A brush fire raging in the Pacific Palisades and Santa Monica Mountains is forcing evacuations as powerful Santa Ana winds drive the flames. Firefighters are battling the rapidly growing blaze, hampered by the strong winds that are spreading embers far beyond the fire line.
An evacuation order was issued at 3:07 p.m. local time for those in the area of the Palisades to leave immediately. As of Tuesday afternoon, firefighters are working to contain a brush fire that is rapidly exploding in size, driven by 60 mph winds toward residential areas in the Pacific Palisades and the Santa Monica Mountains.
These gusty winds — which haven't even reached the maximum predicted 80-100 mph yet — make firefighting difficult, picking up embers and dropping them up to 3/4 of a mile beyond the fire line. Authorities have been warning residents for days of this significant wind event, which is similar to weather last month that burned homes and businesses in Malibu, and the month before that in the town of Camarillo. Southern California hasn't seen significant rainfall since last April, and a pileup of dry fuel in combination with the winds has the region on edge and bracing for the worst. As LAist's Jacob Margolis reports, The National Weather Service is reporting extreme risk for areas including San Fernando Valley, Pasadena, Burbank and the highway 118/210 corridors. Daniel Swain, professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences at UCLA, who explained the Santa Ana winds, a local phenomenon, are 'very strong, hot winds that ... can kick up really big fires, and that creates kind of an apocalyptic atmosphere here in Los Angeles.' Liz Baker is a producer on NPR's National Desk based in Los Angeles, and is often on the road producing coverage of domestic breaking news stories. Strong winds expected in San Diego County mid-week
BRUSH FIRE SANTA ANA WINDS PACIFIC PALISADES EVACUATIONS CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES
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