Firefighters continued to battle multiple major wildfires. The red flag fire weather warning for Los Angeles County ended earlier Friday.
Palisades fire
Burned 21,596 acres and numerous homes, businesses and landmarks in Pacific Palisades and westward along Pacific Coast Highway, toward Malibu. As of 8 a.m. Saturday morning, the fire was 11% contained.
On Friday night, officials upgraded an evacuation warning to a mandatory order from Sunset Boulevard north to Encino Reservoir, from the 405 Freeway west to Mandeville Canyon.
New evacuation warnings were issued for areas to the east of the 405 Freeway, north of West Sunset Boulevard and south of Mulholland Drive, along with areas south of Ventura Boulevard and east of Louise Avenue in Encino.
Eaton fire
Burned 14,117 acres and many structures in Altadena and Pasadena. Additional evacuation orders were mandated Thursday afternoon when fire climbed toward Mt. Wilson. Other mandatory evacuations were lifted as city officials notified residents in Glenoaks Canyon and Chevy Chase Canyon that it was safe to return to their homes. As of 8 a.m. Saturday morning, the fire was 15 % contained, on Friday, it was only at 3%.
Kenneth fireBurned 1,052 acres near the border of Los Angeles and Ventura counties. As of 8 a.m. Saturday morning, the fire was 80% contained, according to Cal Fire. All evacuation warnings have been lifted for the fire.
Hurst fire
Burned 779 acres in the area around Sylmar. Evacuation orders have been lifted. As of 8 a.m. Saturday, the fire was 76% contained, according to Cal Fire.
Containment grows on Palisades, Eaton fire as Brentwood, Encino residents remain on edge
George Cunningham on Thursday walks through the rubble of the house on West Manor Street in Altadena where he and his family have lived since 2012. Both sides of West Manor Street were destroyed in the Eaton fire. More photos
Despite new evacuation orders overnight in Brentwood and parts of the San Fernando Valley, firefighters made more progress on containing the Eaton and Palisades fires.
As of Saturday morning, the Eaton fire was 15% contained and the Palisades fire was 11% contained. On Friday, the Palisades fire was 8% contained and the Eaton fire was 3% contained.
Firefighters show progress in containing Eaton, Palisades fires
Firefighters made more progress on containing the Eaton and Palisades fires.
As of Saturday morning, the Eaton fire was 15% contained and the Palisades fire was 11% contained. On Friday, the Palisades fire was 8% contained and the Eaton fire was 3% contained.
Winds will keep fire danger high this weekend
Los Angeles, CA – January 11: A fire fighter stand guard at a home on Mandeville Canyon road as the Palisades fire spreads towards Encino on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025 in Los Angeles, CA. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Winds will continue to be a factor for firefighters battling the L.A. firestorm this weekend.
“Another round of gusty northeast winds will develop through today into Sunday, then a stronger offshore wind event will likely develop between Monday night and Wednesday. Cold overnight temperatures are expected in wind protected areas,” the National Weather Service said in it’s Saturday forecast.
“Critical fire weather conditions are likely to develop again across portions of the Southland this evening through Sunday morning,” NWS added.
Shifting will prompted a flair-up Friday night that prompted evacuations in Brentwood and parts of the Valley.
Golden Dragon Parade, L.A.’s Lunar New Year parade, postponed due to firestorm
The annual Golden Dragon Parade, which celebrates the Lunar New Year in Los Angeles’ Chinatown, has been postponed due to the fires.
The parade’s host, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles, postponed the parade “due to the devastations our community is currently facing,” the organization said on Instagram.
“We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding during this difficult time,” the chamber said. The parade had been scheduled for Feb. 8.
The organization also postponed the Miss Los Angeles Chinatown Pageant, which had been scheduled for Jan. 19.
Helicopters dump water on Palisades fire as it threatens Encino, Brentwood
Firefighting helicopters were dumping water on a flare-up of the Palisades fire that was threatening Encino and Brentwood, which triggered new evacuation orders and warnings.
The flames can now be seen across the San Fernando Valley.
Aiding the firefighting efforts were relatively calm winds. “Winds are fairly light at this point,” National Weather Service meteorologist Todd Hall said. There could be gusts of up to 30 mph by daybreak, he said.
The gusts are nowhere near as severe as those that swept Los Angeles County during the historic firestorm this week. The fire siege, which saw gusts as strong as 100 mph, has consumed 12,000 structures and killed at least 11 people since Tuesday morning.
With the fire changing directions and potentially heading to the northeast and east, locations under a mandatory evacuation order include a large swath of Brentwood, hilly neighborhoods just east of Encino Reservoir, homes along Mulholland Drive west of the 405 Freeway, and the MountainGate Country Club.
Homes along Mandeville Canyon Road, which are under a mandatory evacuation order, are relatively close to the fire.
Caltrans has closed offramps from the 405 Freeway near the fire, including at Getty Center Drive and Skirball Center Drive.
Areas under an evacuation warning include portions of Encino south of Ventura Boulevard, including the Gelson’s supermarket. Encino Hospital Medical Center is across the street from the evacuation warning area.
A large swath of Bel Air was under an evacuation warning.
Palisades fire forming fire whirls as evacuations ordered in Encino
Evacuation orders, in pink, have expanded to swaths of Encino and Brentwood, and evacuation warnings, in yellow, have expanded to swaths of Bel Air.
The Palisades fire is forming fire whirls, according to video of the fire as the blaze threatened Brentwood, Encino and the 405 Freeway through the Sepulveda Pass on Friday.
Video from news helicopters on KCAL-TV showed flames swirling in a whirl. The video showed firefighting helicopters making water drops.
With the fire changing directions and potentially heading to the northeast and east, locations under a mandatory evacuation order include swaths of Brentwood, hilly neighborhoods just east of Encino Reservoir, homes along Mulholland Drive west of the 405 Freeway, and the MountainGate Country Club.
Areas under an evacuation warning include areas of Encino south of Ventura Boulevard, including the Gelson’s supermarket. Encino Hospital Medical Center is across the street from the evacuation warning area.
A large swath of Bel Air was under an evacuation warning.
Latest Palisades fire evacuation order sends shock wave through Encino
Josh Sautter, president of the Encino Neighborhood Council, said the new evacuation orders issued for the Palisades fire sent a shock wave of panic through the community.
“I don’t think that people here really saw that it was coming,” he said. “We didn’t think that it was something that would really affect us — until it did.”
His neighborhood group chats exploded as people scrambled to leave, and the Encino streets rapidly became clogged with traffic, he said.
“I was just talking to people in those zones who were desperately trying to get things together and trying to get out as quickly as possible,” he said. “People were completely freaked out.”
By 10 p.m. the neighborhood was eerily quiet.
For now, Sautter is staying put. He lives just outside the evacuation area with his pregnant wife and their 2-year-old baby.
But he’s on edge as he peers out his window and sees bright flames leaping from the hillside.
Here is a map of current evacuation orders and warnings.
L.A. County declares health emergency due to smoke and ash
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has declared a local health emergency due to the ongoing firestorm in the region.
“The fires, coupled with strong winds, have severely degraded air quality by releasing hazardous smoke and particulate matter, posing immediate and long-term risks to public health,” the department said in a statement Friday evening.
The declaration prohibits the use of powered leaf blowers or other devices that could stir up ash and particulate matter into the air until further notice.
“The order applies to all areas of Los Angeles County due to the widespread presence of ash and particulate matter in the air throughout the entire region,” officials said.
Breathing air polluted with ash or smoke can cause wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath and other damage and irritation to the lungs — especially for elderly people or those with respiratory conditions, according to the American Lung Assn.
The public health department says that, if you see or smell smoke, you should close windows and doors to keep indoor air clean. If you must go outside for long periods of time, wear an N95 or P100 mask. You should call your doctor or go to urgent care if you experience severe shortness of breath, coughing, wheezing, chest pain, palpitations, nausea or unusual fatigue, and call 911 if the symptoms are life-threatening.
‘Incredibly dangerous’: More unauthorized drones fly above Palisades fire
A pair of drones hover in formation at the Fountain Valley Sports Park in 2024.
Multiple unauthorized drones flew above the Palisades fire Friday afternoon, forcing firefighting aircraft to leave the area for safety and angering those working on the front lines, authorities said.
These sightings came just a day after a drone collided with a Super Scooper fixed-wing aircraft, grounding the plane for several days of repairs and reducing the number of aircraft available to fight the fire.
‘It’s been insane’: Amid fires, hotels from O.C. to Palm Springs see a rush of Angelenos
Laguna Beach has attracted many of those fleeing the fires in L.A. County. Here, diners sit at The Cliff Restaurant.
January is usually an easy month to book a Southern California hotel room. Not this year.
Driven by the fires that have uprooted hundreds of thousands of L.A. County residents, legions of displaced families and individuals are grabbing rooms in surrounding counties, especially along the coast and in the desert. Beyond those under mandatory evacuation, many more, including many families and anxious pet owners, have left because of poor air quality or general wariness of the county’s precarious state.
Palisades fire prompts new evacuation orders, warnings
Officials upgraded an evacuation warning to a mandatory order on the eastern flank of the Palisades fire as the blaze continued to burn Friday night.
The new evacuation order is in effect from Sunset Boulevard north to Encino Reservoir, and from the 405 Freeway west to Mandeville Canyon.
Evacuation warnings were issued for areas east of the 405 Freeway, north of West Sunset Boulevard and south of Mulholland Drive, along with areas south of Ventura Boulevard and east of Louise Avenue in Encino.
The expanded evacuation order area includes the Getty Center, an art museum on 86 acres of gardens and terraces.
The fire threatened the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades just days ago.
Hopes are crushed when Altadena residents get false message to access homes in evacuation zone
Several Altadena residents who saw an erroneous Facebook post by the city of Pasadena gathered at New York Drive and Sinaloa Avenue hoping to briefly return home but were turned away by the National Guard.
One by one, Eaton fire evacuees showed up to a National Guard blockade in Altadena on Friday afternoon, believing they would be allowed to make one trip into the mandatory evacuation zone.
They flashed screenshots of a Facebook post from the city of Pasadena to perplexed National Guard members.
Crowley is still L.A. fire chief, Bass spokesperson says, denying report she has been fired
A spokesperson for Mayor Karen Bass has denied a report from the Daily Mail that she had fired L.A. Fire Chief Kristin Crowley, according to Times staff writer David Zahniser.
Just to catch folks up: I asked Zach Seidl, spokesperson for Mayor Karen Bass, if Fire Chief Kristin Crowley was fired. He said no. I asked if she has resigned. Seidl said no. I asked if she’s still fire chief. He said yes.
— David Zahniser 🦅 (@DavidZahniser) January 11, 2025
Before-and-after satellite images show destruction in Malibu and Altadena
The Palisades and Eaton fires have forced tens of thousands of residents to flee this week, leaving many wondering what may remain of their homes in Pacific Palisades, Altadena and surrounding areas.
New satellite images give a look at the neighborhoods most impacted as the smoke clears.
Palisades fire burning north, creating large smoke plume; evacuation warning issued
The northern leg of the Palisades fire was creating a large smoke plume visible from the San Fernando Valley and other areas late Friday afternoon.
The fire is burning in rugged terrain near the Encino Reservoir and Braemar Country Club in Tarzana, but remains some distance from homes.
The L.A. Fire Department extended an evacuation warning to hillside neighborhoods just west of the 405 Freeway, as well as areas south of the 101 Freeway, but said residents don’t need to leave now.
“While no immediate action is required, we ask residents to ensure they are Ready, Set, Go! with an evacuation bag and a plan,” the LAFD said in a statement.
The evacuation warning zone now covers the Encino Reservoir as well as areas around Corbin Canyon Park, Serrania Park and Mulholland Gateway Park.
As the fires continue to smolder, what is the air quality forecast for this weekend?
Wildfire smoke continues to blanket Los Angeles County, prompting school closures and triggering air quality advisories across the region.
A veil of wildfire smoke continued to linger over many Southern California communities Friday as conflagrations tore through the Santa Monica and San Gabriel mountains.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District extended its smoke advisory into Saturday, marking the fifth consecutive day of unhealthful pollution, largely due to the Eaton fire in Altadena.
False reports of immigration sweeps in Los Angeles spread amid wildfires
Amid heightened anxiety over deadly wildfires and erroneous evacuation alerts, Angelenos got another dose of panic Friday when a social media hoax about immigration sweeps in Los Angeles began to circulate online.
The false report is a single message from an unknown sender who states that people had spotted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in several South L.A. neighborhoods as well as in nearby cities including Pasadena, El Segundo and Inglewood.
As fires grew, so did profiles of ‘scanner’ X accounts reporting what they heard
A firefighter works during the Eaton fire on Wednesday in Altadena.
Before the fires they mostly tracked police pursuits and crimes in progress — maybe the occasional building fire.
But over the last week, since major fires began ravaging huge swaths of Los Angeles County, “scanners” on X — accounts who listen obsessively to police and fire radio chatter, then transcribe what they hear into digestible posts — have grown exponentially in popularity.
Newsom invites Trump to California to see L.A. fire damage
Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a letter to President-elect Donald Trump on Friday inviting the incoming leader to California to meet with fire victims, survey the devastation in Los Angeles County and join him in thanking first responders.
The invitation, which the governor’s office said was emailed to Trump’s team, marks a change in tone in the political battle between Newsom and Trump.
State to probe why Pacific Palisades reservoir was offline, empty when firestorm exploded
The Santa Ynez Reservoir as seen from above in September 2022.
A large reservoir in Pacific Palisades that is part of the Los Angeles water supply system was out of commission when a ferocious wildfire destroyed thousands of homes and other structures nearby, the Los Angeles Times found.
Officials said that the Santa Ynez Reservoir had been closed since about February for repairs to its cover, leaving a 117-million-gallon water storage complex empty in the heart of the Palisades for nearly a year.
Did Mayor Karen Bass really cut the fire department budget? The answer gets tricky
When Mayor Karen Bass unveiled her budget plan for 2024-25, she called for a 2.7% reduction in spending at the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Her proposal, unveiled in April, sought $23 million in cuts to the department, with much of it focused on reduced equipment purchases.
Newsom orders investigation into dry fire hydrants that hampered firefighting in L.A.
Beachfront house burns along Pacific Coast Highway as the Palisades fire sweeps across the coast.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered an investigation into the causes behind water supply problems that left fire hydrants dry and hampered firefighting efforts during the devastating fires in Southern California.
Newsom’s demand for answers came amid criticism of city officials in Los Angeles over their handling of the disaster and questions about whether local water-related decisions and planning played a role in depriving firefighters of water during the most destructive fires in L.A. history. The governor has also come under criticism, largely on social media and in right-wing media coverage, for the state’s handling of the disaster.
Insurance commissioner issues moratorium on home policy cancellations in fire zones
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has issued a moratorium that bars insurers from canceling or non-renewing home policies in the Pacific Palisades and the San Gabriel Valley’s Eaton fire zones.
The moratorium, issued Thursday, protects homeowners living within the perimeter of the fire and in adjoining ZIP codes from losing their policies for one year, starting from when Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Wednesday.
L.A. firestorms bring waves of fire myths, disinformation. Here’s how to debunk it and not get fooled
The Hollywood sign is seen in Los Angeles on Thursday.
As quickly as the Sunset fire started charring through Runyon Canyon in the Hollywood Hills on Wednesday evening, an AI-generated photo of the Hollywood sign ablaze was rapidly circulating on social media.
It was just one example of misinformation surrounding the Los Angeles-area fires spreading on social media, and experts warn that false information during natural disaster events disrupts recovery efforts and harms community trust.
Ventura County officials identify ‘person of interest’ in Kenneth fire
A man “attempting to start a fire” Thursday in a West Hills neighborhood that was burning from the Kenneth fire is under investigation in connection with the nearly 1,000-acre blaze, according to law enforcement officials and a document reviewed by The Times.
Juan Sierra, 33, was arrested by officers from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Topanga Division around 5:30 p.m. after he was seen attempting to spark a fire, according to a law enforcement email obtained by The Times.
‘We don’t know half of it.’ L.A. firestorm death toll expected to rise as searchers go door to door
A melted signal light on Sunset Boulevard in Pacific Palisades on Friday. More photos
It is expected to take some time to determine the death toll from this week’s Los Angeles firestorms.
Officials confirmed 10 people died in the Eaton and Palisades fires, but Los Angeles Sheriff Robert Luna said that number is likely to rise.
