Palisades Fire Evacuations Could Have Been Deadly

With the 2025 Palisades Fire Evacuations, Palisades residents once again learned that the evacuation routes they had asked for from the City had never been implemented. This was not the first time there was bedlam as people tried to evacuate. Pacific Palisades only has three routes out: 1) Sunset Boulevard — east and west, 2) Chautauqua; and 3) Temescal Canyon Boulevard. Sirens, warnings and police were missing and a lack of communication from officials turned the January 2025 evacuation into chaos.

Already by 12:30 p.m. on January 7, 2025, Sunset Boulevard was gridlocked at Temescal. Buses were trying to reach Marquez Elementary School to evacuate students.

FIRE EVACUATIONS 2019:

(Editor’s note: A reader wrote on November 2, 2025 that “six years ago you wrote this “Fire Evacuations” and I saved it mainly for the list on what to do if I ever needed to evacuate! Thank you. The list made my life easier on Jan. 7th though life in our community has changed for all fellow Palisadians moving forward.”) 

In 2019, this editor wrote:

It was about 3 a.m. when the City wake-up call came over the cellphone—it’s shrill. The alert said to prepare for a mandatory evacuation. (It was the October 28, 2019 Getty Fire, contained November 5, 2019.)

A few hours later the mandatory evacuation for my area went into effect.

This is the first time I’ve ever evacuated for a fire. I thought I was prepared, but I forgot the pet’s toy and bed. My husband was gone, and I had a tough time reaching him to see if there was anything, he wanted that wasn’t in his “go” bag.

My son is in college—but he did something that made it easy. He had typed a short list of what he wanted “saved” and taped it by his bedroom light.  I easily carried those items to the car.

We made sure that our neighbor, who was house-bound was evacuated.

Even if you have a “go” bag—maybe make a list of other items you might want or need and tape it up somewhere.

One reader wrote, “there was gridlock on Temescal, PCH and Chautauqua, and Sunset eastbound was closed at Chautauqua.

“This was certainly a wake-up call for people who think they can evacuate quickly,” he said and noted that “according to the weather, we could have strong winds all day Wednesday and Thursday, so we’re certainly not out of danger.”

Radio and television announcers kept proclaiming that the Palisades Recreation Center was an evacuation site. That center was located in the middle of an area that was supposed to evacuate.

Additionally, PCH had been closed southbound at Temescal. Cars were routed north on Temescal and right on Sunset (and straight through the mandatory evacuation area) to reach Chautauqua.

Home Evacuation Checklist, according to CALFIRE click here.

1. Shut all windows and doors, leaving them unlocked.
2. Remove flammable window shades, curtains and close metal shutters.
3. Remove lightweight curtains.
4. Move flammable furniture to the center of the room, away from windows and doors.
5. Shut off gas at the meter; turn off pilot lights.
6. Leave your lights on so firefighters can see your house under smoky conditions.
7. Shut off the air conditioning.
   

   With PCH closed, drivers looked for alternate routes, including Sunset Boulevard.

Palisades Rated One of Southern California’s Worst for Wildfire Evacuation Routes

An April 25, 2019, NBC Los Angeles story (“California Cities with the Worst Wildfire Evacuation Routes”) listed Pacific Palisades 90272 as one of 13 neighborhoods that could experience problems. (Visit:nbclosangeles.com/news/local/California-Wildfire-Evacuation-Routes-Analysis-509083321.html)

Think Paradise was Bad? How Do I Evacuate from the Highlands? https://www.circlingthenews.com/forget-paradise-…of-the-highlands/ ‎

According to a USA Today report, “A California Network analysis of California communities and evacuation routes shows that some areas in the state are far outside the norm when it comes to the number of lanes of roadway available for the size of the population.”

Pacific Palisades was identified as being roughly within the worst one percent in the state when it comes to population-to-evacuation-route ratios.

The data was figured by checking the number of major thoroughfares in an area, the population, and the community’s location to Cal Fire’s Fire Hazard Severity Zone. That analysis provided an estimate of how many people there are for every lane of major road leaving an area.

Pacific Palisades residents have long worried about possible evacuation routes, especially for those who live in the Highlands or on the hillsides and in the canyons next to brush-covered Santa Monica Mountains. Now, we have further evidence the fear is warranted.