As of Thursday, the Palisades fire had reached 15,000 acres, spreading to Malibu and Topanga and torching homes and restaurants along the Pacific Coast Highway. One resident told the Washington Examiner ’s video producer Natasha Sweatte that his community is coming together in this time of crisis.

Wildfires have devastated a celebrity-filled neighborhood in Los Angeles, destroying homes, canceling major industry events, and ravaging a high school featured in movies like ‘Carrie’ and ‘Freaky Friday.

The Palisades fire off Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades on Jan. 7, 2025. Wally Skalij joined the Los Angeles Times as a staff photographer in 1997. Mark E. Potts is the senior editor for video at the Los Angeles Times.

Five people have died, but officials say the death toll is likely to be higher. More than 2,000 structures have burned and at least 130,000 residents are under evacuation orders. Experts say L.A. is not out of danger yet and these fires have the potential to be the costliest wildfire disaster

Firefighters on Jan. 7 battled the raging flames of the Eaton Fire in Pasadena, California, where homes were burned to their bare skeletal structures.

Several homes in the area have burned, but the neighborhood’s famous trees, decorated each year for the holidays, did not appear to be ablaze at mid-day.

A brush fire broke out Tuesday near the Pacific Palisades, a coastal neighborhood on the west side of Los Angeles, and quickly exploded.

Los Angeles is reeling from the most destructive wildfires in its history, and firefighters are struggling to contain the devastating blaze.