California fires live updates: Palisades Fire one of most destructive in LA history

The rapidly spreading Sunset Fire in the Hollywood Hills has sparked an evacuation for a heavily populated area of the city.

The immediate evacuation order includes an area bounded by Laurel Canyon Boulevard to the west, Mulholland Drive to the north, the 101 Freeway to the east and down to Hollywood Boulevard to the south, according to the LA Fire Department.

A map of the mandatory evacuation zone is posted on the LAFD website.

Margaret Stewart, LAFD public information officer, told KABC some 20 additional fire engines were en route, calling it a "very dynamic situation" and an "explosive fire" that has "blown up in Runyon Canyon."

A new fire has broken out in the famed Runyon Canyon of Hollywood Hills. It is being referred to as the Sunset Fire.

The Los Angeles Fire Department was surveying the scene for the first time at approximately 5:45 p.m. local time. It then characterized the breakout as approximately 10 acres in size.

Observing the fire in real time, KABC’s Chris Cristi said, "This is the most ominous situation."

Seven months before the uncontrolled Palisades Fire in Los Angeles, the city’s fire department budget for this fiscal year was cut by more than $17.5 million, records show.

Mayor Karen Bass signed the City of Los Angeles’ budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. The total budget for the city’s fire department was $819.64 million.

Records show that for the previous fiscal year, the LAFD’s total budget was $837.2 million. The total budget includes salaries, expenses and equipment.

The city's controller, Kenneth Mejia, posted a graphic on X in October confirming the fire department's budget was cut by $17.6 million. The graphic also showed that the city's police department budget increased by $126 million.

"This budget serves as a reset, in part by continuing to hire for critical positions including police officers and firefighters while eliminating some of the department’s vacant positions, thereby prioritizing our City family over empty desks," Bass said in a statement in June.

-Laura Romero

Five school campuses in Altadena have been "substantially damaged" by the Eaton Fire, according to Pasadena Unified School District Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco.

"We are continuing to assess damage," she said during a press briefing while warning that some schools still remain in the path of the fire.

"We're working together with our city partners to do everything we can to preserve our schools," Blanco said.

All schools in the district will remain closed for the rest of the week, she said.

Pasadena City College has sustained minor damage and will resume classes on Monday, the school's president, José Gómez, said during the briefing.