Eight Lives Lost, Free Meals for Victims, Updates on Critical Fire Weather, Pet Recovery
The Palisades Fire has now burned 23,713 acres and is 14% contained. 5,123 firefighting personnel are assigned to the fire. The death toll remains at eight lives and three people have been injured.
The Critical Fire Weather and Red Flag Warning will continue and is still in effect until 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, so the danger is not yet over. In the CAL FIRE briefing this morning, the group’s fire behavior analyst Rob Clark noted that the winds have been drying out the vegetation in the Palisades Fire area for more than a week, which has prepared the shrubs and grasses “for burning.” The danger comes from more than one source: the fuels, shrubs and grasses, and weather, the life-threatening Santa Ana winds.
Cal Fire Operations Chief Kristian Litz detailed the work that firefighters were doing today in preparation for the next two days:
In Topanga Canyon, crews worked on securing the fire’s edge, putting in a hand line, and getting deeper into mop-up. In the Topanga Oaks and Sylvia Park area, crews are going around the fire’s edge and working to construct a direct control line. Retardant has been dropped along the fire’s edge east of Sylvia Park.
On the northeast portion of the fire near Mandeville Canyon, resources are securing the fire’s edge and protecting structures. There is very little activity and firefighters are monitoring the edges of the fire area and scouring the area for heat sources that could potentially ignite and spread.
In the bottom half of the fire, near Santa Monica and Pacific Coast Highway, resources are concentrated on all structures that are still standing and extinguishing all heat sources nearby.
The Los Angeles Police Department announced during the Palisades Incident Community Meeting at 6:00 p.m. on January 13 that pet owners who are looking for a missing pet in the evacuation zone can call The LA Department of Regulation at 888-452-7381 and get help finding them.
Anyone who needs to report a missing person can call 213-996-1800.
Residents in Santa Monica north of San Vicente Boulevard are now permitted to return home under an evacuation warning, city officials announced. However, authorities caution that residents should remain prepared to leave again if conditions worsen.
Earlier today, evacuation warnings for other areas of Santa Monica were lifted. A current evacuation map is available online for residents to check the latest updates.
Entry points into Los Angeles from Santa Monica and Pacific Coast Highway remain closed. The Los Angeles evacuation zones are still under mandatory evacuation orders, and the public is prohibited from entering these areas. A full fire map detailing these zones can be accessed online.
As of 8:00 AM, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) has restored power to all customers affected by last week’s windstorm, except those in the fire threat areas where fire authorities have requested that LADWP de-energize their power lines. This affects approximately 17,600 customers in high-risk areas, including Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, Sylmar, and Encino. LADWP crews will begin to restore power to these customers once clearance is received from Palisades Fire Unified Command to re-energize the circuits and assess the lines for hazard
A curfew remains in effect from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. in all evacuation zones, including the area from San Vicente Boulevard north to the Santa Monica city limit.
CAL FIRE has launched an online tool so that residents of the Pacific Palisades can check if their home was damaged or destroyed without traveling to the area since that is not yet possible. The tool can be accessed on the CAL FIRE Palisades Incident page here.
World Central Kitchen (WCK) is serving free meals to those affected by the Eaton Fire and Palisades fires, including first responders, at the following locations today:
Currently Open Locations:
Xuntos, Santa Monica
516 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA
Hours: 1 pm to 6 pm
Together We Thrive’s HQ Warehouse
5304 Derry Ave Z, Unit Zero, Agoura Hills, CA
Hours: 11:30 am to 6 pm
Canoga Park H.S.
6850 CA-27, Canoga Park, CA
Hours: 12 pm to 8 pm
Saint Francis H.S.
200 Foothill Blvd, La Cañada Flintridge, CA
Hours: 12 pm to 8 pm
Taft H.S.
5461 Winnetka Ave, Woodland Hills, CA
Hours: 12 pm to 8 pm
Palisades Fire Station 69
15045 Sunset Blvd, Pacific Palisades, CA
Hours: 11 am to 8 pm
Pasjoli, Santa Monica
2732 Main St, Santa Monica, CA
Hours: 5 pm to 8 pm
