• The Palisades Fire, Eaton Fire, Kenneth Fire, Hurst Fire and Lidia Fire have burned more than 27,000 acres in the Los Angeles area, officials say.
• The Eaton and Palisades fires have claimed at least 11 lives, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. Growth of that fire “has been significantly stopped,” LA County Fire Department Chief Anthony Marrone announced Friday.
• L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna said Thursday that 20 people have been arrested so far for looting during the southern California wildfires.
• As of Friday morning, the fires have destroyed more than 10,000 homes and buildings, according to local officials, while 153,000 people are under evacuation.

Roads leading to the iconic Getty Villa museum remained closed on Friday.

The California Highway Patrol in West Valley announced that Getty Center Dr. and Skirball Center Dr. off ramps were closed on both I-405 northbound and I-405 southbound.

“Do not attempt to enter the closures as only first responders will be allowed through,” the agency said.

The museum and education center’s survival was initially a cause of concern after fast-moving flames in Pacific Palisades threatened the historic grounds.

Katherine E. Fleming, president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust, said Tuesday that the staff and art collection at the Getty Villa remained safe.

“Additional fire prevention measures in place at the Villa include water storage on-site,” Fleming said in a statement to City News Service. “Irrigation was immediately deployed throughout the grounds Tuesday morning. Museum galleries and library archives were sealed off from smoke by state-of-the-art air handling systems. The double-walled construction of the galleries also provides significant protection for the collections.”

The wind whips embers while a firefighter battles the fire in the Angeles National Forest near Mt. Wilson as the wildfires burn in the Los Angeles area, during the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California, Jan. 9, 2025. (REUTERS/Ringo Chiu)

The Lidia Fire, which started late Wednesday and grew to 394 acres, is 98% contained, Cal Fire announced Friday.

Palisades Fire moves toward Brentwood in ‘significant’ shift

The Palisades Fire, the largest of six active blazes in the Los Angeles region, shifted east on Friday night and triggered a new evacuation order that included much of the Brentwood neighborhood. The flare-up was a “significant development” and the fire is rapidly growing, L.A. County spokesman Jesus Ruiz said as authorities raced to stop its spread toward populated areas.

The fires have killed at least 11 people and burned more than 37,000 acres — an area bigger than San Francisco — according to Cal Fire, with flames claiming more than 12,000 structures and displacing tens of thousands. The Palisades Fire is the largest at more than 21,000 acres, while the Eaton Fire has burned more than 14,000 acres. Those blazes are 8 percent and 3 percent contained, respectively.

L.A. mayor’s office denies report that fire chief had been dismissed

The office of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Friday denied a report that the city’s fire chief, Kristin Crowley, had been dismissed. “This is false,” a spokesperson said via email.

Bass’s office had earlier announced that the mayor would join city and county officials in the late afternoon to provide updates on the fires sweeping through the city. However, only police officials were present at the news conference, prompting questions about the absence of key city leadership.

The mayor’s office separately confirmed that Bass and Crowley had met Friday, adding that the “priority remains fighting these fires and protecting Angelenos.”

Crowley had earlier told a reporter that the city had drained the Santa Ynez Reservoir near the Palisades Fire for repairs without notice to her department, leading to fire hydrants in Los Angeles running dry this week.

“When a firefighter comes up to a hydrant, we expect there’s going to be water,” Crowley told Fox 11 Los Angeles. “We don’t control the water supply.”

Earlier in the interview, the reporter asked Crowley whether the city had failed “you and your department and our city.”

After a brief back-and-forth, Crowley replied, “Yes.”

Winds push Palisades Fire eastward, forcing new evacuations

The Palisades Fire shifted toward the Brentwood neighborhood Friday night in a flare-up that officials described as a “significant development.” The fire is growing “really, really fast,” said Jesus Ruiz, a spokesman for the L.A. County Office of Emergency Management.

L.A. County Fire Department spokesman Marco Rodriguez said a change in wind direction had sent the Palisades Fire in an easterly direction into as-yet-unburned fuel, after the flames had previously been moving westward.

On Friday night, the new flare-up had only burned through brush, “and we’re hoping to keep it that way,” he said in a phone interview, adding that it was moving toward a populated area, “so we’re definitely concerned.”

The shift triggered a new evacuation order just west of Interstate 405 that covers much of the Brentwood area, according to an update and map issued by the Los Angeles Fire Department on Friday.

The update upgraded areas that were recently under evacuation warnings. The Getty museum, a Los Angeles landmark, is in the area affected by the mandatory evacuation orders.

The order includes areas from Sunset Boulevard north to Encino Reservoir, from the 405 Freeway west to Mandeville Canyon. With the new order, evacuation orders are reaching several miles east from the heart of the Pacific Palisades neighborhood.

L.A. fires have burned a larger area than San Francisco, killing at least 11