Los Angeles fire maps show updating view of where Palisades, Eaton and more fires are burning right now
Wildfires continue to rage across Southern California, killing at least five people and prompting more than 100,000 evacuations as flames engulfed swaths of Los Angeles neighborhoods like the Pacific Palisades and residents hurried to escape. Maps of the region show where the Palisades Fire, Eaton Fire and several other blazes have scorched tens of thousands of acres of land.
Updating map of Southern California fires
An updating map created by CBS News' data team charts the expanse of the Palisades Fire, a roaring blaze that has burned over 17,000 acres since it broke out Tuesday morning in the affluent Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. Currently the largest wildfire in Southern California, the Palisades Fire grew out of a brush fire that exploded as powerful winds ripped through the area. It expanded rapidly and exponentially on Wednesday.
Firefighters are also battling the Eaton Fire, which trails the Palisades Fire closely in size and has consumed at least 10,600 acres in northern Los Angeles County. Like the Palisades Fire, it expanded dramatically Wednesday. Five people are dead because of this blaze, the Los Angeles County Fire Department told CBS News Los Angeles, and more have suffered significant injuries.
The Sunset Fire broke out Wednesday evening in the Runyon Canyon area of the Hollywood Hills, forcing a new set of evacuations. It had burned dozens of acres of vegetation, officials said.
Crews were fighting the Hurst and Lidia Fires, too. They are the only active wildfires that firefighters have been able to partially contain as of Thursday morning. The Woodley Fire, which began to burn Wednesday inside a Los Angeles nature reserve, is now fully under control, fire officials said.
Where are the Los Angeles fire evacuation zones?
At least 70,000 residents of Los Angeles County have been ordered to evacuate as of Wednesday morning, officials said, with the Palisades Fire alone urging 30,000 of those evacuations. Altogether, the fires threaten at least 28,000 structures in different sections of the county. Los Angeles Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said that 1,000 have already been destroyed in the Palisades area.
Maps published by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire, delineate areas where evacuation orders and warnings are in place. Mandatory evacuation orders are shown in red and warnings are shown in yellow.
Vice President Kamala Harris' spokesperson confirmed that her family's Los Angeles home was included in one of the evacuation orders.
The Palisades and Eaton Fires have spurned the most substantial evacuations. Photos and video taken in both areas capture harrowing scenes of smoke billowing up into the sky and structures swallowed by flames.
The Hurst Fire, which originated in the Sylmar neighborhood of Los Angeles late Tuesday night, prompted additional evacuations by morning as it spread quickly to at least 500 acres. It continued to grow, reaching 850 acres by Thursday, although by then Cal Fire said 10% of the blaze was contained.
The Sunset Fire, which sparked Wednesday night, prompted evacuations in the Hollywood Hills area between Laurel Canyon Drive and Mulholland Boulevard near the popular hiking spot Runyon Canyon.
Another blaze, the Woodley Fire, broke out Wednesday morning near a Los Angeles nature reserve. That fire did not prompt evacuations. Although Cal Fire warned at first that strong winds were pushing it southward, crews managed to contain 100% of the fire by the day's end.
Cal Fire is continuing to update comprehensive lists of evacuation zones in the incident reports for each active wildfire on its website.
Where did the Los Angeles fires start?
The Palisades Fire initially erupted Tuesday morning near the Pacific Palisades, a partly coastal residential area in northwestern Los Angeles. It began as a brush fire that spiraled out of control because of ongoing high winds in the region.
Sheila Kelliher, a Los Angeles County Fire Department captain, told "CBS Mornings" Wednesday that fighting the wildfires is "incredibly challenging and volatile and unpredictable," calling the winds "ferocious" while imploring people in evacuation zones to heed officials' instructions and "get out when those warnings come."
"Pack up, get ready to go," Kelliher said. Referencing the pedestrians who abandoned their cars on roadways blocked by traffic when evacuations got underway, she added: "Sometimes, as you can see, the cars had to be left behind and a lot of times just even getting out on foot, you've got to get going."
