Beleaguered firefighters continued to battle the stubborn Palisades Fire Sunday, aided by a pause in the gusty Santa Ana winds that have driven the destructive blaze since it broke out early last week.
The fire was still just 11% contained Sunday afternoon after burning 23,713 acres, and residents and officials were on edge with another strong wind event expected to blow in Monday and last until Wednesday.
“Heads up! Strong, locally damaging, NE/E winds will affect West LA Co. & much of Ventura Co thru Wednesday. Critical fire weather is expected, so PLEASE have multiple ways of getting notifications in case of new fires & prepare ahead of time,” the National Weather Service’s Los Angeles office posted Sunday afternoon on X.
Compounding the wind events, humidity continues to be low, and the region is suffering from an unusually long absence of rainfall. Forecasters said the Palisades area has not experienced any significant rain since last April, and no rain is forecast for the next two weeks.
New evacuations were ordered Saturday after the fire made a dramatic shift overnight, moving northeast to threaten the Brentwood area and the western San Fernando Valley. The massive mandatory evacuation zone was stretched from the Pacific Ocean to the west, the San Diego (405) Freeway to the east, San Vicente Boulevard to the south and the Encino Reservoir to the north.
Evacuation warnings were issued for the following two areas: Sunset Boulevard to the south, Mullholland Drive to the north, Bellagio Road/Roscomare Road to the east and the 405 Freeway to the west; and Mulholland/Sepulveda Boulevard to the south, the 405 Freeway to the east, Ventura Boulevard to the north and Louise Avenue to the west.
Firefighters battled steep terrain in an attempt to protect homes from encroaching flames in Mandeville Canyon northwest of the Getty Center and west of the 405 Freeway and in Brentwood, with some homes overcome by fire.
Authorities closed several off-ramps to the 405 Freeway to limit traffic in the West Los Angeles area this weekend, including Getty Center Drive, Skirball Center Drive and Sunset Boulevard. Other road closures were in effect in the Palisades and Malibu areas, including a stretch of Sunset Boulevard, Pacific Coast Highway and Topanga Canyon Boulevard.
As of Sunday afternoon, at least 5,000 structures had been damaged or destroyed, a number that could grow as more evaluations are completed.
Some 4,707 personnel were assigned to battle the Palisades Fire.
A curfew continues to be in effect nightly from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. in the mandatory evacuation areas in the Palisades and Eaton fire zones. Only firefighters, utility workers and law enforcement personnel are allowed in those areas. LA County Sheriff Robert Luna reported Sunday that approximately 29 people have been arrested so far, 25 in the Eaton Fire area and four in the Palisades Fire area, including one man in Malibu who was arrested for allegedly dressing as a firefighter in an attempt to burglarize a home.
Evacuation centers were set up at the following locations:
— Westwood Recreation Center, 1350 S. Sepulveda Blvd.;
— Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks Recreation Center, 14201 Huston St., Sherman Oaks;
— Lanark Recreation Center, 21816 Lanark St., Canoga Park;
— Calvary Community Church, 5495 Via Rocas, Westlake Village;
— Ritchie Valens Recreation Center, 10736 Laurel Canyon Blvd.;
— Pasadena Convention Center, 300 E. Green St.;
— Stoner Recreation Center, 1835 Stoner Ave.;
— Pan Pacific Recreation Center, 7600 Beverly Blvd.
Small animals were being taken at the following locations:
— El Camino High School, 5440 Valley Circle Blvd, Woodland Hills;
— Agoura Animal Care Center, 29525 Agoura Road, Agoura Hills;
— Baldwin Park Animal Care Center, 4275 Elton St., Baldwin Park;
— Carson Animal Care Center, 216 W. Victoria St., Gardena;
— Castaic Animal Care Center, 31044 Charlie Canyon;
— Downey Animal Care Center, 11258 Garfield Ave.;
— Lancaster Animal Care Center, 5210 W Ave I;
— Palmdale Animal Care Center, 38550 Sierra Hwy, Palmdale.
Large animals were being taken at the following locations:
— Pomona Fairplex, 101 W. McKinley Ave., Pomona;
— Industry Hills Expo, 16200 Temple Ave., City of Industry;
— LA Equestrian, 480 Riverside Drive, Burbank;
— Castaic Animal Care Center, 31044 Charlie Canyon;
— Pico Rivera Sports Arena, 11003 Sports Arena Drive.
The American Red Cross Sheltering Site was also assisting with a mobile animal shelter for small animals only.
Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said Sunday that residents will not be allowed back to the evacuation areas until the red flag period has passed. Officials said 16% of damage inspections have been completed, and they were working on a process to allow affected residents to go online to view information about their homes.
Authorities were warning residents near the fire areas that air quality continues to be highly unhealthy. People were urged to suspend the use of leaf blowers, to stay inside with doors and windows closed as much as possible, and to wear masks if they do go outside.
Five deaths have been reported from the Palisades Fire, and officials said that number could grow as more inspections are conducted.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office identified one victim as an 80-year-old man, who died at a local hospital. His identity was withheld pending notification of kin.
On Thursday, representatives of the Los Angeles County Office of Medical Examiner removed remains from the ruins of a home in the vicinity of Duke’s restaurant in Malibu. Officials from the sheriff’s department told reporters at the scene that deputies received a missing person report, prompting them to conduct a welfare check at the burned-out home, where the remains were discovered.
Malibu Mayor Doug Stewart issued a statement saying the “tragic news weighs heavily on our hearts.”
“This is a painful reminder of the profound impact this fire is having on our community,” Stewart said. “Malibu is more than a city — we are neighbors, friends and family. Even when we don’t know someone’s name, their loss is felt by all of us. In times like this, we must come together, support one another and show the resilience that defines our community.”
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said another death occurred at a home in the 15300 block of Friends Street in Pacific Palisades. He said police and the medical examiner responded to the scene, and determined the death was “fire-related.” No other details were released.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Sunday that he’s deploying an additional 1,000 California National Guard members to Los Angeles County to support safety and security efforts in the wildfire areas, bringing the total deployment to approximately 2,500.
Newsom also announced Sunday that he had signed an executive order to suspend permitting and review requirements under the California Environmental Quality Act and the California Coastal Act to allow fire victims to restore their homes and businesses faster.
Among other things, the order directs state agencies to identify additional permitting requirements, including provisions of the Building Code, that can safely be suspended or streamlined to accelerate rebuilding and make it more affordable. It also extends protections against price gouging on building materials, storage services, construction and other essential goods and services to Jan. 7, 2026, in Los Angeles County.
By the time all the damage in assessed, the Palisades and Eaton fires are expected to constitute one of the costliest disasters in U.S. history. Newsom told NBC News on Sunday that he believes the fires will be the worst natural disaster in the history of the country “in terms of just the costs associated with it, in terms of the scale and scope.”
Emergencies have been declared in the county and the state, and President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration for the state.
The Palisades Fire erupted around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in the area of Piedra Morada and Monte Hermoso drives as the area was under a red flag warning for critical fire danger due to a historic wind event that saw gusts of 80 mph. It continued to grow exponentially Tuesday and Wednesday thanks to heavy fuel loads and powerful Santa Ana winds.
The cause of the fire was unknown. During a briefing Saturday morning, Luna said authorities have not determined whether any of the fires ravaging the county were intentionally set, but LASD detectives were working with the L.A. county and city fire departments, the Los Angeles Police Department, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to determine their cause, with the ATF leading the task force.
“We don’t want any gaps in information any and every clue is important,” Luna said. “If anybody out there has any information on anything suspicious, maybe there’s a conversation, maybe there’s a social media post, something that you think just doesn’t sound right, get it to us.”
With high winds and power lines presenting a potential further fire danger, power was shut off for thousands of customers as a precaution. Southern California Edison reported Sunday morning that 62,850 of its customers were without power, and 46,000 of those were from the Public Safety Power Shutoff program. Officials said restoration may take longer than usual due to unsafe conditions.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said approximately 16,000 of its 1.5 million customers remained without power, most in Pacific Palisades and Brentwood. Other communities still experiencing outages included Eagle Rock, Hollywood Hills, Encino and Sunland.
“Our crews cannot restore power until the areas have been declared safe to resume power restoration work,” the DWP said.
The agency also said water crews were in the Pacific Palisades area shutting off water supply to leaking fire hydrants and customer connections that have been destroyed or unoccupied.
“This occurs when homes are destroyed (and) their water pipes spew water until we close every service at the meter. We are seeing pressure at the tanks but not enough to fill them yet,” the DWP said.
“The tanks are not filled yet. We have shut down 2,800 house services to build back the pressure and we have approximately 4,000 more services to shut down,” officials added. “We had 120 water service workers going through the damaged neighborhoods to shut them down, both residential and commercial. As the services are shut off, pressure slowly builds back to the pump stations to refill the tanks.”