2 dead and more than 1,000 homes, businesses, other buildings destroyed in L.A. County fires

Much of the Pacific Coast Highway and its iconic homes and landmarks between Will Rogers State Beach just north of Santa Monica and Carbon Beach in Eastern Malibu lay in ruins.

Large swaths of coastal homes were reduced to smoldering rubble, crumbling onto the beach and into the sea.

The Reel Inn, which the fire overtook on Tuesday night, was only recognizable by its charred and blackened pylon sign. However, some of the area’s premier attractions remained standing.

The Villa de Leon, just below the Getty Villa, stood relatively unscathed, as did Duke’s Malibu.

Fire crews continued to battle large structure blazes on both sides of the roadway, including around Las Flores and Los Angeles County Fire Department Station 70, where a Smokey Bear “FIRE DANGER EXTREME TODAY!” sign still stood.

The Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades remains safe and intact after an extremely close call with fire, according to Katherine E. Fleming, President and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust.

The Villa “will be closed at least through early next week. While trees and vegetation on the property have burned, Getty structures have been unaffected, and thankfully, both staff and the collections are safe,” read a statement from Fleming.

“Out of caution and to help alleviate traffic in the area, the Getty Center in Brentwood will be closed at least through Sunday, January 12. We deeply appreciate the tireless work and dedication of the Los Angeles Fire Department, Los Angeles County Fire Department, and other agencies, and also the small team of Getty staff who have remained on-site at the Villa supporting emergency response efforts,” the statement said.

“We again express our heartfelt concern to our neighbors in the Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and surrounding areas affected by the fires.”

Fleming said the the Villa is closed to the public on Tuesday’s and was swiftly closed to non-emergency staff that morning.

“Fortunately, Getty had made extensive efforts to clear brush from the surrounding area as part of its fire mitigation efforts throughout the year. Additional fire prevention measures in place at the Villa include water storage on-site. Irrigation was immediately deployed throughout the grounds Tuesday morning. Museum galleries and library archives were sealed off from smoke by state-of-the-art air handling systems. The double-walled construction of the galleries also provides significant protection for the collections.” Fleming said.

Orly Israel was hanging out in his home in Pacific Palisades on Tuesday morning when he got a text message from a friend asking if he was OK.

“Why?” Israel asked. His friend said there was a fire in his neighborhood.

Extreme winds from the north and northeast will continue to blow into the Los Angeles region through Wednesday morning, bringing gusts of up to 80 mph as firefighters battle fires.

“We’re still in the stronger wind period,” said Mike Wofford, a meteorologist at National Weather Service, noting that wind gusts Wednesday morning reached 75 mph in the La Cañada Flintridge area and 65 mph in the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains.

Gov. Gavin Newsom canceled his trip to Washington D.C. this week for President Jimmy Carter’s funeral after deadly fires broke out across Los Angeles County.

Newsom was scheduled to leave the state no later than Wednesday to attend the funeral but the governor’s office said he will remain in California.

Bright orange flames lit up the hills above the Oakridge Mobile Home Park in Sylmar early Wednesday, where residents were allowed back into their homes after being ordered to evacuate Tuesday night.

Resident Russ Keipinger zipped around the community in his golf cart, his small white dog by his side, inspecting the area. He credited both state and city firefighters with containing the blaze, which engulfed a ridge near homes early Wednesday.

“They saved everything,” said Keipinger. “We thought it was going to be a complete loss like before [in 2008]. The blaze came right up to the park,” he said.

He showed The Times a video that he shot at 3 a.m. that showed the blaze cresting several hills near homes. Keipinger had evacuated his 84-year-old mother before returning to the park. Only a handful of people from the 600-home community had returned.

Keipinger described the previous night’s evacuation from the mobile home park as “mayhem,” as cars jammed the one roadway out of the complex. A second route was opened, he said, so residents could more easily flee.

Brush fires are common in these hillsides. The mobile home park has also been the site of devastating blazes, including the 2008 Sayre fire, which destroyed hundreds of homes at Oakridge.

On Wednesday morning, the smell of smoke engulfed the community and wisps of ash floated by. Several fire trucks from the Los Angeles Fire Department and one from the National Fire Service were positioned in a lot in the park.

In two trucks, firefighters could be seen with their heads resting against a window or steering wheel. One Los Angeles Fire Department firefighter told The Times that he’d been up all night battling the blaze.

A few other residents returned early Wednesday, pulling up to the front gates in the predawn darkness. The park remained eerily quiet, and the community’s history of fires was on many people’s minds.

Resident Maria Gomez slowly drove up to the gate after fleeing Tuesday night. “I’m feeling nervous,” said Gomez.

The Eaton fire is burning near Altadena and Pasadena. Arcadia and Sierra Madre have also ordered evacuations in some of their northern neighborhoods.

Homes are engulfed in flames as firefighters try to keep embers from jumping to nearby houses on Vinedo Avenue in Altadena.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Evacuations

Jeff Bryant, the boys’ basketball coach at Palisades High, was about to hold practice at 11 a.m. on Tuesday in the school gym when security informed him that the campus needed to be evacuated because of the Palisades fire that had broken out at 10:30 a.m.

“We saw fire above our parking structure,” Bryant said. “The wind was bad. I had my 2-year-old with me. I ran straight to the car and got on the road.”

Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson Erik Scott said the Palisades fire is approximately 3,000 acres “until we get some aerial reconnaissance on it this morning to get more accurate numbers.”

He said the fire is being fueled by strong Santa Ana winds and surrounding topography “which makes it extremely challenging for us firefighters to really get a handle on it.”

“We dealt with winds gusts up to 100 miles per hour last night,” he said.

Scott said firefighters are concentrating on structure defense.

More winds are expected today and tomorrow. Likely the biggest growth to the fire is to the west, he said.

A fire was burning in the Sepulveda basin open space in the San Fernando Valley, according to CalFire.

Officials said the Woodley fire was at 75 acres, and it is unclear if any structures were threatened.

The fire “poses a threat of crossing Burbank Boulevard. Crews are actively working to contain the fire and protect structures in the affected area,” CalFire said.

The Palisades, Eaton and Hurst fires were fueled overnight by intense winds. These are the top wind gust speeds measured by the National Weather Service over the last 48 hours:

• Mt. Lukens Truck Trail: 100 mph
  
• Magic Mountain Truck Trail: 90 mph
  
• Saddle Peak: 98 mph
  
• Hollywood-Burbank Airport: 84 mph
  
• Eaton Canyon: 70 mph

Homes and businesses were engulfed by flames in Pasadena and Altadena, as the Eaton fire spread rapidly, whipped by gusts of up to 99 mph in the area.

The Two Palms Care Center on Washington Boulevard, a long term care facility in southeastern Altadena, was on fire Wednesday morning, with an alarm steadily ringing from the building’s remains. A steady wind fanned embers from the structure.

A handful of medical beds and wheelchairs line the street, where the power is out.

Farther south, just over the border into Pasadena, several homes at Del Rey Avenue and Woodlyn Road burned before dawn Wednesday, as the sounds of fire alarms ring throughout the residential neighborhood.

The wind whipped embers fly over a home on Vinedo Avenue in Altadena as the Eaton fire spreads on Tuesday.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

Downed tree branches and cut fire hoses line the sidewalks and street.

KABC-TV Channel 7 reported that the AltaMed Medical Center in Altadena, on Washington Boulevard, was engulfed in flames, as were homes in the eastern Pasadena neighborhood of Hastings Ranch; and, in southeastern Altadena, the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center and the Terraces at Park Marino assisting living center.

Most of Altadena was ordered evacuated, as was unincorporated Kinneloa Mesa, as is the northern part of Pasadena’s Hastings Ranch neighborhood, which is on fire.

All of La Cañada Flintridge has been ordered evacuated.

Mandatory evacuation orders have expanded to include eastern Glendale — namely, areas east of the 2 Freeway.

The northern two-thirds of Sierra Madre are also under a mandatory evacuation order, a northern section of Arcadia.

Northern Monrovia has been ordered evacuated.

Evacuation warnings were issued for large swaths of Bradbury and parts of Duarte; as well as Pasadena, Sierra Madre and Arcadia north of Interstate 210; and some neighborhoods in Glendale west of the 2 Freeway and north of Interstate 210; as well as all of unincorporated La Crescenta and Montrose.

Updated evacuation orders and warnings can be found on the Genasys website.

Homes along Pacific Coast Highway were devastated overnight by the Palisades fire.

The houses were found fully engulfed by flames along Highway 1 as firefighters tried to battle the fire.

A firefighter battles a house fire along Pacific Coast Highway as the Palisades Fire spreads from the Pacific Palisades.

(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

Along Pacific Coast Highway, Rosenthal Wine Bar & Patio — in an unincorporated area between Malibu and Pacific Palisades — was on fire. A Times photographer captured an image of flames seen just behind a table with a bottle and two wine glasses. Also ablaze was the nearby Wylie’s Bait & Tackle.

Rosenthal Wine Bar & Patio, on Pacific Coast Highway near Topanga Beach, goes up in flames.

(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

Homes were also burning along Surfwood Road in the unincorporated neighborhood of Sunset Mesa, just west of Pacific Palisades and east of Malibu’s city limits.

A firefighter prepares to battle a house fire along Surfwood Road in the unincorporated neighborhood of Sunset Mesa, just west of Pacific Palisades.

(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

On nearby Shoreheights Drive overnight, a large home — and the car parked in front — was fully ablaze.

A firefighter is silhouetted in front of a burning home on Shoreheights Drive in unincorporated Sunset Mesa, just west of Pacific Palisades and east of Malibu.

(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

L.A. developer Rick Caruso said several homes around his Palisades Village shopping center were “fully engulfed” in flames, and his shopping center, which opened in 2018, suffered damage. His daughter’s home was destroyed in the blaze, and he said his family was waiting to hear if one of his sons had also lost his home.

All of Pacific Palisades is under a mandatory evacuation order, as was a sliver of Santa Monica northwest of San Vicente Boulevard. The northwestern section of Santa Monica northwest of Montana Avenue was under an evacuation warning.

Areas along Topanga Canyon Boulevard, from the beach to close to Mulholland Drive, were also under a mandatory evacuation order. The eastern one-third of Malibu was under a mandatory evacuation order, and the area around Malibu City Hall was under an evacuation warning.

All Malibu residents should be prepared to evacuate, city officials said.

“Evacuate now, especially if you need extra time or have pets/livestock,” city officials said. More than 2,900 acres had burned in the Palisades fire as of Tuesday night.

As the Eaton fire burns through Altadena and Pasadena, mandatory evacuation orders have expanded to include eastern Glendale, all of La Cañada Flintridge and northern Monrovia.

The area of Glendale under a mandatory evacuation order is east of the 2 Freeway.

Most of Altadena is now under a mandatory evacuation order, as is the northern part of Pasadena’s Hastings Ranch neighborhood, which is on fire.

The northern two-thirds of Sierra Madre are also under a mandatory evacuation order, a northern section of Arcadia.

Evacuation warnings were issued for large swaths of Bradbury and parts of Duarte.

Evacuation warnings were also issued for a number of neighborhoods in Glendale west of the 2 Freeway and north of Interstate 210; as well as all of unincorporated La Crescenta and Montrose.

Updated evacuation orders and warnings can be found on the Genasys website.

The following districts and schools planned to be closed Wednesday due to fires, according to this tally by the Los Angeles County Office of Education:

• Alhambra Unified School District
• Arcadia Unified School District
• Azusa Unified School District
• Baldwin Park Unified School District
• Duarte Unified School District
• El Monte City School District
• Glendale Unified School District
• La Canada Unified School District
• Los Vírgenes School District
• Monrovia Unified School District
• Mountain View School District
• Pasadena Unified School District
• Rosemead School District
• San Marino Unified School District
• Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District
• South Pasadena Unified School District
• Temple City Unified School District
• Valle Lindo School District
  

• Los Angeles Unified School District:

  -Topanga Elementary Charter

  -Woodland Hills Academy

  -Palisades Elementary

  -Brentwood Magnet

  -Marquez Charter Elementary

  -Diego Rivera Learning Complex

  -University High School

Numerous roads are closed in fire zones, and officials are urging people to stay away.

The 10 Freeway westbound is closed in Santa Monica as motorists approach the coast.

Pacific Coast Highway is closed through Pacific Palisades.

The 210 Freeway is westbound is closed at Roxford Street.

Interstate 5 connectors to the 210 closed.

Topanga Canyon Boulevard is closed at PCH to Mullholand.

A night of intense winds and destruction pounded Southern California overnight as fires chewed through neighborhoods.

Forecasts expected the worst of the winds to continue into this morning before leveling off.

Palisades fire

Burned more than 3,000 acres and numerous homes, businesses and landmarks in Pacific Palisades and westward along Pacific Coast Highway, toward Malibu.

Eaton fire

Burned more than 1,000 acres and many homes in Altadena and Pasadena. More than 52,000 residents have been ordered evacuated.

Hurst fire

Burned more than 500 acres in the area around Sylmar.

The Palisades fire has leveled homes and businesses along Pacific Coast Highway. The glow from the flames could be seen all the way to Hollywood.

L.A. developer Rick Caruso said several homes around his Palisades Village shopping center were “fully engulfed” in flames, and his shopping center, which opened in 2018, suffered damage. His daughter’s home was destroyed in the blaze, and he said his family was waiting to hear if one of his sons had also lost his home.

Along Pacific Coast Highway, Rosenthal Wine Bar & Patio — in an unincorporated area between Malibu and Pacific Palisades — was on fire. A Times photographer captured an image of flames seen just behind a table with a bottle and two wine glasses. Also ablaze was the nearby Wylie’s Bait & Tackle.

Wylie’s Bait & Tackle goes up in flames along Pacific Coast Highway near Topanga Beach.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Homes were also burning along Surfwood Road in the unincorporated neighborhood of Sunset Mesa, just west of Pacific Palisades.

A firefighter prepares to battle a house fire along Surfwood Road in the unincorporated neighborhood of Sunset Mesa, just west of Pacific Palisades.

(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

On nearby Shoreheights Drive overnight, a large home — and the car parked in front — was fully ablaze.

A firefighter is silhouetted in front of a burning home on Shoreheights Drive in Sunset Mesa.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Homes were also on fire elsewhere along Pacific Coast Highway.

A firefighter battles a house fire along Pacific Coast Highway as the Palisades fire spreads.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

The Palisades fire devastates homes along Pacific Coast Highway.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

An oceanfront home burns along Pacific Coast Highway.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

All of Pacific Palisades is under a mandatory evacuation order, as was a sliver of Santa Monica northwest of San Vicente Boulevard. The northwestern section of Santa Monica northwest of Montana Avenue was under an evacuation warning.

Areas along Topanga Canyon Boulevard, from the beach to close to Mulholland Drive, were also under a mandatory evacuation order. The eastern one-third of Malibu was under a mandatory evacuation order, and the area around Malibu City Hall was under an evacuation warning.

All Malibu residents should be prepared to evacuate, city officials said.

“Evacuate now, especially if you need extra time or have pets/livestock,” city officials said. More than 2,900 acres had burned in the Palisades fire as of Tuesday night.

As wildfires raged across Los Angeles on Tuesday, crews battling the Palisades blaze faced an additional burden: Scores of fire hydrants in the Pacific Palisades had little to no water flowing out.

“The hydrants are down,” said one firefighter in internal radio communications.

As homes burned in the Eaton fire, evacuation orders expanded in Pasadena, Sierra Madre and Arcadia.

Homes were burning on Vinedo Avenue in unincorporated Altadena, and firefighters were trying to battle flying embers. A wind gust of up to 99 mph was detected near Altadena, the National Weather Service said early Wednesday morning.

Multiple homes were burning on Woodlyn Road in northern Pasadena, near Altadena.

A police officer patrols the area as multiple homes burn on Woodlyn Road in northern Pasadena early Wednesday morning.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Embers could be seen flying as powerful gusts whipped through the area.

A wind gust sends burning embers into the air along Woodlyn Road.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Homes were also burning on Del Rey Avenue in northern Pasadena, near the Altadena border.

Firefighters work to save houses on Del Rey Avenue in northern Pasadena, near Altadena.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

KABC-TV Channel 7 reported that the AltaMed Medical Center in Altadena, on Washington Boulevard, was engulfed in flames, as were homes in the eastern Pasadena neighborhood of Hastings Ranch; and, in southeastern Altadena, the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center and the Terraces at Park Marino assisting living center.

Most of Altadena was ordered evacuated, as was unincorporated Kinneloa Mesa. The mandatory evacuation area was expanded in Altadena to include areas west of Lake Avenue and north of Altadena Drive, and, generally speaking, north of Woodbury Road that is east of Windsor Avenue and west of Fair Oaks Avenue.

In Pasadena, a mandatory evacuation order was in place in the northern half of the neighborhood of Hastings Ranch — north of Sierra Madre Boulevard. A mandatory evacuation order was downgraded to a warning elsewhere in Pasadena.

Evacuation orders were also issued for eastern La Cañada Flintridge, including the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, according to the official evacuation map on the Genasys website.

Most of Sierra Madre — all areas north of Sierra Madre Boulevard — were ordered evacuated, and the rest of the city was under a voluntary evacuation. A northern swath of Arcadia was ordered evacuated — areas north of Orange Grove Avenue (that are west of Santa Anita Avenue) and north of Foothill Boulevard (that are east of Santa Anita Avenue).

The Los Angeles Fire Department issued mandatory evacuation orders Tuesday night for areas of Sylmar threatened by a fire that broke out near where Interstate 5 meets the 14 and 210 freeways.

Dubbed the Hurst fire, it is one of at least four named fires currently raging in Los Angeles County as high winds and dry vegetation have created conditions conducive to explosive wildfires.

The fire — which was at 50 acres as of 10:10 p.m., according to an LAFD spokesperson — had grown to more than 500 acres by about 2 a.m.

Dana Dierkes, a public affairs officer for the Angeles National Forest, said at about 11:20 p.m. that the fire had “jumped [the] 210 [Freeway].” Dierkes said at that time she did not “have any details about structures burned or if there are any injuries.”

Mandatory evacuation orders were “in place for north of the 210 Freeway from Roxford to the Interstate 5 / 14 Freeway split,” Stewart said in her 10:10 p.m. statement.

The origin of the Hurst fire was about a mile and a half from Sylmar’s Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall, where dozens of youths are incarcerated. Vicky Waters, a spokesperson for L.A. County’s Probation Department, said that the hall had not yet been ordered to evacuate but that the agency had an evacuation site and transportation ready if the flames grew closer.

“Both youth and staff are safe, and we are monitoring the situation closely,” Waters wrote in a text. “Should the situation change, we are ready to respond and evacuate safely and expeditiously.”

Evacuation centers were set up at the Ritchie Valens Recreation Center, at 10736 Laurel Canyon Blvd. in Pacoima; Northridge Park, 10120 Reseda Blvd. in Northridge; and the Sepulveda Recreation Center, at 8825 Kester Ave. in Panorama City.

Firefighters were battling a fast-moving fire that broke out Tuesday morning along Piedra Morada Drive in Pacific Palisades and by evening had grown to more than 2,900 acres.

The blaze, which started around 10:30 a.m., damaged homes and forced thousands to evacuate. Some residents had to leave their cars on the side of the road in their attempt to leave. The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.

Fearsome winds forced crews to ground firefighting aircraft in the battle against the Palisades fire on Tuesday night, making it even more challenging for firefighters to get a handle on the fast-growing blaze.

The use of aircraft was halted shortly before 8 p.m., and Los Angeles fire officials said they would continually reassess weather conditions to determine when they might be used again, said Margaret Stewart with the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The Eaton fire has prompted officials to close schools in Pasadena, San Marino, Glendale, Alhambra, Burbank and South Pasadena on Wednesday.

Multiple burn victims who were reported walking toward Duke’s Malibu restaurant around 9 p.m. on Tuesday were evaluated, treated and transported as needed, according to Margaret Stewart with the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The extent of their injuries remains unclear.

Duke’s posted on Instagram earlier in the day that the restaurant would be closed due to dangerous road conditions and high-wind warnings.

Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputy Tracy Koerner said he hadn’t been informed of any fire at the restaurant itself. He added that people are being triaged at L.A. County Fire Station 70.

In a separate incident, a 25-year-old female firefighter sustained a serious head injury around 8:30 p.m., according to LAFD spokesperson Erik Scott. She received immediate treatment at the scene and was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.

A fire broke out Tuesday night in the hills above Altadena near Eaton Canyon, prompting a response from firefighters. The Eaton fire has burned more than 400 acres and prompted evacuations in the area west of the Eaton Canyon Golf Course, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

A separate fire in Pasadena, the Bert fire, had expanded to three acres just before 10 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

The fire is in east Pasadena, near San Gabriel, several miles from the Eaton fire.

The Palisades fire off Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades on Tuesday.

Extreme winds Tuesday night forced crews to temporarily halt efforts to battle the Palisades and Eaton fires by air, authorities said.

Aircraft were grounded in the fight against the Palisades fire shortly before 8 p.m., according to a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Fire Department. As a result, firefighters are unable to drop water or flame retardant from the air.

LAFD is “continually assessing” weather conditions to determine when helicopter use can resume, the spokesperson said.

Strong winds also prompted officials to suspend air coverage for the Eaton fire in Altadena for the evening, said Pasadena spokesperson Lisa Derderian around 8:45 p.m. Firefighters are continuing to protect homes and save lives on the ground, she said.

L.A. County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone had warned at a 3:30 p.m. news conference that increasing wind speeds could make air attacks “unfeasible.”

Although it might be frustrating for residents to see firefighting aircraft grounded, extreme winds can make those efforts less effective, as water or retardant that is dropped is immediately dispersed by the wind, Gov. Gavin Newsom said at the news conference.

“We can be up there all day, making people feel good,” Newsom said, “but we’re not doing any good.”

The city of Santa Monica issued an evacuation order for all areas north of San Vicente Boulevard around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday due to the Palisades fire.

“Immediate threat to life,” the city said in an alert sent to residents. “This is a lawful order to LEAVE NOW.”

The city also announced an evacuation warning for all areas north of Montana Avenue to San Vicente Boulevard.

The Reel Inn, a casual Pacific Coast Highway seafood restaurant that has been a Malibu institution for more than three decades, appears to have burned in the Palisades fire.

All of the eatery’s staff members are safe, according to the owners.

“We are so grateful for the 36 years we’ve been a part of the community. Grateful to all of our customers. We are heartbroken and unsure what will be left,” owners Teddy and Andy Leonard wrote in an Instagram post Tuesday evening.

Videos posted on social media showed devastation along the stretch of Pacific Coast Highway at the eastern edge of Malibu near Topanga Canyon Boulevard, with fire lining the sides of the highway.

One video showed wind-whipped flames engulfing the fish shack’s towering sign.

A fire broke out Tuesday night in the hills above Altadena near Eaton Canyon, prompting a response from firefighters.

The Eaton fire has burned more than 400 acres and prompted evacuations in the area west of the Eaton Canyon Golf Course, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

Firefighters scrambled to corral a fast-moving wildfire in the Los Angeles hillsides dotted with celebrity homes as a “life-threatening, destructive” windstorm hit Southern California, fanning the blaze seen for miles while roads were clogged with cars as residents tried to flee.

Forecasters warned the worst may be yet to come with the windstorm predicted to last for days, producing isolated gusts that could top 100 mph in mountains and foothills.

The Palisades fire spread Tuesday to the grounds of Palisades Charter High School and Palisades Charter Elementary School.

At least one television report said the high school had burned to the ground, but the office of that area’s school board member said this account had not been verified.

Amid the devastating and fast-moving fire in Pacific Palisades, the grounds of the Getty Villa have caught fire, the museum confirmed Tuesday.

Fire officials said that trees and brush were ablaze and that flames were approaching structures, but the museum said the Villa and its art had been spared so far. A video on the social media platform X showed the flames approaching the Villa de Leon, a historic home near the museum’s driveway entrance on Pacific Coast Highway.

“Fortunately, Getty had made extensive efforts to clear brush from the surrounding area as part of its fire mitigation efforts throughout the year,” Katherine E. Fleming, president and chief executive of the J. Paul Getty Trust, said in a statement. “Some trees and vegetation on site have burned, but staff and the collection remain safe.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom called the Palisades fire a “hell of a way to start a new year” as he watched the towering black plumes of smoke rise while speaking at a news conference at Will Rogers State Beach.

He described seeing the “impact of these swirling winds and the embers and the number of structures that are destroyed” when visiting the fire zone earlier Tuesday afternoon, and urged all residents to heed evacuation orders.

He proudly touted the fact that it took only one text for President Biden to issue a fire management assistance grant: “No politics, no hand-wringing, no kissing of the feet.”

This grant will allow the state to receive federal reimbursement for the majority of expenses related to the Palisades fire, he said.

Newsom was scheduled to be in the Coachella Valley at noon to speak at an event with Biden but rerouted to Pacific Palisades after that event was canceled because of the weather.

“We were here not too long ago [for] the Franklin fire and a few weeks prior to that, the Mountain fire,” he said. “November, December, now January — there’s no fire season. It’s fire year. It’s year round.”

The Palisades fire has scorched 1,261 acres and is continuing to grow as of 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, with even stronger winds expected overnight, fire officials said.

Wind gusts of 50 to 70 mph have been recorded in Los Angeles over the course of the day, and gusts are expected to peak between 10 p.m. Tuesday and 5 a.m. Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

“The fire is being fueled by a combination of strong winds and surrounding topography, which is making it extremely challenging for our personnel that are assigned to this incident,” Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley said.

So far, around 30,000 residents have been evacuated from 10,000 households, with no injuries reported, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said. Several structures have been reported destroyed, but officials do not yet have a total, Crowley said.

There are more than 250 Los Angeles Fire Department firefighters and more than 100 Los Angeles County Fire Department firefighters on scene.

Darrin Hurwitz said what appeared to start as a small brush fire turned into a raging inferno within the space of about half an hour. The Pacific Palisades resident, who lives on Las Lomas Avenue, said as many as 20 homes were burning as he fled to safety Tuesday from the Palisades fire.

“Things were moving so quickly,” said Hurwitz, who was working at home when the flames erupted. “Within a few minutes, there were multiple fires.”

Hurwitz said he rushed around his home, grabbing practical items including clothing for his two elementary-school-age children, laptops and medications, as well as more sentimental belongings such as artwork and family heirlooms.

After arriving at his parents’ home in Calabasas, where he watched news of the fire unfolding, he was mourning the items his family may have lost. He wondered if his home was even still standing. His children questioned whether their school, Marquez Charter Elementary, which was evacuated Tuesday, was damaged and if they’d be able to return.

Hurwitz, who grew up in Southern California, moved from the East Coast to Pacific Palisades more than two years ago, drawn to the community for its breathtaking views and family-friendly atmosphere. But fire risk has been on his mind.

“There hasn’t been a day I’ve lived there,” Hurwitz said, “where I haven’t thought, one, this is the most beautiful place in the world, and two, it may all go up in flames at some point.”

Residents fleeing a wildfire in Pacific Palisades faced a gantlet of danger as roads became choked with traffic and fast-moving flames threatened evacuation routes.

When a spot fire erupted off Sunset Boulevard and Palisades Drive, some motorists abandoned their cars by the time the flames reached Pacific Coast Highway around 2 p.m.

Fire officials ordered those residents who were unable to flee their neighborhoods to shelter in place as crews battled flames along Sunset Boulevard.

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.

As a brush fire tore through Pacific Palisades on Tuesday, evacuees quickly jammed the area’s whirligig of canyon and hillside roads, as black smoke descended in 50-mph gusts, forcing some to abandon their cars and flee on foot.

County bulldozers were pushing roughly 30 ditched vehicles out of the way on Palisades Drive and Sunset Boulevard to clear a path for fire crews and further evacuations.

California

2 dead and more than 1,000 homes, businesses, other buildings destroyed in L.A. County fires

More than 1,000 homes, businesses and other buildings have burned and at least two people are dead in wildfires burning across L.A. County, making this one of the most destructive firestorms to hit the region in memory.

“If anybody has a car, leave the keys in the car so we can move your car so that these firetrucks can get up Palisades Drive,” actor and Palisades resident Steve Guttenberg told KTLA, adding that he has friends stuck up the hill unable to get out because of abandoned vehicles blocking the roads.

Ellen Delosh-Bacher abandoned her car on Sunset Boulevard after the fire exploded behind a Starbucks along the road.

Forecasters say Southern California this week could see the worst winds since 2011, when a massive storm cut a path of destruction through Pasadena and other parts of the San Gabriel Valley.

Offshore winds will be dry, unpredictable and strong — possibly up to 100 mph in some parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties. The worst of the windstorm is expected Tuesday through Wednesday.

A “life-threatening and destructive” windstorm is forecast to last through Thursday, bringing with it severe fire danger and widespread power outages across Southern California.

This is the third time in as many months that strong Santa Ana winds have prompted Southern California Edison to cut power to its customers.

The map below shows which areas are currently without electricity and which are under consideration for power cuts.