A wildfire fueled by strong winds has ravaged Pacific Palisades, forcing thousands to evacuate and destroying homes. The Palisades fire, which began Tuesday morning, quickly spread across 2,900 acres as wind gusts pushed the flames.
A fire was burning out of control Tuesday in Pacific Palisades, destroying homes and forcing residents to abandon their vehicles and flee amid a potentially “life-threatening and destructive” windstorm. Wide swaths of Pacific Palisades, Topanga and Malibu were under an evacuation order by the afternoon, as residents fought traffic jams and heavy smoke as they tried to escape the nearby flames. The Palisades fire broke out around 10:30 a.m.
near Piedra Morada Drive and was pushed by intense wind gusts that officials had warned could fuel any spark into a fast-moving and erratic wildfire. The fire had blackened more than 2,900 acres by 6:30 p.m as it continued to charge southwest. The grounds of the Getty Villa caught fire, as did the campus of Palisades Charter High School. 'It's bad. It's like an inferno,' said Lori Libonati, who lives in Pacific Palisades. She saw the fire start to burn Tuesday morning before evacuating. By 3:30 p.m., about 30,000 residents had been evacuated from 10,000 homes, with no injuries reported, said Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell at an afternoon news conference. Firefighters responded to more than half a dozen calls of residents trapped in buildings throughout the day. Gov. Gavin Newsom met with first responders in Pacific Palisades and called the blaze a 'hell of a way to start a new year' as he urged residents to heed evacuation orders. On Tuesday afternoon, he declared a state of emergency and announced that California had secured a Fire Management Assistance Grant to receive federal reimbursement for firefighting costs. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Massive smoke plumes filled the sky around the fire as families evacuated not far from hillsides glowing orange. The blaze quickly jumped across Palisades Drive, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection — leaving many trying to evacuate in a precarious and chaotic situatio
WILDFIRES CALIFORNIA PACIFIC PALISADES EVACUATIONS EMERGENCY
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