Photo: DAVID SWANSON / AFP / Getty Images
For the latest on all the fires affecting Southern California visit Fire.ca.gov. For LA County visit LACounty.gov/emergency or LAFD.org/alerts. For safety tips and other information on how to prepare for emergencies and evacuations visit fire.lacounty.gov.
PACIFIC PALISADES (CNS) - The death toll from the Palisades Fire rose to eight Sunday as beleaguered firefighters continued to battle the stubborn flames, aided by a pause in the gusty Santa Ana winds that have driven the destructive blaze since it broke out early last week.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's office identified one of the fatal victims as a 84-year-old Charles Mortimer, who died at a local hospital of acute myocardial infraction and effects of smoke inhalation and thermal injuries.
On Sunday, 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. By 7 p.m., the fire was 13% contained, increasing from 11% in the afternoon, after burning 23,713 acres. 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.
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.
On Sunday, the South Coast AQMD extended a Windblown Dust Advisory until noon Tuesday due to high winds in most of L.A. and nearby counties in the South Coast Air Basin. Gusts of 30 to 70 mph are expected through Tuesday afternoon. Blowing dust may result in Air Quality Index levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse.
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.
At a Sunday afternoon news conference from Malibu's Zuma Beach, officials said they were as prepared as they can be for this week's expected wind event.
Nancy Ward, director of the California Office of Emergency Services, said state officials have pre-positioned additional engines, fire crews, bulldozers and water-dropping aircraft throughout the region.
Authorities closed several off-ramps to the 405 to limit traffic in the West L.A. 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, Pacific Coast Highway and Topanga Canyon Boulevard.
The Getty Center and Getty Villa remain "safe and stable," according to Katherine E. Fleming, president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust.
"The evacuation level at the center has been reduced to Level 2, `Get ready' as opposed to `Go,' and we have been told the winds have shifted away from the site, but the situation remains highly fluid," she said in a statement issued shortly after 6 p.m. Sunday.
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; along with separate zone that included Mulholland/Sepulveda Boulevard to the south, the 405 to the east, Ventura Boulevard to the north and Louise Avenue to the west.
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 Road;
-- Downey Animal Care Center, 11258 Garfield Ave.;
-- Lancaster Animal Care Center, 5210 W. Ave I;
-- Palmdale Animal Care Center, 38550 Sierra Highway, 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 Road;
-- 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.
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.
Los Angeles 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. Two of those arrests involved men in black jumpsuits outside Vice President Kamala Harris' Brentwood home. Two more arrests, involving suspected drone-fliers above the Eaton Fire, were announced after Luna's media briefing.
The Santa Monica Police Department announced that on Saturday night, they arrested three people near an evacuation zone suspected of possessing a controlled substance, drug paraphernalia, driving without a valid license, providing false identification to a peace officer and possession of burglary tools.
The department announced that as of Sunday, 39 people had been arrested in evacuation zones. That included 10 arrests for burglary, six for possessing burglary tools and others for drug possession, driving violations, warrants, and parole/probation violations. None of those arrested were from the local area.
Los Angeles Unified School District officials said they will reopen the vast majority of its schools and all offices Monday.
"Conditions have improved for a majority of areas across the Los Angeles region and the District is confident it is safe for students and employees to return to campuses," the statement said.
Masks will be provided to students and employees, and all open schools will be limited from conducting outdoor and athletics activities.
Some schools in the most severely impacted areas will remain closed due to mandatory evacuation orders. Those include Canyon Charter Elementary, Kenter Canyon Charter Elementary, Palisades Charter Elementary, Marquez Charter Elementary, Topanga Charter Elementary, Lanai Road Elementary and Paul Revere Middle School, Roscomare Road Elementary and Community Magnet Charter.
Speaking to the media Sunday evening, LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said power had been restored to all schools set to be immediately reopened. He said air quality inspections and HVAC filter replacements for more than 1,000 schools in the district were expected to be completed by Sunday night.
To provide support to fire-affected students and employees, a meal distribution event would be hosted from 9 a.m. to noon Monday at Daniel Webster Middle School in the Palms area.
The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District stated that all schools in Santa Monica, except Roosevelt Elementary School would be open Monday, while they were closely monitoring weather conditions.
However, schools in Malibu were scheduled to remain closed till Wednesday.
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.
Cal Fire stated that detailed damage inspection maps for properties within the Palisades Fire footprint showing damaged or destroyed homes -- as well as homes that are not damaged or destroyed-- can be found at www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2025/1/7/palisades-fire.
Los Angeles County officials said its damage assessments can be viewed at www.recovery.lacounty.gov/palisades-fire. The will be updated daily in real-time.
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."
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 that as of 5 p.m. Sunday, approximately 18,500 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 announced.
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 stated.
"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."
The agency stated that 200 employees were working around the clock on the effort, fixing customer and distribution system leaks and shutting of all fire hydrants that were left open.
"These measures will boost water pressure throughout the system, restoring flow to our three one-million-gallon storage tanks at higher elevation and all neighborhood pipes in the Palisades area.
"This process requires multiple steps at various elevations to charge the pipes with water, identify leaks and then repair or cap services. Once enough repairs are made, pressure will be strong enough to refill the tanks, which takes between eight-to-12 hours. There is plenty of water available from LADWP and regional sources coming through our large pipes serving the area to refill the tanks."
The LADWP announced that as of 5 p.m. Sunday, it had shut off more than 4,200 residential and commercial connections to homes and businesses.
Public transport services were also disrupted, with Metro bus lines 134 and 602, which run along Pacific Coast Highway, have been canceled until further notice, the agency reported.