Tuesday saw 30,000 people escape under massive smoke plumes that engulfed most of the metropolitan area as a wildfire burned over an expensive district of Los Angeles, damaging houses and causing traffic bottlenecks.
 
After warning of severe fire threat from strong winds that arrived after prolonged dry weather, officials reported that at least 1,262 acres (510 hectares) in the Pacific Palisades region between Santa monica and Malibu had burnt.
 
As officials warned that the worst wind conditions were forecast tonight, the fire spread quickly in a couple of hours, raising fears that additional neighborhoods could have to evacuate. A palm tree near Sunset Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway is set on fire by flying embers.

As the fire extended from the slopes of Topanga Canyon to the Pacific Ocean, witnesses saw several burning homes, with flames almost scorching their automobiles as they escaped.
 
According to Los Angeles fire Chief Kristin Crowley, "we feel very blessed at this point that there are no injuries that are reported," she said during a news conference.
 
Water from the sea was collected by firefighters in airplanes and dropped into the surrounding fires. television footage showed residences engulfed in flames while bulldozers cleared lanes of abandoned cars to make room for rescue vehicles.
 
Traffic slowed to a stop, forcing many to evacuate on foot because there was only one main route that connected the canyon to the shore and one coastal roadway that led to safety.
 
One individual said that as blazing debris fell into the road, firefighters stopped him while he was trying to get things out of his house.
 
"I thought we should leave this place. I lose anything I lose. The man, who just called himself Peter, remarked, "There's nothing I can do about it."
Another Pacific Palisades homeowner, Cindy Festa, stated the fires were "this close to the cars," indicating with her thumb and fingers as she was being evacuated out of the canyon.
 
"On Palisades Drive, many abandoned their vehicles. Setting the hillside on fire. Everything is moving, including the palm trees," Festa declared from her vehicle.
 
With wind gusts of 50 to 80 mph (80 to 130 kph) and isolated gusts of 80 to 100 mph (130 to 160 kph) in the mountains and foothills, the National Weather service had issued its highest alert for extreme fire conditions for a large portion of Los Angeles County from tuesday through thursday prior to the fire.

More than 25,000 people in 10,000 homes were threatened, Crowley said, equal to nearly the entire population of the Pacific Palisades. Nearly 5 per cent of the Pacific Palisades' 23,431 acres (9,482 hectares) had burned.
 

 
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G GOWTHAM

08/01/2025 08:45 AM