Eaton Fire Rampages Through Altadena and Pasadena Burning Dozens of Homes, Forcing Massive Evacuations

CITY NEWS SERVICE

[Updated]  The fast-moving Eaton Fire continues to rage in Altadena and Pasadena on Wednesday morning, forcing widespread evacuations and school closures while destroying an unknown number of homes and other structures. 

The Eaton Fire was reported at about 6:20 p.m. in the area of Altadena Drive and Midwick Drive in the hills above Altadena, according to Cal Fire.

One of the structures that was destroyed in the fire was the Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center, NBC4 reported.

Initially dubbed the Close Fire but later changed to the Eaton Fire, the blaze was initially estimated at about 10 acres, but it quickly exploded across 200 acres, then to 400 acres by 8 p.m. Tuesday, driven by Santa Ana winds that prompted critical fire danger warnings throughout the region. As of 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, Cal Fire reported the fire was 2,227 acres and was 0% contained.

The fire expanded rapidly during the late night and early morning hours — at the time the winds were forecast to be the strongest of a windstorm that began Tuesday morning and was set to continue into Thursday. The erratic winds grounded aerial firefighting assets, and ground crews were unable to keep pace with the flames’ advance.

Residents of La Canada Flintridge were ordered to evacuate by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Soon after, the city of Glendale issued an evacuation alert for residents of Chevy Chase Canyon and an evacuation center was established at Pacific Community Center at 501 S. Pacific Ave, just east of Golden State (5) Freeway.

Mandatory evacuation orders were issued Tuesday for the area north of New York Drive, east of Altadena Drive and west of Sierra Madre Villa Avenue, the Forest Service officials reported.

As the fire grew, other evacuations were mandated in the area, including all Arcadia residents north of Orange Grove Avenue. An evacuation center was established at the Arcadia Community Center at 375 Campus Drive. Pasadena officials ordered evacuations for residents north of Orange Grove/Rosemead Boulevard, east of Lake Avenue and west of Michilinda Avenue. An evacuation center for those residents was established at the Pasadena Civic Center, 300 E. Green St.

Residents along Kinneloa Canyon Road, Outpost Lane, Glen Springs Road, Coolidge Avenue, Roosevelt Avenue, Veranada Avenue, Kinclair Drive, Fox Ridge Drive, Canyon Close Road and Grand Oaks Avenue were all told to evacuate.

An evacuation center was also established at El Camino Real Charter High School, 5440 Valley Circle Blvd., in Woodland Hills for people impacted by the various fires in the Southland.

It was unclear how many people were impacted by the Eaton Fire evacuation orders, although the governor’s office put the figure at about 19,000 people under mandatory orders, with 8,200 structures threatened, as of Tuesday night.

There were multiple reports of crews responding to people who were trapped within the burn area, but there were no reports of any injuries. An unknown number of structures were damaged by the flames.

At one point, buses and ambulances were brought in to evacuate dozens of people from a senior center in the path of the fire. Staff at the center were seen on camera pushing residents down a street in wheelchairs to get them out of the area.

Crews were also working to protect what was described as 150 pounds of chlorine gas cylinders stored within the fire area by the Pasadena Water and Power Department.

Crews from the U.S. Forest Service, Los Angeles County and Pasadena were working to slow the flames.

As he did earlier with the Palisades Fire, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced late Tuesday that the state had secured a Fire Management Assistance Grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cover costs of battling the Eaton Fire.

The fire broke out as emergency crews were already stretched thin due to a massive blaze burning in the Pacific Palisades area.

As a result of the fire, classes were canceled Wednesday for schools in the Pasadena, Glendale, Alhambra, South Pasadena, San Marino, La Cañada, Burbank, Arcadia and Monrovia unified school districts. Caltech also closed its Pasadena campus “for all nonessential operations” and canceled classes for the day.

A separate fire, dubbed the Bert Fire, was reported late Tuesday night in the Pasadena area several miles from the Eaton Fire, but it was unclear if the two were related.