Wind-whipped fire in L.A. prompts evacuations in Pacific Palisades

A fast-moving fire has forced some residents to evacuate from the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles amid "life-threatening and destructive" winds.

The fire, which broke out Tuesday morning local time, was burning in the Pacific Palisades Highlands community. It has grown to about 300 acres, said Margaret Stewart, a public information officer with the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Several communities were ordered to evacuate and homes were under "immediate threat," according to a news release from the department.

The blaze has exploded due to a combination of dry conditions and powerful winds, which are likely to strengthen further overnight. Gusts up to 100 mph are expected in the windiest spots.

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It wasn’t clear, as of about 1:15 p.m. local time, if any homes had burned; Stewart said she did not have that information.

Flames have threatened communities that dot the canyons west of Pacific Palisades, including those in Rustic Canyon and Topanga Canyon.

"Be prepared for evacuation orders to come through," Erik Scott, another LAFD public information officer, said in a video addressing residents that he posted on X. Scott adding that the fire was "rapidly spreading due to the significant winds."

Stewart said over 200 firefighters were responding to the blaze and that the fire was moving toward the west, in general. Firefighters were also concerned about swirling fires and spot fires in the canyons that could send embers in any direction.

"They can carry up to a mile," Stewart said.

Conditions in Southern California were primed for a fast-moving wildfire. Los Angeles has not received significant rainfall in months, and National Weather Service forecasters had predicted "a life-threatening, destructive windstorm" from Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday morning.

Rich Thompson, a weather service meteorologist based in Oxnard, said downtown Los Angeles has received just 0.16 inches of rain since July 1.

Thompson said the weather service observed wind gusts of 50 to 80 mph on Tuesday and expected the danger to grow overnight.

"It looks like the winds will increase a little in strength later today and tonight," he said. "The Hollywood Hills, Beverly Hills area, Palos Verdes — they get Santa Ana winds, but not usually this strong."

Winter wildfires in California are often driven by the Santa Ana winds, which sweep down mountain slopes to bring hot, dry air to coastal areas. The winds typically lower humidity levels and can rapidly push any fires that start, particularly when the landscape is dry.

Climate change has increased the risk of such events, said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, in a YouTube address.

"What there is evidence of — and especially moving forward in the future — is that climate change is increasing the overlap between extremely dry vegetation conditions later in the season and the occurrence of these wind events,” he said.

Thompson said the landscape would only become drier as the day wore on, a fearsome sign for firefighters.

"Humidities are starting to drop down in the 20 to 30% range and continue to drop down into the teens and single digits tomorrow and into Thursday," Thompson said, adding that "the wind will continue cranking tonight and tomorrow. There will be no relief."