The Palisades Fire is now visible in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley, an unfortunate development as officials worry about fires burning in the Encino and Brentwood areas and possibly crossing the 405 freeway into Bel Air.
The outbreak caused the Palisades fire, now at 21,596 acres, to move north and east on Friday, chewing through the Santa Monica Mountains.
Helicopter crews worked to fight the fire by dropping water on the flames throughout the night. They felt the cool breeze. A red flag fire weather warning for Los Angeles County ended early Friday.
Saturday morning's fire was near Brentwood's Mandeville Canyon Road, home to large, multimillion-dollar homes. The evacuation orders were in place at major venues in Brentwood and Encino, including MountainGate Country Club and the Getty Center.
The Getty Center in Brentwood – home to the largest art collection in Los Angeles – obeyed the Friday evening evacuation order and is now closed, with only emergency personnel on site, Ali Sivak, a spokesman for the J. Paul Getty Trust, said in a statement.
The Getty Center's last close call with wildfires was in 2019, when the Getty fire threatened the edge of the museum's center but did not affect any of its collections. The Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades was threatened earlier this week by the Palisades fire, but escaped unscathed.
Some parts of Encino, as well as part of Bel Air, were under an evacuation alert.
Josh Sautter, president of the Encino Neighborhood Council, said the new evacuation orders sent a wave of panic through the community. “People were completely surprised,” he said.
Areas under an evacuation alert include parts of Encino south of Ventura Boulevard, including the Gelson's supermarket. Encino Hospital Medical Center is across the street in an evacuation alert.
“The winds are pretty light right now,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Todd Hall. Winds of up to 30 mph are possible by dawn Saturday, he said.
Caltrans has closed off-ramps from the 405 Freeway near the fire, including Getty Center Drive and Skirball Center Drive.
Weather conditions have improved significantly since earlier this week, when strong winds — with gusts up to 100 mph — helped fuel the devastating Palisades and Eaton fires to burn in Altadena, Pacific Palisades and Pasadena.
At least 11 people have been reported dead and more than 12,000 buildings have been damaged or destroyed. The death toll is likely to rise, said Sheriff Robert Luna.
Earlier on Friday, the Palisades fire was engulfed in flames, according to a video of the fire, according to video from a helicopter on KCAL-TV.
But the improved weather is expected to worsen soon. Gusty Santa Ana winds are expected to return Saturday night, and a high wind watch was expected to begin at 6 p.m., and forecasters are expected to issue wind advisories for at least some of the Los Angeles and Ventura counties Sunday morning, as well as along the coast.
“These strong winds from Santa Ana on Saturday will lead to the elevation of severe weather,” the National Weather Service said.
A strong Santa Ana wind event is possible Tuesday through Wednesday, with wind speeds of 40 mph to 60 mph across Los Angeles and Ventura counties, with isolated gusts of 80 mph in the mountains.
But that's expected to be a typical Santa Ana wind event — not unlike the unusual wind storm conditions that made the Palisades and Eaton fires the deadliest in LA County history.
Winds earlier in the week were very unusual in LA County. Usually, when winds of up to 100 mph hit LA County, it's usually isolated to the mountains.
The storm from Tuesday to Wednesday was “very rare because the winds were all over the place and strong – not just over the hilly areas, but also in the valleys and areas that are not as affected during a strong Santa Ana wind event,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Kristan Lund.
For example, Altadena and the San Gabriel Valley's foothills tend to be “less impacted” during Santa Ana winds, Lund said.
Some long-range forecasts suggest there's a chance for some rain late next week, but it's likely to be on the “light side,” the weather service said.
Los Angeles is unusually dry. Since the water year began on October 1, only 0.16 inches of rain has fallen in the city of Los Angeles. That's only 3% of the rain the city of LA should have received this time of the season on average – 4.99 inches.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has declared a local public health emergency due to the fire.
“The fires, accompanied by strong winds, have severely damaged air quality by releasing hazardous smoke and particulates, posing an immediate and long-term threat to public health,” the ministry said in a statement on Friday evening.
This announcement prohibits the use of powerful leaf blowers or other devices that can raise ash and particles into the air until further notice.
If you see or smell smoke, you should close windows and doors to keep indoor air clean, public health officials said. If you have to go outside for a long time, wear an N95 or P100 mask. You should call your doctor or go to urgent care if you experience difficulty breathing, coughing, shortness of breath, chest pain, palpitations, nausea or unusual tiredness, and call 911 if the symptoms are life-threatening.
Dozens of unauthorized aircraft flew over the Palisades fire Friday afternoon, forcing firefighting planes to leave the area for safety and angering those working on the front lines, authorities said.
The footage came just a day after a drone collided with – and damaged – a Super Scooper fixed-wing aircraft, grounding the aircraft for several days for repairs and reducing the number of aircraft available to fight the fire.
Questions are being raised about how Los Angeles officials handled the fire disaster, and why water problems left firefighting supplies dry and hampered firefighting efforts.
The Times has learned that a large reservoir in Pacific Palisades that is part of the Los Angeles water supply system was out of service when the wildfire broke out. Officials say the Santa Ynez Reservoir has been closed since February for cover repairs, leaving the 117 million gallon reservoir empty in the heart of the Palisades for about a year.
This comes amid growing questions about why firefighters ran out of water while fighting the blaze that started this week. The Times reported that many fire hydrants on high streets in the Palisades ran dry, leaving crews struggling with water as they battled the flames.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday ordered an independent investigation by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power into the loss of water pressure and the empty Santa Ynez Reservoir, calling it “deeply troubling.”
Local fire officials acknowledged Wednesday that they have been overwhelmed by the intensity and size of the large fires burning in Los Angeles County this week and that crews and resources have been overtaxed.
Elsewhere, firefighters gained the upper hand on smaller wildfires – showing that, with cooler air, the ability to drop water on flames using aircraft can play a major role in stopping the spread of fires.
Officials on Friday praised the quick action of firefighters on the Kenneth fire, which started west of Woodland Hills about 2:30 p.m. Thursday, where Victory Boulevard ends in the hills of the Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve.
Firefighting helicopters quickly worked to douse the flames with water. The fire has burned 1,052 acres of brush as of Friday and was 50% contained, officials said.
A man who was “trying to put out a fire” Thursday in the West Hills neighborhood of Kenneth is being investigated in connection with the blaze, according to law enforcement officials and a document reviewed by The Times.
Times staff writers Rebecca Ellis, Hannah Fry, Matt Hamilton, Ian James, Sandra McDonald, Luke Money, James Queally, Nathan Solis, Grace Toohey, and Richard Winton contributed to this report.
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