The first fire that started the devastating wildfires started on January 7, 2025. On the morning of January 7th the Palisades, an area in Los Angeles, erupted into flames. It all started with a small fire. Later on in the morning of January 7th around 11am to 12pm the winds started to pick up and the once small fire spread to a massive fire that had started to engulf homes. The winds were “in the range of 40 to 50 miles per hour as of Tuesday afternoon,” climate scientist Daniel Swain said during one of his regular “virtual climate and weather office hours,” hosted on YouTube. With the winds as high as they were and with California in a drought the conditions were perfect for a fire to destroy everything in its path. The winds made the fire grow tremendously from the previous hours before, by 3pm on January 7th the fire had already grown 6 times the original size; it has now burned over 1,200 acres.
The high speed winds are still in full effect as the original Palisades fire has now spread to Altadena: the Eaton Fire. On January 7th around 6:20 a fire had broken out in Altadena, with very little notice the residents had very little time to evacuate. The Eaton Fire has burned over 14,021 acres and has been contained, fire investigators are looking for the cause for this devastating fire that has caused so much damage and pain for the residents. The Palisades Fire that originally burned 1,200 acres has now burned more than 23,700 acres. Thankfully the Palisades Fire has been 94% contained as of January 28th 2025, the containment has been decreasing in the past few days. The Palisades Fire has started other fires such as; The Eaton Fire, The Hughes Fire, and The Border 2 Fire. The Eaton and Hughes Fires are in Los Angeles and The Border 2 Fire is in San Diego, they are mostly contained but we don’t know for the future.
The destruction that these fires have caused is immense, the damage estimated from the Palisades Fire alone is 1,017 structures damaged, residential, commercial and other and 6,837 structures destroyed, residential, commercial and other. 12 fatalities confirmed, fire personnel and civilian fatalities. 4 Injuries confirmed, fire personnel and civilian injuries (fire.ca.gov). The Eaton Fire has also caused a lot of damage and more fatalities than the Palisades fire. The damage done in The Eaton Fire is 1,073 structures damaged, residential, commercial and other and 9,418 structures destroyed, residential, commercial and other. 17 fatalities, confirmed to include both fire personnel and civilian fatalities, as well as 9 injuries (fire.ca.gov). These fires have been so devastating for all the people involved, so many people have lost their homes and all of their belongings. With there being so many fires and so much uncertainty there are many evacuation orders put in place. If you look up California Fire you will find their website and information that can help you with what you need, there are many phone numbers to call to get the resources you need.