A wildfire burning in Pacific Palisades, California, has forced evacuations and created major traffic disruptions. Strong winds have fueled the blaze, which is threatening homes and spreading quickly. Local authorities have opened an overnight shelter for displaced residents.
The Palisades blaze has exploded because of a combination of dry conditions and powerful winds, which are likely to strengthen further overnight. Drivers were at a standstill as traffic gridlock plagued Pacific Coast Highway and other roads near a wind-driven wildfire in Pacific Palisades. The Palisades Fire was reported this morning in the Los Angeles County coastal community near Malibu on a day of strong winds throughout Southern California .
Traffic backed up on roads out of the area, including along Palisades Drive, where at least one vehicle caught fire. It was not clear whether the fire was due to a mechanical problem or the wildfire. Embers scattered by strong winds can start spot fires in previously unburned areas.The American Red Cross for Los Angeles was transitioning an evacuation center in Westwood into an overnight shelter where people can get showers, food and safety through the night as the Palisades Fire burns. The site had served as an evacuation center for hours today but was transitioned this afternoon, American Red Cross Los Angeles spokesperson Mimi Teller. The shelter is preparing to welcome people who are distressed after having left their homes because of the fast-moving fire, she said. It was just last month that another large fire, the Franklin Fire, burned in Malibu and forced evacuations there. “A lot of people are in shock, and some people are so numb that they just, ‘I barely got out, I barely got my pet,’” Teller said. People preparing to leave a fire should get their pets in one room so they can easily access them, she said. People with small pets are asked to keep them in a carrier, but details about pets at the shelter are being worked out, she told NBC Los Angeles.More than 17,000 utility homes and businesses are without power across California as warm, dry winds raced to the coast and fanned the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles today, according to utility trackerL.A
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