Jan. 2–5

Five days before the first fire broke out, the National Weather Service warned on Thursday, Jan. 2, of potential for strong Santa Ana Winds and extreme fire conditions. The following day, they issued a Fire Weather Watch warning, alerting the public to the potential for damaging north to northeast winds.

Warnings escalated by Sunday; by the afternoon the National Weather Service issued a red flag warning of an exceptionally dangerous fire weather event in Los Angeles and Ventura counties from Tuesday through Thursday, with conditions possibly persisting into Friday.

Jan. 6

State and local officials issued escalating warnings to the Los Angeles area the day before wildfires erupted. California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office said at 10:47 a.m. Monday they were deploying equipment to the area.

The National Weather Service warned of a “life-threatening, destructive” windstorm, later upgrading it to a “particularly dangerous situation” by 3:24 p.m.

“This is about as bad as it gets in terms of fire weather” the NWS LA posted Monday evening. Almost an hour later, LA Mayor Karen Bass—who was in Ghana at the time–sent her first warning on social media

Jan. 7
🔥 10:30 a.m. PST

The Palisades Fire ignites, according to Cal Fire. Residents capture video of smoke billowing from the scene.

11 a.m. - 12 p.m. PST

An emergency alert is sent to Los Angeles residents, advising people near the fire to get set for a potential evacuation.” By noon the official evacuation order went out.

1:03 p.m. PST

Video posted after 1 p.m. shows flames engulfing hills in Pacific Palisades.

2:01 p.m. PST

The LA Fire Department said the Palisades Fire had grown to roughly 770 acres.

2:50 p.m. PST

Just before 3 p.m., Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass urges residents to heed the expanding evacuation warnings after earlier sending out a news release. Video of the Pacific Coast Highway shows congestion as people evacuated.

3:22 p.m. PST

Video posted on X shows abandoned vehicles along Palisades Drive as residents flee the area.

4:30 p.m. PST

The LA Fire Department said the Palisades Fire had expanded to roughly 1262 acres.

5:23 p.m. PST

Video posted by CBS Jonathan Vigliotti shows Theater Palisades, a community theater, burning.

5:45 p.m. PST

California Governor Gavin Newsom met with firefighters and declared a state of emergency, posting to X just before 6 p.m.

🔥 6:18 p.m. PST

The Eaton Fire breaks out at around 6:18 p.m., growing to over 200 acres within an hour.

7:30 p.m. PST

City of Santa Monica issued an Evacuation Order for all areas of the city north of San Vicente. “Evacuation Order: Immediate threat to life. This is a lawful order to LEAVE NOW.”

Around the same time officials said the Palisades Fire had expanded to nearly 3,000 acres. The LA Fire Department expanded the mandatory evacuation zone east.

🔥 10:30 p.m. PST

The National Weather Service reported a gust of 99 mph near Altadena and a third fire broke out in the Los Angeles area in Sylmar – the Hurst Fire.

10:37 p.m. PST

Within about 15 minutes a new evacuation order goes out to those in the area. By day’s end, tens of thousands of people had abandoned their homes, fleeing fires that had scorched thousands of acres.