Hellish Wednesday Dawns in Altadena and Pasadena

Pasadena and Altadena suffered a hellish night of loss and fear as fierce winds pushed fires into residential neighborhoods and burned dozens of homes.

Houses of worship were not spared by the flames, which have now consumed 1,000 acres. The Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center was badly burned.

Thousands were ordered to evacuate, many of whom headed towards the Pasadena Convention Center, which was designated as an evacuation center. Some reportedly refused to leave their burning neighborhoods before police required them to do so.

Late Tuesday afternoon winds crescendoed and sparked a large number of fires, at one point igniting a dozen fires around Pasadena in less than 1 hour.

Now dawn is approaching and the full devastation will soon be in sunlight. This was a night many feared might someday happen, but most never believed it could.

On Wednesday, winds will continue to incite the Eaton Canyon flames, possibly sending them to the west towards Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The latest evacuation information ia available here:

https://protect.genasys.com/hazards/72660adc-b5ef-4d96-a33f-b4ea3740a4e3?z=10.811412131429957&latlon=34.22010234026564%2C-118.09324851388862&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0OdijLa9qy6DkSZ0Hg1F1eJs1qyW5w_RRRrLE9DUmxpD5-bPmOktfwsPs_aem_z5De4gtQWTin9Dnip39MGQ

National WeatherService forecasters said fierce winds and gusts will continue in Pasadena today, predicting the core of the low-level jet stream will move southward during the day, gradually reducing wind speeds.

However, they caution that winds will remain at warning levels until early evening, with a notable decrease expected late morning.

“Widespread damaging north to northeast winds and extreme fire weather conditions will continue through mid-afternoon,” the weather service said.

Pasadena Now will continue its coverage.