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Pacific Palisades fire tears through LA, as residents tell the Canary it’s ‘devastating’

Three wildfires are currently tearing through various parts of Greater Los Angeles, with tens of thousands of people ordered to evacuate. As of 6pm on Wednesday 8 January, the three fires, are covering over 6,500 acres between them. The Palisades fire – the first to ignite on Tuesday 7 January, is burning more than 5,000 acres. So far it has burned many homes, businesses, and famous landmarks:

Palisades
Image by Keith Sackler

The Eaton fire, which is currently at more than 1,000 acres, has burnt many homes in Altadena and Pasadena. Over 52,000 residents have been told to evacuate.

Thirdly, the Hurst fire has burned more than 500 acres in the area around Sylmar. Authorities have issued evacuation orders for over 30,000 people, as they expect the situation to get worse on Wednesday, due to fast-moving winds:

One resident of Santa Monica told the Canary:

I am just devastated. Pacific Palisades is a beautiful community – and Malibu. It’s heartbreaking

Santa Ana winds devastating the Pacific Palisades

Santa Ana winds, also known as ‘devil winds’, are fast-moving, warm, and dry winds. They originate inland and blow towards the coast of Southern California.

Much of Southern California, and LA in particular, has experienced an extremely dry winter and barely any rain for the last eight months. The last time a significant amount of rainfall fell was last May, which has contributed to drought. Unfortunately, the dry conditions and strong winds created the perfect storm for wildfires.

Back in 2021, another fire in the Palisades burnt through more than 1,200 acres.

The point of no return

Major disasters such as wildfires are becoming more and more common due to the climate crisis. In recent years we have seen a number of devastating wildfires – such as on Maui and in Europe in 2023. However, we are nearly at the point of no return.

And while these latest wildfires are a reminder that the climate crisis is already here and wrecking lives, the fact it’s happening at the start of 2025 only makes it all the worse. Why? Because hitting the mid-decade marks another Paris Climate Agreement milestone missed.

Alarmingly, the United Nations has warned in no uncertain terms what the world’s failure to curb emissions will mean for the planet:

The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, France, on 12 December 2015. It entered into force on 4 November 2016.

Its overarching goal is to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.”

However, in recent years, world leaders have stressed the need to limit global warming to 1.5°C by the end of this century.

That’s because the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change indicates that crossing the 1.5°C threshold risks unleashing far more severe climate change impacts, including more frequent and severe droughts, heatwaves and rainfall.

To limit global warming to 1.5°C, greenhouse gas emissions must peak before 2025 at the latest and decline 43% by 2030.

We are only eight days into 2025, and already fires are tearing through Southern California. If this isn’t enough for legislators to pull their fingers out of their arses, then nothing will be:

In short, we’re already staring at the brink of the runaway climate crisis. LA right now, specifically the Pacific Palisades, is one snapshot of what this looks like:

palisades
Image by Keith Sackler

Marginalised communities bear the brunt

As will all major disasters, there is no doubt that marginalised communities will suffer the most. LA county already announced that there are only 100 shelter beds for people experiencing homelessness. Current figures suggest that there are over 75,000 unhoused people in LA county. What good will 100 measly beds do?

Similarly, disabled people – homeless or not – are in even greater danger:

Image by Jane Richardson

Pacific Palisades: carry on like normal?

Now 2025 has arrived, we are at the tipping point for being able to save the planet from the climate catastrophe. With the climate crisis raging a week in, how can we act like the world isn’t on fire?

On a personal level – I have good friends in LA and the Pacific Palisades, some of whom I hadn’t heard from when I started writing this article.

Luckily, I now have.

But the level of fear I felt, when I am over 8,500km away, tells me that for my friends in and around the area of the fires the level of fear must be off the scale. Thousands of people are now – once again – without homes and losing loved ones.

We are literally watching the planet burn around us. How are we supposed to just carry on as normal?

Feature image via Jane Richardson and Keith Sackler, and additional images via Jane Richardson and Keith Sackler

By HG

This post was originally published on Canary.