Californians are being ordered to flee their homes amid fires sweeping across Los Angeles County.
Mass care centers and shelters are being created across the county for people who have been given mandatory evacuation orders due to the three major fires burning across the county: The Palisades, Eaton, and Hurst Fires.
Palisades Fire
The Palisades Fire started on January 7 and is burning across 2,921 acres in the coastal Pacific Palisades with no containment.
Those living in the evacuation zone, stretching across Santa Monica and the City of LA, have been told to "evacuate now," due to the immediate threat to life posed by the fire.
At 12:30 a.m. today, the LA Fire Department said: "Extreme fire behavior, short & long-range spotting, continues to challenge firefighting efforts for the Palisades Fire. Wind gusts up to 60 MPH are expected to continue through Thursday."
According to the X (formerly Twitter) account California Wildfire Tracking, the Palisades Fire is burning eastwards toward heavily populated areas.
Eaton Fire
The Eaton Fire is burning inland across 1,000 acres with no containment in the Pasadena area, close to the Sierra Madre Wilderness Area.
The evacuation order for Eaton Fire states the fire poses an "immediate threat to life. This is a lawful order to leave now. The area is lawfully closed to public access."
The City of Pasadena told residents: "In times of bad weather, it's good to have both emergency and non-emergency phone numbers on hand to assist you and your neighbors."
Public schools in Pasadena are closed today due to fire and high winds.
Shelters for humans and animals have been set up across the area, including at the Pasadena Convention Center, the Westwood Recreation Center (LA City Shelter), and the LA Equestrian Center.
Hurst Fire
The Hurst Fire is burning inland with a mandatory evacuation order given to people in the Cascades and Sunshine Canyon area, as it is a "fast moving fire."
It is burning at 100 acres with no containment.
What People Are Saying
"California has deployed 1400+ firefighting personnel & hundreds of propositioned assets to combat these unprecedented fires in LA," wrote Governor Gavin Newsom on X.
"Emergency officials, firefighters, and first responders are all hands on deck through the night to do everything possible to protect lives."
California Wildfire Tracking wrote: "Hard closures of the five freeways and Balboa to the Sierra Highway have also been requested. Sounds like [Incident Command] expects the Hurst Fire to jump the 5 soon."
What's Next
While the Palisades, Eaton, and Hurst Fires are the three major blazes occurring in LA County at the moment, the California Wildfire Tracking account also announced the creation of the Main Fire in Ventura County, which is currently burning at an unknown size. Other blazes across the county include the Tamarack Fire and the Freeway Fire.