Flames from the Palisades Fire burn a home on Jan. 8, 2025, in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Eric Thayer/Getty Images
9:30 p.m. A home in the Studio City neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley erupted in flames, bringing a new fire threat to another corner of Los Angeles. The house, near the intersection of Vanetta Place and Sunswept Drive, and not far from the main thoroughfare of Ventura Boulevard, collapsed in flames live on KABC-TV, sending embers flying into the hills above and igniting spot fires. Other structures nearby looked to catch fire shortly after the home collapsed.
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The location is not far from the prestigious Harvard-Westlake School, and approximately six miles from where the Sunset Fire was burning in the Hollywood Hills. That fire had grown to 50 acres by 9 p.m., according to Cal Fire, but conditions seemed to have stabilized as helicopter support made significant progress in fighting spread and extinguishing spot fires near Runyon Canyon. Cal Fire has not yet identified a cause of that blaze.
On the west side of Los Angeles, a flare-up in the Palisades Fire threatened a neighborhood near Brentwood. The fire has burned nearly 16,000 acres and remains at 0% containment.
7 p.m. The Sunset Fire has grown to 20 acres as it moves south, threatening the neighborhood along Franklin Avenue, as well as endangering some of Los Angeles’ most iconic tourist attractions. Evacuation warnings were extended west of Laurel Canyon Boulevard through West Hollywood and the Sunset Strip and into Beverly Hills. The fire is burning along the Runyon Canyon ridgeline, with a second spot blaze on the other side of the hill.
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The expanded evacuation warning encompasses the famous Hollywood and Highland area, the TCL Chinese Theater, the Magic Castle venue and the Capitol Records building.
6 p.m. A new brush fire erupted in the Hollywood Hills, burning approximately 10 acres between Runyon Canyon and Wattles Park, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
The flames are growing close to Runyon Canyon Park, a popular hiking spot close to a residential area. The blaze was reported on the 2300 block of Solar Drive, which is west of the Hollywood Bowl and U.S. Highway 101.
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A mandatory evacuation is in effect for the area from Laurel Canyon Boulevard on the west, north to Mulholland Drive, to Highway 101 on the east, and south to Hollywood Boulevard.
Watch Duty, an online wildfire tracker, reported the blaze is now known as the Sunset Fire and is considered “significant” as it moves uphill.
5:45 p.m. Three people were arrested on suspicion of looting in areas scorched by large wildfires blazing in Los Angeles County, Robert Luna, the LA County sheriff, said in a Wednesday news conference.
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“That is 100% unacceptable,” Luna said. “If you do not belong in these areas, do not go there.”
More law enforcement officers have been deployed to the areas impacted by the fires to prevent additional looting.
“These people have gone through so much,” Luna said. “Don’t put them through more than they have to go through.”
5:30 p.m. Officials expanded an evacuation order for Santa Monica, urging residents north of Montana Avenue from the beach to 11th Street to leave immediately. A full evacuation map can be found on the city of Santa Monica’s website.
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Residents in two areas adjoining the evacuation zone are under an evacuation warning. The first area is between Montana Avenue, Wilshire Boulevard, 10th Street and the beach. The second area is between Montana Avenue, San Vicente Boulevard, 26th Street and 11th Street.
4 p.m. The wind-fed Palisades Fire left destruction in Los Angeles County’s Will Rogers State Historic Park and Topanga State Park, SFGATE reported.
According to a California State Parks release, the fire destroyed employee residences, Will Rogers’ historic ranch house and the Topanga Ranch Motel. The damage included more than 30 buildings. Workers evacuated the Will Rogers State Historic Park’s horses and some of its cultural and historic artifacts before the blaze consumed the 1930s-era actor’s ranch house.
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3:35 p.m. The 10,600-acre Eaton Fire blazing in the hills above Altadena and Pasadena has killed five people, according to a statement Nicole Nishida, communications manager at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, gave to the New York Times. The fire started Tuesday evening but exploded in size Wednesday morning, charring houses and businesses. Eaton Fire, to this point, is the only fire of several currently blazing in the Los Angeles area to have resulted in deaths.
3:15 p.m. Another blaze in Los Angeles County reached the 50-acre mark on Wednesday afternoon, with the Lidia Fire spewing a plume of smoke above Acton, a community on Highway 14 between Santa Clarita and Palmdale. Meteorologist Daniel Swain, showing footage of the Lidia Fire’s plume on his Wednesday afternoon livestream, said the blaze could go “off to the races.” He added that if southwestern winds pushed it south, it would have room to grow in the wilderness before hitting the populated San Fernando Valley.
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The Hurst Fire, near Sylmar, has also grown to 700 acres, according to a midday post from Angeles National Forest.
Visitors to the Santa Monica pier look out at smoke from a wildfire in the Pacific Palisades blows over the beach in Santa Monica, Calif., on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025.
Richard Vogel/AP
3 p.m. Officials issued new evacuation warnings and orders for the western edge of Santa Monica as the destructive Palisades Fire continued to rage on Wednesday.
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The wind-fed blaze, which passed the 15,000-acre mark midday, has charred the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles and the Malibu coastline. Santa Monica is considerably denser — the new evacuation warnings extend just a few blocks shy of the city’s famous pier and boardwalk, and the evacuation order now reaches as far east as Montana Avenue.
Residents can check their evacuation status in an online evacuation map kept live by Zonehaven Aware.
2:10 p.m. Los Angeles County’s Palisades Fire has pushed local water systems to the brink of failure, leaving some firefighters to deal with empty hydrants and pushing a city official to encourage systemwide conservation. SFGATE reported that though water issues aren’t unheard of during wildfires, Los Angeles’ fix is slow to come.
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Janisse Quiñones, the CEO of the LA Department of Water and Power, said at a Wednesday news conference that Pacific Palisades’ third and final million-gallon tank had run out Wednesday morning, per the LA Daily News. The tanks help provide the system with water pressure; with empty tanks, hydrants can fail. More water was on the way, she said, according to the outlet.
Quiñones also urged DWP customers “across the entire system” to conserve water, so firefighters can have enough water — and pressure — to fight the blazes.
1:40 p.m. The Palisades Fire continues to grow Wednesday amid intense winds and has now burned about 15,830 acres, per an early afternoon update from Cal Fire. It’s a dramatic increase from a morning tally of 5,000 acres.
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The blaze, still at zero containment, has left a trail of hollowed-out commercial buildings, mounds of debris and smoldering rubble in Los Angeles County’s Pacific Palisades neighborhood, footage shows. Power pylons are snapped or downed, and little remains of some once-sturdy buildings.
The Palisades Branch Library burned Wednesday morning, with the Fox 11 Los Angeles (KTTV-TV) reporter on the scene saying, “It appears to be a total loss.”
SFGATE reported that some buildings in the area around the well-known Palisades Village outdoor mall are completely leveled, but damages to the mall itself appear to be less extensive. Nearby, Brentwood Country Mart’s representative said there aren’t currently risks to its complex or operations.
Popular Malibu restaurant Reel Inn was badly damaged on Tuesday, with its owners writing on Instagram that they’re “heartbroken and unsure what will be left.” Social media videos have shown brutal images of the Pacific Coast Highway, where the fire leapt the road and burned a swath of beachside buildings. SFGATE checked in with several restaurants along the coast Wednesday, finding a mix of damages and closures, though many restaurants said staff were safe.
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12:30 p.m. The devastating Palisades Fire in west Los Angeles County doubled again in size by midday Wednesday, burning 11,802 acres with zero containment, according to Cal Fire.
The blaze started Tuesday morning near Topanga Canyon and spread rapidly in the affluent Pacific Palisades neighborhood. By an 8 a.m. news conference Wednesday, it had already burned 1,000 structures, Los Angeles County Fire Department Chief Anthony Marrone said. Fierce winds and dry conditions created a tall task for stretched-thin firefighting forces, which are also contending with the Eaton Fire near Pasadena and the Hurst Fire by Sylmar.
For the Palisades Fire, officials have put evacuation orders in place along Pacific Coast Highway and up almost to Mulholland Drive. An online evacuation map is kept live online by Zonehaven Aware, and SFGATE is tracking Los Angeles County’s fire maps as well.
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A home is engulfed in flames during the Eaton Fire in the Altadena area of Los Angeles County on Jan. 8, 2025.
Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images
12:10 p.m. President Joe Biden and California Gov. Gavin Newsom attended a briefing at the Santa Monica Fire Station on Wednesday morning to receive updates on the Palisades, Eaton and Hurst fires raging in Los Angeles County.
Newsom thanked Biden for his quick action in approving a major disaster declaration, before rattling off the initial impacts of the costly blazes: lives lost, more than 1,000 structures burned and more than 100,000 evacuations.
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Biden, who’d already planned to be in the region before the fires started, listened to local officials’ reports before promising resources from the military and National Guard. After pledging continued support, he said, “It’s going to be a hell of a long way.”
President-elect Donald Trump prodded at Newsom twice on the Truth Social site Wednesday morning, blaming the governor for “a true disaster.”
“As of this moment, Gavin Newscum and his Los Angeles crew have contained exactly ZERO percent of the fire,” Trump wrote. “It is burning at levels that even surpass last night. This is not Government. I can’t wait till January 20th!”
11:40 a.m. The Getty Villa is safe after worries Tuesday that the beloved Los Angeles museum might succumb to the raging Palisades Fire, SFGATE reported.
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The wind-whipped fire singed trees and vegetation on the property, according to a statement from Katherine E. Fleming, the president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust, but Getty’s staff, collections and structures are safe.
First opened in 1974, the compound houses a large collection of Greek and Roman antiquities and artifacts. It’s closed Tuesdays, so no large-scale evacuation was necessary.
11:40 a.m. The Pasadena-area Eaton Fire prompted a spate of evacuation orders and closures Wednesday, including for a few local colleges.
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ArtCenter College of Art and Design’s main campus is in an evacuation order zone; the school has closed both of its campuses.
The California Institute of Technology, outside the evacuation zones, canceled classes and is closed to all nonessential operations “due to the Eaton Fire and strong winds in the area,” its website says. Occidental College, also outside the zones, is closed through Thursday and is encouraging students to evacuate campus “out of an abundance of caution.”
Pasadena City College has closed its campuses and buildings, writing on Instagram, “Conditions in Pasadena remain unsafe, with fires and smoke in the area, much of the city under mandatory evacuation orders, utility service unreliable, and air quality at unsafe levels.”
10:35 a.m. In just a few hours on Wednesday morning, the deadly Eaton Fire exploded in size to become the largest ongoing blaze in Los Angeles County. The fire started Tuesday evening above Pasadena, growing to 2,200 acres as of 6:13 a.m. Heavy winds on Wednesday morning worsened the fire further: New updates from Angeles National Forest and Cal Fire put the fire at 10,600 acres.
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Evacuation orders for the Eaton Fire stretch from Highway 2 on the west to near Monrovia Canyon Park on the east, with evacuation warnings on either side. An official live map of evacuation zones is online from Zonehaven Aware, and SFGATE is tracking the fires and evacuation zones across Southern California as well.
Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said in an 8 a.m. press conference that the Eaton Fire had already killed two people, burned 100 buildings and caused multiple injuries to residents and first responders.
9:45 a.m. Because of “the extreme winds and fire conditions,” Universal Studios Hollywood theme park and CityWalk have closed today, the park said in a statement.
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“We will continue to assess the situation and expect to open for business tomorrow,” the statement continued. “The safety of our team members and our guests is our top priority.”
Disneyland, which is in Anaheim and not near the fires, remains open.
A firefighter jumps over a fence while fighting the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025.
Ethan Swope/AP
9:30 a.m. Four major wildfires are burning in Los Angeles County on Wednesday morning, destroying homes and landmark businesses and endangering tens of thousands of residents.
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Hundreds of firefighters worked through the night but had to contend with an intense windstorm and terrain withered by months of dry weather. As of 8:30 a.m., the Palisades, Eaton, Hurst and Woodley fires were each 0% contained, torching at least 7,000 acres, officials said.
The Eaton Fire has already caused two deaths, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said in a Wednesday morning press conference. Angelenos are encouraged to check the live map of evacuation orders and warnings for their neighborhood’s status and be ready with well-stocked wildfire go bags.
The Palisades Fire, the first to explode on Tuesday morning, now totals 5,000 acres according to Marrone; the fire rages on the west side of Los Angeles in its affluent Pacific Palisades neighborhood. Marrone said 1,000 buildings had been destroyed, and more than 37,000 residents are under evacuation orders. (SFGATE is tracking maps of the fires and evacuation warnings.)
The Eaton Fire, which started Tuesday evening in the mountains above Pasadena, doubled in size by Wednesday morning and now covers more than 2,200 acres, forcing evacuations in a wide large area in the foothills of the San Gabriels stretching from Altadena to Monrovia. In the press conference, Marrone said the fire had destroyed 100 buildings.
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The evacuation orders around the Eaton Fire also include La Cañada Flintridge, home to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The New York Times reported that the fire destroyed the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center.
The 505-acre Hurst Fire burns near Sylmar. The 75-acre Woodley Fire began Wednesday morning beside Interstate 405 near the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Area.
“This morning, we woke up to a dark cloud over all of Los Angeles, but it is darkest for those who are most intimately impacted by these fires,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, whose district includes the areas where the Palisades, Hurst and Woodley fires are burning, said during the press conference. “It has been an immensely painful 24 hours for communities I represent.”
The fires have stretched Los Angeles’ firefighting capabilities. Tuesday, the city department asked off-duty workers to come back to work, and on Wednesday, Marrone said teams are on their way from Oregon, Washington and Nevada. He’s also requested 250 engines and 1,000 personnel from the state.
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A helicopter drops water on the advancing Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025.
Ethan Swope/AP
All of Los Angeles County remains under a red flag warning; in an early morning post to X, Mayor Karen Bass warned residents that the “windstorm is expected to worsen through the morning.” Following powerful gusts peaking in the 70 to 90 mph range on Tuesday and Wednesday morning that have toppled trees and exploded the fires, forecasters expect winds to lighten later in the day on Wednesday — but they’d still be easily capable of spreading fire. Southern California Edison has shut off the power of more than 135,000 customers as a precaution.
“We are absolutely not out of danger yet with the strong winds that continue to push through the city and the county today,” Kristin Crowley, Los Angeles City fire chief, said at the Wednesday press conference.
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Alberto Carvalho, superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District, said 10% of his district’s schools are closed Wednesday. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said his staff had arrested two people accused of looting by the Wednesday morning press conference, and implored people to stay away from fire zones.
