California Wildfires SPOTREP #1

January 8, 2025  /  TLP:CLEAR

Healthcare Ready is MONITORING for this event. We are monitoring potential concerns for supply chain disruptions and impacts on healthcare services on our Alert Hub.

Contents

• Situation Overview and Key Updates
• Impacts on Healthcare

Situation Overview and Key Updates

• As of January 8, a brush fire, that started in the Pacific Palisades on January 7, has now burned 2,925 acres and counting – containment of the Palisades Fire is at 0%.
  • This is particularly concerning because the southern region of California is currently in a red flag warning which means that conditions are ideal for the rapid spread of wildfire. Those areas include Malibu Coast, Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley, and more.
  • 60 MPH wind gusts are expected to continue in those areas through Thursday.
• On January 7, Governor Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency due to the Palisades Fire and a Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) was secured to ensure the availability of essential resources to suppress the wildfire.
• Evacuation orders and warnings for the Palisades Fire, Eaton Fire, and Hurst Fire are currently in effect.
• Evacuation shelters are being established at:
  • Westwood Recreation Center, Los Angeles
  • El Camino Real Charter High School, Woodland Hills
  • Pasadena Convention Center, Pasadena
• Road closures due to the wildfires in California can be found here.

Impacts on Healthcare

• According to PowerOutage.us, there are over 400,000 customers without power as of January 8.
• As of January 8, specialty care centers operated by Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (Arcadia, Encino, and Santa Monica) are closed due to the impacts from wind gusts, power outages, and wildfires. The emergency department is open for service in Los Angeles.
• As of January 8, there are several UCLA Health clinics that are closed due to the wildfires.
  • Pacific Palisades Family Medicine
  • Malibu Immediate Care and Malibu Family, Internal Medicine & Pediatrics
  • All Calabasas clinics
  • Encino Laboratory and Encino Surgery
• Several nursing homes and assisted living facilities in the Los Angeles area have evacuated due to the wildfires.
• On January 7, a smoke advisory was released by Los Angeles County Public Health due to the Palisades Fire stating that the burning has caused unhealthy air quality in areas in and near Los Angeles.
  • At-risk populations include children, the elderly, people with respiratory conditions, and people with compromised immune systems.
  • The Pediatric Pandemic Network (PPN) has a comprehensive list of wildfire resources for providers which can be found here.

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