10,000+ acre Eaton Canyon fire kills two people, destroys buildings, forces evacuations

A fast-moving brush fire in the Eaton Canyon area exploded in size overnight, topping 10,000 acres today while claiming two lives and destroying more than 100 structures while prompting school closures throughout the area.  

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

Initially dubbed the Close Fire but later changed to the Eaton Fire, the blaze quickly exploded, driven by the same Santa Ana winds that sparked a devastating wildfire in Pacific Palisades and another in the Sylmar area.   

As of 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Cal Fire reported the fire had grown to 10,600 acres and was 0% contained.

The fire expanded rapidly during the night and early morning hours -- the strongest hours 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 overnight.

Firefighting aircraft were able to resume flights Wednesday morning.  

Residents of La Canada Flintridge were ordered to evacuate by the Los Angeles County 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 Glenoaks Canyon, and an evacuation center was established at Pacific Community Center at 501 S. Pacific Ave, just east of Golden State (5) Freeway.

In a media briefing at 8 a.m. Wednesday, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said two people -- described only as civilians -- died in the fire, but the circumstances of the deaths were unknown. Marrone said there were also ``a number of significant injuries'' due to the fire.

Roughly 100 structures had been destroyed, Marrone said. One of the structures that was destroyed in the fire was the Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center.

Speaking at the briefing, Sheriff Robert Luna said two people were arrested Wednesday morning for looting evacuated homes in the Eaton Fire burn area.

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, U.S. 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 on Tuesday.

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.

On Tuesday night, 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 also worked 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 the 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.