This Devastating Fire Has Spread to Santa Monica and With Zero Containment After 24 Hours
By Dolores Quintana
In one day, the Palisades Fire has become the most destructive fire in Los Angeles’ history. It has destroyed 1,000 homes and almost 3,000 acres. If you would like to keep up with the latest updates on fires and evacuations in Los Angeles, the Watch Duty app is a good and free option. The Critical Fire weather warning has been extended to Friday and Santa Ana Winds are expected to rise on Thursday night.
The latest update comes from the City of Santa Monica. At 11:04 p.m. The city of Santa Monica has issued an emergency order in response to the impacts of the Palisades Fire. City Manager David White signed the order late Wednesday. The Santa Monica City Council will be required to call a special meeting to officially certify the order within seven days.
The emergency order includes a curfew, from sunset to sunrise, in the areas where a mandatory evacuation order is in effect to support law enforcement efforts in these zones, and other measures to facilitate an effective response.
“The Palisades Fire is currently impacting neighborhoods in the northern part of Santa Monica with approximately 2,472 households under a mandatory evacuation order within the city of Santa Monica and 8,338 under a voluntary evacuation warning,” Mayor Lana Negrete said. “This emergency order further assists our first responders and further protects residents as we weather this regional crisis and, ultimately, begin and support recovery efforts.”
The Santa Monica Police Department, along with mutual aid law enforcement partners, has been deployed during the course of the Palisades Fire to support evacuation efforts and protect life and property.
“The local emergency order provides Santa Monica Police and our mutual aid partners another tool to continue to protect our community,” White said. “Our first responders are out patrolling, staying vigilant, and coordinating with our partners throughout this emergency on all fronts. The order helps us ensure nobody enters impacted areas who are not supposed to, particularly those with nefarious intentions attempting to take advantage of the mandatory evacuations.”
The local emergency order also:
- Allows impacted schools to temporarily operate within non-residential zones in Santa Monica
- Suspends preferential parking rules and enforcement for residents providing accommodations for those displaced by the Palisades Fire
- Prohibits price gouging for emergency and recovery goods and services
- Restricts evictions of residential tenants who provide accommodation to those displaced by evacuation orders, including their pets
- Prohibits construction activities in evacuation areas and allows for extended time to complete the work
LADWP has asked customers in LA County to conserve water and issued a “boil water” notice for the 90272 zip code in Pacific Palisades and adjacent communities in the LADWP service area north of San Vicente Boulevard.
LADWP has asked that residents only use boiled tap water or bottled water for drinking and cooking purposes until further notice due to low water pressure in the water distribution system stemming from high water usage to respond to the Pacific Palisades wildfire. The city of Pasadena has issued a “do not drink” notice for evacuated areas until further notice.
Metro LA Board Chair and Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn ordered that Metro bus and train fares would be waived because of power grid issues and the difficulty for Metro customers to reload their TAP cards in a social media statement on Wednesday. In a later post, she extended that to Thursday. Hahn also emphasized that Metro buses and trains are running as normal. “As this crisis continues, I have authorized the suspension of fare collection systemwide to be extended through tomorrow.”
Last night, the city issued a first mandatory evacuation order and evacuation warning for the area north of San Vicente Boulevard, as of Wednesday afternoon, city officials issued updated evacuation orders as the Palisades Fire continues to threaten the Westside.
As of 2:30 p.m. on January 8, the new expanded evacuation order now applies to all areas north of Montana Avenue, from the beach to 11th Street. Residents in this mandatory evacuation area are required to evacuate immediately, and public access is restricted.
An evacuation warning remains in effect for all other areas north of Montana Avenue and has been extended to include all areas north of Wilshire Boulevard and west of 10th Street. Residents in these yellow-zoned areas should prepare to leave and ensure essentials are packed. Those needing extra time to evacuate are urged to do so now.
A report on KTLA News stated that the fire had entered Santa Monica Canyon at Upper Mesa. The Palisades Fire has been very active in Rustic Canyon since yesterday and is very close to this area of the flats of Santa Monica.
Evacuation warning is for the yellow areas on this map.
- Big Blue Bus will offer free transport every hour to the Palisades Fire evacuation center at the Westside Recreation Center. Pickup at Lincoln Boulevard and Montana Avenue.
- Emergency services are deployed to the impacted areas, including Santa Monica Police personnel assisting with evacuations. There is an increased police presence in the evacuation areas.
- Residents are asked to avoid non-essential travel in these portions of the city to facilitate evacuations and assist first responders.
All Santa Monica Schools are closed on January 9, all Malibu Schools are closed on January 9 and 10th, and all LAUSD schools are closed tomorrow.
UCLA has decided to “curtail campus operations, cancel undergraduate classes, and move graduate courses to remote instruction for the next two days, Thursday, Jan. 9, and Friday, Jan. 10.” after much online criticism after telling students that they must attend classes on campus in person on January 8.
Director Anna Biller confirmed that the fire destroyed her parent’s home in the Lower Mesa Area of Santa Monica Canyon. She also said that the homes by the creek and the elementary school nearby are also gone.
Hot spots on the hills above Pacific Coast Highway were being extinguished this afternoon on Fox 11 News, less than two miles from the Santa Monica Pier.
The Palisades Fire has currently burned 15,832 Acres with 0% containment as of January 8 at 10.27 p.m. The authorities estimate that 1000 structures and homes have been destroyed in the Pacific Palisades fire, but there is no way to know exactly how many are gone since it is still an active fire area.
The fire continues to advance on Brentwood and has reached the ridge of Sullivan Canyon. LAFD formed a containment line on the ridge and seems to have prevented the fire from moving into the canyon. The reason for this action is likely SoCal Gas’ natural gas pipelines that run through the canyon. If the fire was allowed to get into the canyon, it could potentially make the fire so much worse, but the advance was stopped at the ridge.
CAL FIRE officially took over the responsibility of the fire response as of this morning.
Evacuation Orders
Immediate threat to life. This is a lawful order to LEAVE NOW. The area is lawfully closed to public access.
Evacuation Orders are in effect for the following zones:
- DRY-U026-A, LOS-Q0767, MAL-C111-A, MAL-C111-B, MAL-C112-B, MTN-U028, RMB-U030-A, RMB-U030-B, RMB-U030-D, RRC-U027, SAN-Q1395-B, SAN-Q1396-B, SDP-U029, SSM-U010-A, SSM-U010-B, TOP-U001, TOP-U002, TOP-U003, TOP-U004, TOP-U005, TOP-U006, TOP-U007, TOP-U008, TOP-U009.
Evacuation Warnings
- Potential threat to life and/or property. Those who require additional time to evacuate, and those with pets and livestock should leave now.
- Evacuation Warnings are in effect for the following zones:
- CAL-C405, CAL-C406, CAL-C407, CAL-C408, CAL-C409, CAL-C410, CAL-C411, CAL-C412, CAL-C413, CAL-C414, CAL-C415, DRY-U026, DRY-U026-B, MAL-C112, MAL-C112-A, MCR-U021-A, RMB-U030-C, SAN-Q1395-A, SAN-Q1396-A, SAN-Q1388-C, SAN-Q1389.
Evacuation Shelters
The Palisades Fire Public Information Line is: (213) 484-5604
The Palisades Fire Media Line is: (323) 379-3841
Evacuation Centers are being established:
Westwood Recreation Center
1350 South Sepulveda Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90025
El Camino Real Charter High School
5440 Valley Circle Boulevard
Woodland Hills, CA 91367
Pasadena Convention Center
300 E Green Street, Pasadena, CA 91101, USA
Road Closures
Follow CHP-West ValleyExternal Link to stay up-to-date on road closures for the Palisades Fire.
- Southbound Pacific Coast Highway is closed at Malibu Canyon
- Southbound Piuma Road is closed at Woodbluff Road
- Southbound Malibu Canyon is closed at Piuma Road
- Southbound Stunt Road is closed at Mulholland Drive
- Southbound Topanga Canyon Road is closed at Mulholland Drive.
City of Santa Monica
- Ocean Avenue, 7th Street, and 26th Street have all been shut down to northbound traffic into the Palisades
- I-10 westbound has been shut down at Lincoln Boulevard. All additional access to northbound Pacific Coast Highway has been closed off
- Pacific Coast Highway is closed between Entrada Drive and Malibu Canyon Road
- Southbound Las Virgenes and Malibu Canyon is closed at Lost Hills Road is closed at Pacific Coast Highway
- Southbound Old Topanga Canyon is closed at Mulholland Drive
- Eastbound Mulholland Highway is closed at Malibu Canyon
- Pacific Coast Highway is closed at Malibu Canyon for northbound and eastbound traffic
- Malibu Road is closed at Webb Way to eastbound traffic
- Dry Canyon Cold Creek is closed at Mulholland Highway
- Cold Canyon Road at Mulholland Highway is closed to southbound traffic
- Pacific Coast Highway is closed at Leo Carillo to eastbound and westbound traffic.
Animal Evacuation Shelters
Small Animals:
- El Camino High School, 5440 Valley Circle Blvd, Woodland Hills
American Red Cross Sheltering Site with mobile animal shelter for small animals only - Agoura Animal Care Center, 29525 Agoura Rd, Agoura Hills
- Baldwin Park Animal Care Center, 4275 Elton St, Baldwin Park
- Carson Animal Care Center, 216 W Victoria St, Gardena
- Castaic Animal Care Center, 31044 Charlie Canyon, Castaic
- Downey Animal Care Center, 11258 Garfield Ave, Downey
- Lancaster Animal Care Center, 5210 W Ave I, Lancaster
- Palmdale Animal Care Center, 38550 Sierra Hwy, Palmdale
Large Animals:
- Pomona Fairplex, 1101 W McKinley Ave, Pomona
- Industry Hills Expo, 16200 Temple Ave, City of Industry
- LA Equestrian, 480 Riverside Dr, Burbank
- Castaic Animal Care Center, 31044 Charlie Canyon, Castaic
Extreme fire behavior, including short and long-range spotting, continues to challenge firefighting efforts for the Palisades Fire. Winds gusts up to 60 MPH are expected to continue through Thursday, potentially aiding in further fire activity and suppression efforts.
CAL FIRE Incident Management Team II has been activated to assist Los Angeles County Fire and Los Angeles City Fire. Firefighters and air resources will continue to work to protect the community, and infrastructures and gain control over fire containment.
LA 211 was paired up with Airbnb to provide shelter for anyone who has evacuated due to the Palisades Fire. Airbnb has said that people or families who have had to leave their homes for their own safety can stay for one week in an Airbnb property at no charge. Just dial 2-1-1- or visit https://211la.org/.
Verizon is offering customers in the hardest-hit areas unlimited calls, texts, and data. Verizon is steadfast in its commitment to ensuring the safety and connectivity of communities and aims to help residents focus on what matters most—ensuring the safety of their families.
Additionally, Verizon has deployed free Wi-Fi and charging stations for public use at the following locations:
- Westwood Recreation Center | 1350 S. Sepulveda, Los Angeles, CA 90025
- El Camino Real Charter High School | 5440 Valley Circle Blvd, Woodland Hills, CA 91367
- Oxnard College | 4000 S Rose Avenue, Oxnard, CA 93033
