Cheat Sheet: A quick summary of SoCal fire coverage and safety resources

Active fires

The Eaton, Palisades, Hurst and other fires continue to burn across Southern California. What we know:

Damaging winds, which have not been seen in more than a decade, sparked numerous wildfires across the region. There are few signs of relief in sight as a strong Santa Ana is expected to continue through most of today.

The Palisades Fire, which broke out Tuesday morning, spread quickly in the following hours. But in the evening, firefighters also had to battle another fast-moving fire that broke out near Eaton Canyon in Altadena. Firefighting resources were exhausted Wednesday morning with help arriving from other parts of California and other states.

Sign up to receive emergency alerts

WatchDuty App

District alarms

Sign up for local alerts. They are a reliable source of timely news and early warnings.

Track air quality

Track yours local air quality

Active fires

Eaton’s Fire

As of Wednesday evening, five people had died in the Eaton fire and a significant number of people, including four firefighters, had been injured.

About 100,000 people remain under mandatory evacuation orders. Another 100,000 people are under evacuation warnings. The Los Angeles County Fire Department estimates that more than 970 buildings have been destroyed. The fire remains at 0%.

Palisade Fire

The Palisades Fire continued to spread through the Santa Monica Mountains overnight, growing to more than 17,000 acres by Thursday morning. At a news conference Wednesday, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said about 1,000 buildings had been destroyed. He also said firefighters were injured and residents who did not evacuate reported “a large number of serious injuries.”

Hurst Fire

The Hurst Fire broke out Tuesday night near Sylmar as the Los Angeles area was already dealing with two other wildfires. As of Thursday morning, the fire had burned more than 850 acres and was 10% contained.

School closures

School districts in Los Angeles County have announced plans to close all or some schools as multiple wildfires spread across the Los Angeles area. At least 22 school districts have announced full or partial closures, according to the Los Angeles County Office of Education.

If you need to evacuate

If you have more time:

Things to consider

Navigating fire conditions

How to help yourself and others

Fact checking for false claims

Understanding how things got so bad

It’s easy to feel like we’re on a dark timeline. Waking up in smoke and flames, looking into a future of burnt houses, lost forests and orange skies. Over the last decade and a half, California has been impacted by this phenomenon nine of the ten largest fires in history.

In 2022, LAist Studios expanded their earthquake podcast, Greatwith a series about fires in Big burn. We recommend starting with this episode, where host Jacob Margolis shares practical safety tips and tricks.

Or start with episode 1