Palisades Inferno Forces More Evacuations, Burns Near 405 Freeway

The Palisades Fire, Eaton Fire, Kenneth Fire, Hurst Fire, and Lidia Fire have scorched over 27,000 acres, destroyed 12,000 structures, claimed at least 11 lives, and evacuated more than 150,000 people. Containment for the two largest fires, the Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire, remains in the mid-to-high single digits. Evacuation orders were issued overnight for Mandeville Canyon as the Palisades Fire advanced toward the Interstate 405 freeway. 

California Governor Gavin Newsom is calling for censorship of “misinformation” on the Los Angeles Fires

He wants censorship because he is directly responsible. Here’s drone footage of the Pacific Palisades fire destruction. This is a result of Gavin Newsom. He should resign. pic.twitter.com/SrPtIfRyc0

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) January 10, 2025

Firefighters continued battling the Palisades, Eaton, and other fires. A red flag warning via the National Weather Service was still in effect in the early morning hours. 

LA Times provides the latest on all five fires raging across the LA County area:

Palisades Fire:

Burned 21,317 acres and numerous homes, businesses and landmarks in Pacific Palisades and westward along Pacific Coast Highway, toward Malibu. As of 5 a.m. Friday morning, the fire was 8% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. On Friday night, officials upgraded an evacuation warning to a mandatory order from Sunset Boulevard north to Encino Reservoir, from the 405 Freeway west to Mandeville Canyon. New evacuation warnings were issued for areas to the east of the 405 Freeway, north of West Sunset Boulevard and south of Mulholland Drive, along with areas south of Ventura Boulevard and east of Louise Avenue in Encino.

Eaton Fire:

Burned 14,117 acres and many structures in Altadena and Pasadena. Additional evacuation orders were mandated Thursday afternoon when fire climbed toward Mt. Wilson. Other mandatory evacuations were lifted as city officials notified residents in Glenoaks Canyon and Chevy Chase Canyon that it was safe to return to their homes. Gov. Gavin Newsom posted on X on Friday morning that the fire was 3% contained as of 7:30 a.m.

Kenneth fire:

Burned 1,052 acres near the border of Los Angeles and Ventura counties. As of 6 a.m. Friday morning, the fire was 50% contained, according to Cal Fire. All evacuation warnings have been lifted for the fire.

Hurst Fire:

Burned 771 acres in the area around Sylmar. Evacuation orders have been lifted. As of 8 p.m. Thursday night, the fire was 70% contained, according to Cal Fire.

Lidia Fire:

Burned 394 acres in Acton and is 98% contained, according to Cal Fire.

Fire Map (LA Times)

The latest concern has been a large flare-up in the Palisades area that prompted new evacuation orders from Sunset Boulevard north to Encino Reservoir, and from the 405 Freeway west to Mandeville Canyon. This area includes Brentwood and the foothills of the San Fernando Valley. 

LA Times warned: “The Palisades fire can now be seen across Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, an unsettling development as officials worried about the fire expanding into neighborhoods in Encino and Brentwood and possibly jumping the 405 freeway into Bel Air.” 

Josh Sautter, president of the Encino Neighborhood Council, told the media outlet that the latest round of evacuation orders sent panic through the community. 

“I don’t think that people here really saw that it was coming,” Sautter said, adding, “We didn’t think that it was something that would really affect us — until it did.”

Here are the latest LA Times headlines regarding the inferno: 

• Glow of Palisades fire seen across LA’s San Fernando Valley; swaths of Encino, Brentwood told to evacuate

• Latest Palisades fire evacuation order sends shock wave through Encino

• LA County declares health emergency due to smoke and ash

• State to probe why Pacific Palisades reservoir was offline, empty when firestorm exploded

• Newsom orders investigation into dry fire hydrants that hampered firefighting in LA.

• Insurance commissioner issues moratorium on home policy cancellations in fire zones

• ‘We don’t know half of it.’ LA firestorm death toll expected to rise as searchers go door to door

Latest Zero Hedge headlines:

• 10 Dead, 10,000 Structures Burned In Los Angeles Area Inferno As Fire Damage Could Exceed $150 Billion

• “Do Not Panic Buy”: Officials Urge Calm As LA Fire Crisis Disrupts Main Fuel Pipeline To Las Vegas

• “We’re Not Screwing Around”: LA Sheriff Declares Curfew Amid Arson & Looting Chaos

• California-Based Insurer Crashes Amid Billions In LA Area Fire-Damage Losses

• Arson Threats A “Major Issue” In Wildfire-Ravaged Los Angeles County

• California Imposes 1-Year Insurance Cancellation Freeze In Areas Ravaged By Wildfires

Meanwhile, Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass find themselves in the hot seat as their own liberal voter base turns against them, blaming the radical politicians for the spread of fire due to their massive mismanagement of budgets. 

A Fox News report found that Newsom slashed funding for wildfire and forest resilience by more than $100 million last year. He signed the budget covering the 2024-25 fiscal year in June. 

Even the left-leaning USA Today reported that new budget documents showed the mayor reduced the Los Angeles Fire Department’s budget from $837 million in fiscal year 2024 to $819 million in fiscal year 2025. 

In December, LAFD sent a report to the mayor and city council warning that ” these budgetary reductions have adversely affected the Department’s ability to maintain core operations.” 

The destruction caused by the wildfires is about twice the size of Manhattan, and growing, and in our view, will be a political disaster for both Newsom and Bass. 

Elon Musk wrote on X the huge loss of mansions across LA has primarily been a failure of Newsom and Bass…

Exactly. Climate change risk is real, just much slower than alarmists claim.

The immense loss of homes in LA is primarily due to:

1. Nonsensical overregulation that prevented creating fire breaks and doing brush clearing.

2. Bad governance at the state and local level that… https://t.co/KByGVCjQ8N

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 9, 2025

On Friday evening, Newsom was trying to salvage his dumpster fire political career by inviting President-elect Donald Trump to California. 

.@realDonaldTrump, as you prepare to assume the presidency once more, I invite you to come to California.

The hundreds of thousands of Americans – displaced from their homes and fearful for the future – deserve to see us all working together in their best interests, not… pic.twitter.com/R3C7cGqdBh

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) January 10, 2025

Newsom also noted on X, “I am calling for an independent investigation into the loss of water pressure to local fire hydrants and the reported unavailability of water supplies from the Santa Ynez Reservoir.” 

NEW: I am calling for an independent investigation into the loss of water pressure to local fire hydrants and the reported unavailability of water supplies from the Santa Ynez Reservoir.

We need answers to ensure this does not happen again and we have every resource available to… pic.twitter.com/R0vq0wwZph

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) January 10, 2025

Newsom is getting angry. 

This is not true. https://t.co/70J4YCF4Nw

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) January 11, 2025

Community Noted.

A ridiculous lie. We have doubled the size of our firefighting army, built the world’s largest aerial firefighting fleet, and increased the forest management ten-fold since taking office.

Time to serve these folks the facts. https://t.co/qITPcQDTKk

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) January 11, 2025

It’s not surprising at all that liberal Californians, including Hollywood elites, voted in Mayor Bass, a Marxist!

Karen Bass is a Marxist who praised Fidel Castro and Communist Party USA leaders.

Now her fire response makes sense. pic.twitter.com/JGyD7KK3xO

— Natalie Winters (@nataliegwinters) January 10, 2025

LA Mayor Karen Bass is a trained Marxist terrorist who traveled to Cuba dozens of times, praised communist dictators and allied with the literal terror group that bombed the US Capital.

One has to assume she’s burning LA on purpose. Bass should be in jailpic.twitter.com/4UmSK4Z47p

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) January 9, 2025

Local elections matter—what were you all thinking?

Also, all of this proves that you can not rely on gov’t….