As of Jan. 8, several wildfires are burning in Southern California; over 80,000 people evacuated
The Palisades Fire began on Jan. 7 at approximately 10:30 a.m. PST in Pacific Palisades, California. Fueled by winds reaching speeds of at least 40 mph, the fire rapidly consumed around 200 acres and continued to grow at an alarming rate.
By the morning of Jan. 8, the fire had scorched 2,921 acres with no containment reported. Authorities ordered the evacuation of roughly 30,000 residents as many homes burned.
Officials extended evacuation orders early Wednesday morning, pushing into parts of Malibu — an area still reeling from the devastation caused by the Franklin Fire in December.
Powerful winds and dry conditions are contributing significantly to the situation. Wind gusts could be as high as 90 mph in certain areas (Figure 1), potentially marking the most severe conditions since a 2011 windstorm in Los Angeles County.
In addition to the Palisades Fire, other notable wildfires in the region include the Eaton Fire in Altadena, which has burned 2,227 acres and the Hurst Fire in Sylmar, which has burned 505 acres. Both fires also resulted in the evacuation of many neighborhoods.
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“The Santa Ana winds that are currently driving these fires occur periodically, but the most recent winds are exceptionally strong.”
Dr. Tom Jeffery, senior hazard scientist at CoreLogic
Source: CoreLogic Insight 2025
© 2025 CoreLogic,Inc., All rights reserved.
These three active fires remain entirely uncontained. Numerous homes have already been destroyed, though exact numbers are still unavailable. Winds are expected to persist in the 30-50 mph range throughout the day, forcing the grounding of all tanker flights due to unsafe conditions. The fires continue to burn aggressively across all three areas, and forecasts are predicting single-digit relative humidity and strong winds, which will further fuel the flames.
Wildfire Risk in the Region
CoreLogic estimates that there are over 456,000 homes with nearly $300 billion in reconstruction cost value at moderate or greater risk within the Los Angeles and Riverside metropolitan areas.
It is important to note that this data represents the total number of homes and reconstruction cost value within the metropolitan areas at risk in general and is not specific to the current fire events. Data specific to the current fire events may be provided once there are well-defined fire perimeters.
| Metropolitan Area | Number of Homes with Moderate Risk | Number of Homes with High Risk | Number of Homes with Very High Risk | Total |
| Los Angeles | 60,277 | 114,081 | 71,312 | 245,670 |
| Riverside | 44,753 | 83,218 | 82,888 | 210,859 |
© 2025 CoreLogic,Inc., All rights reserved.
| Metropolitan Area | RCV with Moderate Risk | RCV with High Risk | RCV with Very High Risk | Total |
| Los Angeles | $40.7B | $85.6B | $60.3B | $186.6B |
| Riverside | $24.2B | $47.8B | $40.8B | $112.8B |
© 2025 CoreLogic,Inc., All rights reserved.
The maps below show the wildfire risk in the areas of the three major fires in the region. Many properties are in the wildland-urban interface (WUI), which is an area where human development like homes and infrastructure meets or intermingles with natural, undeveloped wildland vegetation. This zone is particularly vulnerable to wildfires due to the proximity of flammable vegetation and human structures.
As urban expansion continues, the WUI zone grows. This increased intermingling of wildland and human development elevates the risk of fire-related disasters. Managing these areas requires a combination of fire-resistant building materials, defensible space around properties, and proactive land management practices to reduce fuel loads. Effective emergency planning, community education, and early detection systems are also critical in minimizing the impact of wildfires in these high-risk zones.
According to CoreLogic’s senior hazard scientist Dr. Tom Jeffery, the area of the Palisades Fire has been classified as abnormally dry since early December, and the area just transitioned to a moderate drought within the last 10 days.
“The area has been drying since the seasonal precipitation that occurred in late 2024,” explained Dr. Jeffery. “The Santa Ana winds that are currently driving these fires occur periodically, but the most recent winds are exceptionally strong, with reported speeds of 50 to 60 mph and greater. This not only drives the fires and embers but also inhibits flying the tanker aircraft and helicopters used to suppress the fires. There have been several small fires in this general area in the past: the 2019 Palisades Fire and the 2017 Topanga Fire. The 2021 Palisades Fire burned 1,203 acres but was located in an undeveloped area north of the Palisades community.”
The CoreLogic Hazard HQ Team will continue to monitor the Southern California fires. Updates, including the number of properties and reconstruction value within the fire perimeters and damage estimates, may be provided when the full extent of impact is more known.
Contact: Please email [email protected] with questions about the California wildfires or any CoreLogic event response notifications. Please visit www.hazardhq.com for updates and information on catastrophes across the globe.
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©2025 CoreLogic, Inc. The CoreLogic statements and information in this blog post may not be reproduced or used in any form without express written permission. While all the CoreLogic statements and information are believed to be accurate, CoreLogic makes no representation or warranty as to the completeness or accuracy of the statements and information and assumes no responsibility whatsoever for the information and statements or any reliance thereon. CoreLogic® and Hazard HQ Command Central™ are the trademarks of CoreLogic, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.
Written by: Hazard HQ Team