Permanent technical record. The Palisades Fire began on January 7, 2025, in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles County, California. It burned 23,448 acres and was declared contained on January 31, 2025.
This record separates documented facts, changing official information and technical interpretation. It will be expanded as additional maps, reports and post-fire evidence become available.
Incident overview
| Field | Documented value |
|---|---|
| Incident | Palisades Fire |
| Country | United States |
| State / county | California / Los Angeles County |
| Start | January 7, 2025, 10:30 a.m. |
| Contained | January 31, 2025 |
| Final area | 23,448 acres |
| Location | Southeast of Palisades Drive, Pacific Palisades |
| Agency having jurisdiction | Los Angeles City Fire Department |
| Record status | Post-fire record under development |
Initial timeline
- 10:20 a.m. — An ALERTCalifornia camera recorded the first visible smoke near Temescal Trailhead.
- 10:30 a.m. — Official start time listed by CAL FIRE.
- 10:38 a.m. — Los Angeles County Fire Department was notified and initiated a supporting brush response.
- January 31. — The fire was declared contained after 24 days.
Final documented impacts
Published structure-loss totals currently differ. Los Angeles County documentation cited in this record reports 6,837 structures destroyed and 1,017 damaged. The CAL FIRE incident page, last updated on April 9, 2026 and retrieved by Tecnobosque on September 2, 2026, reports 6,845 structures destroyed and 975 damaged, with damage inspections completed for the structures within the fire footprint. Tecnobosque retains both published versions and marks the totals as disputed until their definitions or revision history can be reconciled. The difference may reflect later revisions, classification rules or dataset maintenance; the available pages do not justify choosing one explanation.
TB-ECI status — structure impacts: 58/100, Moderate, Disputed. The score reflects strong source traceability but an unresolved conflict between credible public records. It is an evidence-quality score, not a probability that either total is correct.
Weather and satellite context
A dry landscape and powerful Santa Ana winds produced extreme fire conditions across the Los Angeles region. NASA satellite imagery documented smoke from the Palisades and Eaton fires during the days following ignition.
Satellite thermal detections require cautious interpretation. Cloud, smoke, sensor resolution, observation geometry and satellite overpass timing can affect what is detected. A FIRMS hotspot indicates thermal activity within a sensor pixel; it does not mean the entire pixel burned.
Cause and changing official information
CAL FIRE’s current incident page lists the cause as arson. Earlier operational updates, including the January 19 incident report, listed the cause as under investigation. Tecnobosque records both states because preserving how official information changes over time is central to the Wildfire Black Box methodology. This page does not identify individuals or determine legal responsibility.
Evidence assessment
- High confidence: final area, start and containment dates, location and agency jurisdiction.
- Moderate confidence / disputed: structure-loss totals differ between credible Los Angeles County and CAL FIRE records and have not yet been reconciled.
- High confidence: regional wind and smoke context documented by official agencies and NASA.
- Developing: detailed spread reconstruction, evacuation chronology and post-fire causal evidence.
TB-ECI pilot scorecard
This provisional manual assessment applies Tecnobosque methodology v1.0 and TB-ECI beta 0.1. TB-ECI measures evidence quality and auditability at claim level; it is not a probability that a claim is true.
| Claim | State | TB-ECI | Band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start time, final area, containment and jurisdiction | Reported | 88/100 | Very high |
| Structure damage and destruction totals | Disputed | 58/100 | Moderate |
| Santa Ana wind and satellite smoke context | Observed / Reported | 88/100 | Very high |
| Current agency cause label: arson | Reported | 63/100 | Moderate |
| Detailed spread, evacuation and causal reconstruction | Interpreted / Developing | 42/100 | Low |
Read the scoring rubric, mandatory caps and revision rules.
Method and limitations
This record uses official incident pages, government reports and satellite documentation. Facts are separated from interpretation, and preliminary figures are not presented as final when later official values exist. Satellite observations support reconstruction but are not substitutes for ground-based investigation.
Primary sources
- CAL FIRE — Palisades Fire incident page
- Los Angeles County — Timeline of LA County Fires in January 2025
- Los Angeles County — Palisades Fire response documentation
- NASA Earth Observatory — Smoke Streams from Palisades and Eaton Fires
- NASA FIRMS — Active fire and thermal anomaly information
Compare another Black Box record
Compare how the same evidence states, scoring rubric and uncertainty rules are applied to a different incident: the 2023 Lahaina Fire in Maui, Hawaiʻi.
Record reviewed: September 2, 2026. Record version 1.1. TB-ECI beta 0.1 pilot. This technical record is informational and does not constitute an official investigation or legal opinion.