LOS ANGELES — Raging flames driven by a fierce windstorm scorched a rapidly growing area of Southern California on Tuesday, destroying homes, forcing at least 30,000 residents to evacuate and choking the sky with smoke, with officials warning that the worst was yet to come.
Traffic was backed up for miles along Sunset Boulevard as residents tried to flee the Pacific Palisades, an affluent coastal neighbourhood west of downtown Los Angeles that is home to some 24,000 people and many celebrities. Gusts of up to 100 miles per hour, the strongest Southern California has experienced in more than a decade, were forecast through lunchtime Wednesday.
Authorities issued an evacuation order for a northern part of Santa Monica on Tuesday evening, saying there was an immediate threat to life in the area, which was closed to the public. The city, which borders Pacific Palisades, is home to about 90,000 residents, most of whom live south of the evacuation zone.
By then, the fire had jumped to almost 3,000 acres, California fire officials said. Billowing clouds of black and grey smoke drifted from the Pacific Palisades toward the shoreline. Officials expanded evacuation orders to include areas west of the fire along Pacific Coast Highway, and evacuation warnings were extended to portions of Calabasas, signalling a concern that the fires could spread west.
For an interactive map of the fire and evacuation zones, click here.
Palisades Fire burns during a windstorm on the west side of Los Angeles, California, the United States, on Tuesday. (Photo: Reuters)
The cause of the blaze was under investigation, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Multiple agencies were responding with strike teams, helicopters and other aircraft.
Here is what to know:
- Another fast-moving fire: Firefighters began battling a new brush fire, which erupted in Eaton Canyon, in the San Gabriel Mountains above Altadena, on Tuesday evening and consumed 400 acres in less than two hours. Officials have started ordering mandatory evacuations for several streets in Pasadena and Altadena, warning that the fire could spread fast in heavy winds.
- More to come: Fierce winds were expected between 10pm Tuesday and 5am Wednesday. The city of Los Angeles was under a state of emergency for the windstorm, officials said. Governor. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency for Ventura and Los Angeles counties.
A firefighter battles the blaze on El Medio Avenue during the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood of Los Angeles, California, the United States, on Tuesday. (Photo: Bloomberg)
- Early reports of damage: Multiple structures had been reported damaged, said Kristin M Crowley, fire chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department, but no injuries had been reported as of Tuesday evening. A spokesperson for the Getty Villa said that some trees and vegetation on the site had burned, but that staff members and the museum's collections were safe. More than 10,000 households and 13,000 structures remained under threat, officials said.
- The fire's origins: The Pacific Palisades fire began around 10.30am Tuesday, Crowley said. Residents rushed to escape the flames as it ripped through the Pacific Palisades but faced heavy traffic and dead-end roads.
A palm tree burns at a Presbyterian Church during the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood of Los Angeles, California, the United States, on Tuesday. (Photo: Bloomberg)
- Power concerns: More than 80,000 customers across the Los Angeles area lost power Tuesday evening, either because of powerful winds or because a utility provider turned off their electricity to prevent fires. Southern California Edison, the region's utility provider, cut off power to more than 34,000 customers, with 420,000 more under consideration for a temporary power cut, according to the agency's website.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
