The blaze, dubbed the Palisades Fire, was 0% contained as of Sunday morning — but a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson said updated figures were expected later in the day.
The weather remained cool and moist overnight, which created favorable conditions for fire crews. However, conditions were expected to change as the vegetation in the area is very dry and has not burned in more than 50 years, according to the LAFD PIO David Ortiz.
“We are expecting the rain to stop around noon time and fire activity to begin again,” Ortiz said. “We’re trying to keep it up out of the old growth, which is 50-60 years that hasn’t burned. So there’s a lot of dense, thick material there — oily plants that have died out because of the drought. So that’s our objective today is to try to keep it out of that and protect the communities and neighborhoods to the west of this fire because that’s what’s closest to it.”
Crews responded to a remote area off Michael Lane and Palisades Court around 10 p.m. Friday as the fire grew to approximately 15 acres, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The fight continued overnight, but by 4 p.m. Saturday, firefighters were dealing with a significant flare-up that quickly got out of hand, creating a large plume of smoke visible across Los Angeles County.
An official cause has not been determined, but the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it was actively looking for an arson suspect.
No further information was released about the suspect or the circumstances of how the fire started.Around 7 p.m. Saturday, mandatory evacuation orders were issued for about 1,000 residents in Zone 4 and 6 in the Topanga area, according to the LAFD. That includes residents east of Topanga Canyon between the Community and View Ridge, and everyone north of Entrada, south of Oakwood and east of Henry Ridge.
It is unclear if all of the residents in the fire zone had evacuated as of Sunday morning. Ortiz said the fire was not immediately threatening homes in Zone 4 or 6, but the evacuation order was made in case additional resources need to be quickly deployed.
An evacuation center for large animals was established at Pierce College at 6201 Winnetka Avenue. Small animals can be taken to an L.A. County animal shelter at 29525 Agoura Road.
Over 300 firefighters have responded to the area, with water-dropping helicopters working to contain the flames as the steep terrain made it difficult to attack from the ground.
Meanwhile, air quality officials issued a smoke advisory Saturday due to large amounts of smoke billowing near homes in the Pacific Palisades area and advised those who smell smoke or see ash to limit exposure by remaining indoors with windows and doors closed or seeking alternate shelter and avoiding vigorous physical activity.
City News Service contributed to this report.
Comments