Pacific Palisades brush fire explodes to 750 acres, prompting mandatory evacuations
A cause has not been determined, but the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it was actively searching for the arson suspect.
Pacific Palace, California. (KABC) – A fast-growing brush fire near the Pacific Palisades spread across 750 acres on Saturday evening, causing a mandatory evacuation for residents of the Topanga area.
The crew responded to Michael Lane and a remote area away from Palisades Court around 10pm. According to the Los Angeles Fire Department, the fire increased to about 15 acres on Friday.
The fight continued overnight, but until 4 in the evening. On Saturday, firefighters were dealing with a significant flare-up, which quickly got out of hand, causing a large pile of smoke to appear from miles away.
Named Palisades Fire, the fire contained 0%.
An official cause has not been determined, but the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it was actively searching for a suspect in the arson.
According to LAFD, around 7 pm, compulsory evacuation orders were issued for about 500 houses in zones 4 and 6 in Topanga area. It includes residents east of the Topanga Valley between the community and View Ridge, and north of Antiradar, south of Oakwood, and all east of Henry Ridge.
An evacuation centre for large animals was established at Pierce College at 6201 Winnetka Avenue. Small animals can be taken to the LA County Animal Shelter at 29525 Agoura Road.
More than 100 firefighters were reacting with water-dropping helicopters to overcome the fire as it became difficult to attack from the ground in steep terrain.
David Ortiz with LAFD says that fires have been burning in an area with very little rainfall in the last 10 years, burning very dry vegetation. Firefighters are expecting overnight weather conditions and drizzling in the early hours of Sunday will help in their efforts against the flames.
An official cause has not been determined, but the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it was actively searching for a suspect in the arson.