The Pacific Palisades was once a place of prosperity. Located near the coast of California, it was home to over 23,000 people. Some of them were celebrities, such as Tom Hanks, Micheal Keaton, and Adam Sandler. Before 2025, it was a very wealthy and safe area. The beauty and the peacefulness would all come crashing down, as the residents of the Palisades were in for quite a surprise in January of 2025.
The day was January 7, 2025. A “Red Flag Warning” was issued for LA County, as the air was dry and wind speeds reached a maximum of 29 miles per hour. It would not take long for disaster to strike.
The first 911 call was reported at about 10:30 that morning. A fire had broken out in the mountains north of the Palisades, covering about 10 acres. The fire spread extremely quickly, due to a drought in Southern California and Santa Ana winds causing approximately 80 miles per hour winds. The fire grew from 10 acres to 200 acres in the span of 20 minutes. It grew to almost 3,000 acres by that evening. Thousands of people had been evacuated by that point.
The conditions remained the same for the next few days. By January 9, 2025, only two days after it started, the fire exploded to almost 20,000 acres. It was still roaring with 0% containment. New areas were now under threat with mandatory evacuations. These areas were Encino, Brentwood, and Mandivelle Canyon. Mandivelle Canyon had been fully evacuated.
At this point, many different states came to California to help with the devastating fire: Oregon lent 75 fire engines, Washington lent 45, Idaho lent 25, New Mexico lent 5, and Utah lent 10. The surrounding countries also sent aid. Mexico sent firefighters and engines, and Canada sent two tankers to spill water on the fire.
That Saturday, along with the help of foreign aid, the Los Angeles Fire Department fought their hardest against the unrelenting fire. Around Encino, Brentwood, and Mandivelle Canyon, planes created a massive line of fire retardant around the towns. Behind the line, firefighters conducted controlled burns to kill the brush so the fire wouldn’t be able to jump the line. While this barrier was constructed, tankers and planes went to the ocean and back to drop hundreds of gallons of water on the fire. Along with the Los Angeles Police Department, the National Guard created a blockade around Encino to prevent looters from entering the area.
Over the course of the next few days, the Santa Ana winds began to die down. The wind that had been pushing the fire further inland, began to move back the way it came. This caused the fire to slowly run out of fuel, as the previously charred land didn’t have much to offer. The line of fire retardant and trenches proved to be very effective, as the Palisades Fire was kept at bay, and didn’t grow too much. The fire was announced to be 100% contained on January 23, 2025, having burned a total of sixteen days.
The fire was out, but its effects on the Palisades could still be seen. The fire had scorched over 23,700 acres of land, taking over 10,000 structures and twelve people with it. According to ABC News, an estimate by a company called AccuWeather set the cost of damage at at least 135 million dollars.
The Palisades Fire was not the only major wildfire in California in January of 2025. A fire in Altadena, California (known as the Eaton Fire) burned over 14,000 acres, taking out over 9,000 structures. It took a total of seventeen lives. Also, a fire in Ventura County, known as the Kenneth Fire, occurred around the same time. While burning no structures, it burned just over 1,000 acres of land.
The Eaton Fire first ignited on January 8, 2025, just one day after the Palisades Fire began. Due to Southern California’s harsh conditions at the time, the fire burned 10,600 acres in just four hours according to NBC Los Angeles. By the next day, there was a warning in Pasadena for all residents to not drink their water, as nearby water supplies were contaminated by ash. It took two weeks for the Eaton Fire to be contained. By that time, it burned a total of 14,021 acres.
The Kenneth Fire was first reported to have started on January 9, 2025 in West Hills, California. Over the course of ninety minutes, the fire grew to over 750 acres. Being highly spread thin with two other monster fires burning thousands of acres, the LA Fire Department had few engines and aircraft to spare for this new fire. Luckily what they had available was just enough. The LAFD did its job well, and the fire was contained at 1,052 acres, and no homes were lost.
Along with many others, these fires burned over 57,000 acres of land in Southern California in the span of less than one month. The Palisades and Eaton fires left thousands of people homeless and made the surrounding environment toxic to humans and animals. According to wfca.com, the two fires are listed in the top ten deadliest fires in California history.
