Palisades basketball teams make campus escape before fire; LAUSD cancels games, practices

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.”

California

5 dead, more than 2,000 structures burned as new fire hits Hollywood Hills

More than 100,000 residents are under evacuation orders because of the wildfires burning across Los Angeles County. Red flag warnings remain in effect for L.A. County and much of Ventura County through Thursday.

The girls’ team was also about to hold practice. Everyone quickly left and made it out with no issues, according to Bryant. Players drove their cars out or had parents with them.

Bryant will be one of the last to have seen a campus that may have received extensive damage to its facilities.

A basketball game scheduled for Wednesday against Venice has been canceled. Bryant said players have already asked whether their season will continue, and he advised that the focus must be on families first. He said several in his program have lost homes. Bryant said coaches from other programs have reached out offering gym time if needed. Bryant said he does not know the status of the gym.

Bryant said he’s just grateful for the quick action of Palisades’ security guard.

“Smoke hadn’t come yet,” he said. “We got out just in time. We beat the traffic on Sunset.”

Bryant said he had been warned by a player via text as he was headed to campus about a fire in the area.

“I didn’t expect this extreme,” he said.

Students were out this week because of winter break. They are scheduled to return on Monday, but they’re waiting to see what’s left of the campus that opened in 1961.

“Of course, I want to finish the season,” Bryant said.

Palisades’ outstanding junior quarterback, Jack Thomas, went to see the damage to his family home on Wednesday afternoon.

“Oh my God,” he said when realizing it had been destroyed by fire after walking up steps leading to the house.

Athletic director Rocky Montz said that all athletic events involving Palisades teams — home and away — have been postponed.

The Los Angeles Unified School District canceled all games and practices for schools on Wednesday. LAUSD also announced that all its schools will be closed on Thursday.

Loyola High, which has numerous families who live in the fire-affected Pacific Palisades and Pasadena areas, closed campus on Wednesday and canceled basketball and soccer matches. There are more than 100 families of students who live in the Pasadena area and nearly 200 in the Palisades.