SANTA MONICA—On Monday June 13, at approximately 6:20 p.m. the Santa Monica Fire Department received multiple calls reporting a fire in the Santa Monica Bluffs on the 500 block of Palisades Beach Road. Captain Patrick Nulty of the SMFD indicated in a press release to Canyon News that firefighters arrived within minutes and found an “approximate 50’ x 100’ fire in heavy vegetation on the bluffs” that was expanding uphill by prevailing onshore winds.
A coordinated fire suppression effort was developed from both the top and bottom of the bluffs to confine and suppress the blaze.
It took firefighters approximately 1 hour to knock down the fire, and several additional hours of overhaul to ensure the deep-seated smoldering heat on the hillside was cooled and suppressed. The fire forced the closure of Palisades Beach Road in both directions for 2 hours.
Firefighters kept the fire from spreading beyond the bluffs. There were no reported injuries to responders or civilians during the incident. The fire appears to have originated within an unattended encampment, but the cause was undetermined.
