The most recent fire started in the Hollywood Hills on Wednesday night, reaching closer to the city’s center and the origins of its entertainment sector while causing anxiety in heavily populated areas due to unusually windy and dry circumstances.
Firefighters made significant progress on the Sunset Fire in a few of hours. According to Capt. Erik Scott of the Los Angeles Fire Department, they were able to contain the fire because we struck it quickly and forcefully and because Mother Nature was a bit kinder to us today than she was yesterday.
On Wednesday, January 8, 2025, in Altadena, California, Megan Mantia, left, and her lover Thomas, who was only granted the first game, return to Mantia’s home after it was destroyed by fire during the Eaton Fire. (Photo by Ethan Swope for AP)
Block after block was set on fire in Altadena, a town about 25 miles east of Pasadena, and the coastal enclave of Pacific Palisades a day earlier when hurricane-force winds carried embers through the air. Firefighting efforts were hampered for a while by the winds forcing aircraft to be grounded.
The Palisades and Eaton fires have burned around 2,000 houses, businesses, and other structures, and the number is predicted to rise. The Eaton Fire has been the cause of the five recorded deaths thus far.
On Wednesday, January 8, 2025, in Altadena, California, Megan Mantia, left, and her boyfriend Thomas, who was only granted the first game, return to Mantia’s home after it was destroyed by the Eaton Fire. (Photo by Ethan Swope for AP)
Since fires have spread over an area of roughly 42 square miles—nearly the size of the entire city of San Francisco—about 130,000 people have been placed under evacuation orders. Already, the Palisades Fire has caused more damage than any other fire in Los Angeles’ history.
According to officials, over six schools in the region suffered damage or were completely destroyed, including Palisades Charter High School, which has appeared in numerous Hollywood movies, such as the horror film Carrie from 1976 and the television show Teen Wolf. Classes at UCLA have been canceled for the week.
On Tuesday, January 7, 2025, a firefighter fights the Palisades Fire as it engulfs a building in the Pacific Palisades region of Los Angeles. (Photo by Ethan Swope for AP)
Fire Chief Chad Augustin of Pasadena stated that even without power outages and the city’s overburdened water system, firefighters would not have been able to put out the fire because of the strong winds that were stoking the flames.
He claimed that embers were being thrown by those unpredictable wind gusts for many miles in front of the fire.
Jose Velasquez doused his family’s Altadena home with water as embers rained down on the roof as flames spread throughout his neighborhood. In addition to their family company selling churros, a Mexican dessert, he was able to save their residence. Not everyone was as fortunate. Many of his neighbors lost their homes while they were at work.
According to him, we had to make a few phone calls before receiving messages from people inquiring about the status of their homes. We needed to inform them that it isn’t.
Following the Eaton Fire that ravaged Altadena, California, on Wednesday, January 8, 2025, a showroom is lined with cars that have been destroyed by the fire. (Photo by Ethan Swope for AP)
The extent of the damage was only beginning to become apparent in Pacific Palisades, a coastal hillside neighborhood lined with celebrity residences.
Bungalows and houses in the California Mission Style were reduced to charred ruins block after block. One house’s smoking frame was encircled by an elaborate iron railing. Sports vehicles sagged on melting tires, while soot stained swimming pools.
The Hollywood Walk of Fame was crowded on Wednesday night when the Sunset Fire broke out, and the streets surrounding Madame Tussauds and the TCL Chinese Theatre were congested with stop-and-go traffic. Low-flying helicopters were flying overhead to spray water on the flames, which were only a mile away, and sirens were blaring.
Sylmar, a working-class and middle-class neighborhood on the northern outskirts of the San Fernando Valley that has seen numerous destructive fires, has been struck by another fire.
On Wednesday, January 8, 2025, firefighters fight the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California. (Photo by Ethan Swope for AP)
Flames that moved quickly gave little time to flee.
The primary fires spread quickly in widely disparate locations that shared two characteristics: crowded residential streets in areas choked with foliage and ready to burn in dry circumstances.
Many people hardly had time to flee because the flames spread so swiftly. Residents of a senior living facility were pushed down a street in wheelchairs and medical beds to safety while police took refuge in their patrol cars.
Roads in the Pacific Palisades were inaccessible as a large number of people abandoned their cars and started walking in the haste to escape.
Homelessness among actors
Calabasas and Santa Monica—home to California’s wealthy and well-known—were among the densely populated and affluent communities that the flames advanced toward.
Among the celebrities that lost their homes were Paris Hilton, Cary Elwes, and Mandy Moore. The Palisades Fire destroyed Billy Crystal’s and his wife Janice’s forty-five-year-old home.
Here, we brought up our kids and grandkids. There was love in every square inch of our home. The Crystals added in the statement, “Beautiful memories that cannot be taken away.”
The public library, two large supermarkets, two banks, and a number of boutiques were all destroyed in Palisades Village.
Dylan Vincent, who went back to the area to get some things and saw that his elementary school had burned down and that entire streets had been leveled, said, “It’s just really weird coming back to somewhere that doesn’t really exist anymore.”
On Wednesday, January 8, 2025, a firefighter fights the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California. (Photo by Ethan Swope for AP)
A prolonged fire season results from higher temperatures and less precipitation.
Recent evidence shows that climate change-related increases in temperatures and less rainfall are causing California’s wildfire season to start earlier and end later. Rains that usually end fire season are often delayed, meaning fires can burn through the winter months, according to theWestern Fire Chiefs Association.
Dry winds, includingthe notorious Santa Anas, have contributed to warmer-than-average temperatures in Southern California, which has not seen more than 0.1 inches (2.5 millimeters) of rain since early May.
The winds increased to 80 mph (129 kph) Wednesday, according to reports received by the National Weather Service. Fire conditions could last through Friday but wind speeds were expected to be lower on Thursday.
The Getty Villa art museum is threatened by the flames of the wind-driven Palisades fire in Pacific Palisades, California, on Jan. 7, 2025. (David Swanson/AFP/Getty Images/TNS)TNS
Landmarks get scorched and studios suspend production
President Joe Biden signed a federal emergency declaration after arriving at a Santa Monica fire station for a briefing with Gov. Gavin Newsom, who dispatched National Guard troops to help.
Several Hollywood studios suspended production, and Universal Studios closed its theme park between Pasadena and Pacific Palisades.
As of Wednesday evening, more than 330,000 people were without power in southern California, according to the tracking websitePowerOutage.us.
Several Southern California landmarks were heavily damaged, including the Reel Inn in Malibu, a seafood restaurant. Owner Teddy Leonard and her husband hope to rebuild.
When you look at the grand scheme of things, as long as your family is well and everyone s alive, you re still winning, right? “I said,” she said.
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