The Palisades Fire, already one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history of Los Angeles, made a significant and sharp turn toward one of the city’s major population centers late Friday night.
After burning the iconic Pacific Palisades neighborhood to the ground and attacking beachside communities, the blaze shifted north toward the San Fernando Valley and east toward UCLA.
Images from Sky5 showed fire crews attempting to prevent northern expansion of the blaze into the Valley, which was getting “uncomfortably close” to Encino and Tarzana, according to KTLA’s Gil Leyvas. The fire was approaching the area in which the 101 and 405 Freeways meet.
In order to control the amount of people in the Valley, officials closed off several exits along the 405 Freeway. They include:
- Getty Center Drive off-ramps in both directions closed.
- Skirball Center Drive off-ramps in both directions closed.
- Southbound Sunset Blvd. off-ramp closed.
- Southbound Wilshire Blvd. off-ramp closed.
- Southbound Santa Monica Blvd. off-ramp closed.
- Southbound Olympic/Pico Blvd. off-ramp closed.
Tens of thousands of people remain under evacuation orders or warnings. The evacuation order extended throughout the Pacific Palisades to the Pacific Ocean and included areas of Santa Monica, Malibu, and Topanga. Residents and businesses in Calabasas and parts of Tarzana and Encino remained under an evacuation warning on Saturday morning.
The fire also shifted east toward Westwood and the UCLA campus. The UCLA Police Department on Friday night told the university’s community to be prepared in case the evacuation warnings adjacent to campus turn into evacuation orders.
As of the most recent update at 6:38 a.m. Saturday, the Palisades Fire covered 21,596 acres and was 11% contained. It had claimed the lives of at least two people.
More than 3,700 firefighting personnel were assigned to the blaze and 24 helicopters and 463 engines were battling the flames.
The fire erupted on Tuesday morning and quickly turned aggressive due to hurricane-level Santa Ana winds. Within minutes, residential neighborhoods in the Pacific Palisades were leveled and the iconic downtown area was wiped out.
More than 5,000 structures are estimated to be destroyed, and damage is believed to be in the tens of billions of dollars.
Dry humidity and more high winds have led Cal Fire to believe that critical fire weather conditions are again possible on Saturday.