Fast-moving wildfire billowed by ‘life threatening’ windstorm sweeps southern California – live updates
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As the Palisades fire reached the Malibu coast Tuesday afternoon, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) announced road closures and evacuation shelters. An evacuation center has been established at the Westwood Recreation center on South Sepulveda Blvd. Meanwhile, the Southbound Pacific Coast Highway has been closed at Las Flores Canyon Road, Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Coastline Drive.
![[A brush fire burns near homes in Pacific Palisades, California on 7 January 2025.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/382c9a2eb0fc72ef9f687ff753c47174b833fc58/0_273_8192_4918/master/8192.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The Palisades fire has consumed more than 1,200 acres since it broke out at about 10.30am on Tuesday morning, and destroyed several homes in an affluent community along the Pacific Ocean. Nearly 30,000 residents are under evacuation orders and more than 13,000 structures are under threat, said Kristin Crowley, fire chief of the LA fire department.
Actor Eugene Levy, the honorary mayor of Pacific Palisades, who was forced to evacuate, told the Los Angeles Times while stuck in traffic: “The smoke looked pretty black and intense.” Other evacuees described harrowing escapes, one woman recounting to ABC7 how she abandoned her vehicle and fled with her cat in her arms: “I’m getting hit with palm leaves on fire … It’s terrifying. It feels like a horror movie. I’m screaming and crying walking down the street.”.
The Los Angeles school district was also forced to relocate students from three campuses, and Joe Biden had to cancel plans for an event announcing two national monuments. By mid-afternoon, shoppers at a luxury outdoor mall in Century City, about 12 miles east of the Pacific Palisades, were still strolling around as usual. But outside the mall, billows of smoke were visible to the west, and the views in the distance were starting to look hazy.
