últimas notícias

Firefighters are battling a brush fire that quickly chewed through at least 30 acres in Pacific Palisades, burning dangerously close to multimillion-dollar homes in a hillside neighborhood.

Firefighters responded about 10:40 a.m. Monday to the blaze, which erupted near 500 N. Palisades Drive. The fire, initially reported as about one acre in size, grew to an estimated 30 acres in less than an hour, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey.

About 200 homes in the area bordered by Charmel Lane, Bienveneda Avenue, Merivale Lane and Lachman Lane are under mandatory evacuation orders.

“These evacuations are just out of an abundance of caution. There are no structures threatened in the area at this time,” L.A. Fire Department Capt. Brandon Silverman said. “We are going to have a significant amount of air resource coming into the area above those homes so we’d rather have residents pack their bags and leave the area.”

Shortly after it broke out, the terrain-driven blaze raced uphill toward homes on Charmel Lane and Vista Grande Drive, where some residents fled the neighborhood in cars. Others were on their decks with garden hoses, trying to protect their homes from a wall of advancing flames.

Firefighters pulled hoses from trucks into backyards and stood on roofs to defend homes. Television images showed residents running from the flames as fire engulfed a tree in a backyard, sending a plume of dark smoke billowing over homes. At one point, a resident quickly drove his car from his garage as flames hit his backyard.

Before noon, fire crews had largely beaten back a significant portion of the flames that were threatening homes. Several helicopters were fighting the fire with water drops as crews scaled a section of the hillside in an effort to extinguish the smoldering blaze.

“This is an extremely challenging fire for hand crews,” said LAFD Assistant Chief Patrick Butler. “They’re essentially clawing their way up this hillside with rocks doming down on them.”

Women from the all-female inmate crew retreated just before 1 p.m. as the fire jumped toward them over the ridge.

One firefighter was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center with heat exhaustion.

Fire officials say no homes have sustained significant damage in part because of firefighters’ efforts and the lack of wind in the area. However, the region is still experiencing hot, dry weather, which can dry out the brush that fuels wildfires.

Tom Danco, 65, said he had told his wife, Lynne, to evacuate when she called him Monday morning. She had been walking their dog and said that she could see flames several hundred yards from their home in the Palisades Highlands. She took her dog and some important documents from their safe and left.

Danco, who was nearby, headed to their home to try to retrieve more items but was stopped at a roadblock on Palisades Drive. He said he wasn’t concerned at the moment about their home, citing favorable weather conditions.

“As long as there’s not a lot of wind, the Fire Department is really good,” he said.

The fire sent up a large plume of smoke that blanketed the region and was visible across the Southland.

People visiting the Getty Villa in Malibu stood outside, phone cameras at the ready and watched as thick smoke billowed above the museum.

“People are buzzing about it, but nobody seems unduly alarmed,” said John Britt, a resident of Calabasas.

Ash rained down nearby on Pacific Coast Highway as the canyon smoldered, choking the region with thick smoke.

Saleem Major, 34, was taking a walk on the beach with his service dog, Eve, near Coastline Drive when he heard several firetrucks zooming by on Pacific Coast Highway, sirens blaring.

He checked Twitter to see where the fire was. Then, he looked up.

“Next thing you know, I look to my left and it was right behind the hill where I’m at,” said Major, who lives in Venice. “I didn’t even notice it.”

The fire seemed to creep up on him. It wasn’t too windy, he said, and he didn’t see or smell smoke until the moment the firetrucks drove by. Soon, ash started falling onto Pacific Coast Highway.

He counted at least a dozen firetrucks on PCH. One of them was carrying a bulldozer.

Roughly a mile away from where the fire broke out, customers and employees of the K Bakery Eatery and Bakeshop smelled smoke.

“We saw the smoke and all the firefighters going up the street,” employee Rosario Ruiz said.

The business has remained open, as has nearby Calvary Christian School. But that didn’t stop parents from collecting their children.

Greg Philyan went to the school to retrieve his 3-year-old daughter, Alexandra, when he saw the fire spreading. The pair hiked up Palisades Drive — Alexandra on her father’s shoulders — as a helicopter doused flames across the road.

“A lot of parents are coming, but it’s tough to get in and out,” he said. “My first concern is it’s going to come down the hill.”

Tracey Price, 45, picked up her daughter Audrey, 6, and several of her daughter’s classmates from the school after neighborhood friends sent her photos of smoke near the campus on 701 Palisades Drive.

“I got here as soon as I could,” she said as she packed the children into the car.