Nearly 180,000 people across Los Angeles County had been ordered to flee their homes as of Thursday morning, as fires raging across the region left behind scenes of destruction that one top city official described as “apocalyptic.”
Another 200,000 residents were under evacuation warnings, city officials said, and preparing to flee, with heavy winds expected to pick up again later this week. At least five major fires were burning across the Los Angeles area, encircling the city in a ring of blazes.
Here’s the latest update on the biggest fires:
The Palisades fire, which started in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, had burned through more than 17,000 acres as of Thursday morning, less than 48 hours after it began. The fire continues to challenge firefighters with its “extreme fire behavior” — including wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour — and it remains zero percent contained, said Kristin M. Crowley, the chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Chief Crowley said the fire had damaged or destroyed thousands of structures, though the exact count was unknown. “It is safe to say that the Palisades fire is one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history of Los Angeles,” she said.
Officials said on Thursday morning that spread of the Eaton fire, in the Pasadena area, had significantly slowed, though the fire remained not at all contained. More than 10,000 acres have been burned, and more than 1,000 structures are damaged or destroyed, officials said.
Kathryn Barger, the chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, described the scale of damage from the Eaton fire as “larger than anything that I have seen in my career.” The cause of the fire remained unknown, but she said it had already damaged the Eaton Canyon Nature Center, Charles S. Farnsworth Park and Altadena Golf Course.
Officials lifted all evacuation orders on Thursday for the Sunset fire, which erupted in the Hollywood Hills on Wednesday evening and forced evacuations in parts of Hollywood, West Hollywood, Studio City and Beverly Hills. Some of the evacuations were in neighborhoods nestled in the hills, which were prone to fire, but many were in the flatlands, including in some of the most touristy spots in Los Angeles.
Extreme winds on Tuesday and early Wednesday prevented firefighters from using aircraft to battle the earliest blazes. As winds diminish, firefighters are able to fight newer outbreaks like the Sunset fire from overhead as well as on the ground, they said.
“Forward progress, I’m very glad to share with everybody, was stopped and the crews are working to put out spot fires,” Crowley said of the Sunset fire. “This fire was rapidly and aggressively attacked by using coordinated air and ground suppression efforts.”
A fire broke out on Wednesday afternoon in a rural, mountainous part of Los Angeles County, about 50 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. Labeled the Lidia fire, it grew to about 350 acres but was 40 percent contained as of Thursday morning, according to Anthony C. Marrone, the fire chief for Los Angeles County.
The Hurst fire erupted on Tuesday in Sylmar, in the northernmost part of the San Fernando Valley and about 25 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. The fire has since burned 850 acres and was 10 percent contained as of Thursday morning.
While the Valley itself is densely populated, Sylmar is a more rural area that was once known for its olive orchards but now for its horse properties.
