) in mountains and foothills and include areas that haven’t seen substantial rain in months.
Red flag warnings are highlighting extremely critical fire weather conditions. Those include exceptionally dry relative humidity levels, according to Peter Mullinax, a meteorologist with the weather service.
He says the winds are expected to continue into Thursday, too, “providing very little in terms of any relief.”
The scene on Wednesday morning
Sunrise is in a little over an hour.
Overnight, the images were stark: The skeleton of a Christmas tree was framed in a blazing window in the Pacific Palisades.
Opulent homes collapsed in a whirlwind of flaming embers.
The tops of palm trees whipped against the glowing red sky.
Vast clouds of smoke dwarfed the water dumped by helicopters attempting to calm the flames.