Two Wildfires Rage Through Los Angeles, Burn Homes: VIDEOS
Los Angeles Wildfire: Houses were engulfed in flames and plumes of smoke could be seen from far away as the wildfire spread rapidly.
Los Angeles Wildfire: The wildfire is sweeping across two areas in Los Angeles, in the state of California which has destroyed homes, and forced thousands to evacuate. The fire which started on Tuesday, spread rapidly due to the strong winds. Los Angeles later declared a state of emergency as a wildfire exploded from 10 acres to more than 2,900 acres in hours.
According to the Associated Press (AP), Eaton fire in Altadena started near a nature preserve just before 6:30 pm. While the Pacific Palisades fire that started Tuesday morning burned out of control into the night.
In order to contain the fire, the Los Angeles Fire Department required all hands on deck, they asked off-duty firefighters to help as well. The flames were being pushed by winds going 97 kmph in some places, chaos ensued are residents fled.
The winds all hindered firefight operations as it was too windy for firefighting aircraft to fly.
Similarly, in Pacific Palisades fire swept through a Los Angeles hillside with houses of celebrities on Tuesday, burning homes and triggering evacuation orders. People were frantic to get to safety, roads were jammed, and many abandoned their vehicles and fled on foot/
Forest fire engulfed Pacific Palisades of Los Angeles - California, US 🇺🇲 🤧 07.01.2025 pic.twitter.com/Xbu8calXGa
— ONJOLO KENYA🇰🇪 (@onjolo_kenya) January 8, 2025
The traffic jam also prevented emergency vehicles from getting through and a bulldozer was brought to push away abandoned cars to create a path for the firefighters, the LA Fire Department.
According to AP, California Governor Gavin Newsom, who was in Southern California to attend the naming of a national monument by President Joe Biden, made a detour to the canyon to see “firsthand the impact of these swirling winds and the embers,” and he said he found “not a few — many structures already destroyed.”
Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency as the Pacific Palisades Fire rages out of control.
— Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra) January 8, 2025
The Los Angeles Fire Department has urgently called on all available personnel and anyone with firefighting experience to join the effort.
The fire, still at zero… pic.twitter.com/2yc3SQIzGb
As per the report, officials did not give an exact number of structures damaged or destroyed in the Pacific Palisades wildfire, but they said about 30,000 residents were under evacuation orders and more than 13,000 structures were under threat. The Pacific Palisades fire quickly consumed about 11.6 square kilometres of land in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood in western Los Angeles, sending up a plume of smoke that was visible across the city.
The blaze started around 10:30 am, just after a Santa Ana windstorm began, which the National Weather Service warned could be "life-threatening" and the strongest in Southern California in over a decade. The exact cause of the fire remains unknown, and no injuries have been reported, according to AP.
About 40 km northeast in Altadena, another fire spread to more than 200 acres by Tuesday evening, prompting evacuation orders, the Angeles National Forest posted on the social platform X.
The winds were expected to intensify overnight and persist for days, with isolated gusts possibly exceeding 160 kmph in mountains and foothills—areas that haven't seen significant rain in months.
As per AP, due to the weather conditions, President Joe Biden had to cancel plans to travel to inland Riverside County, where he was to announce the establishment of two new national monuments in the state. He remained in Los Angeles, where smoke was visible from his hotel, and was briefed on the wildfires.
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