Expand / Collapse search
☰

PHOTOS: A walk-through of downtown Palisades wildfire destruction on Sunset Boulevard

By Gigi Graciette
Updated  January 9, 2025 9:35am PST
Wildfires
KTVU FOX 2

A walk-through of downtown Palisades destruction

Fox 11 Los Angeles reporter Gigi Graciette walks through downtown Palisades to show what's been destroyed by fire.

The Brief

    • Downtown Palisades on Sunset Boulevard was burned out because of the LA wildfires.
    • Casa Nostra Trattoria, Starbucks, the Bank of America and many mom-and-pop shops are among those damaged or destroyed.
    • Winds on Thursday were supposed to be less fierce.

LOS ANGELES - A walk-through on Sunset Boulevard on Thursday in downtown Palisades revealed a tiny microcosm of the havoc the Los Angeles wildfires have wreaked. 

What we know:

The popular Italian restaurant, Casa Nostra Trattoria, was damaged in the wildfires.

The Starbucks is gone. The Bank of America is a mess of mangled metal; the bank's ATMS were melted almost beyond recognition. The US Bank across the street, was also damaged.

So were several restaurants and businesses that couldn't immediately be identified. 

Not to mention the mom-and-pop shops, such as the hair salon, nail salon, gymnastics studio and Palisades Flowers -- all virtually gone. 

By the numbers:

Fierce wildfires in Los Angeles continued to burn on Thursday, which have left at least five people dead and nearly 2,000 structures destroyed, officials said.

There are at least five fires, including the Palisades Fire near the coast, which has been deemed the most destructive in Los Angeles history. So far, it has burned nearly 27 miles. 

The Eaton fire, north of Pasadena, has burned about 16.6 square miles.

And the Hurst fire, in the San Fernando Valley, has burned 1.3 square miles. The Sunset fire in the Hollywood Hills has burned less than a square mile.

Some 130,000 people have been put under evacuation orders, as fires have consumed a total of about 42 square miles — nearly the size of the entire city of San Francisco. 

Fires don’t usually blaze at this time of year, but specific ingredients — supersized Santa Ana winds, extreme drought and weather whiplash, to name a few — have come together to defy the calendar in a fast and deadly manner.

What's next:

The one bit of good news is that the winds on Thursday were not supposed to be as fierce. 

The Source

  • Fox 11 reporting. KTVU's Lisa Fernandez wrote the story from Oakland, Calif. 

ATMs on banks melted on Sunset Boulevard because of the Los Angeles wildfires. Jan. 9, 2025 

Some businesses in downtown Palisades can't even be recognized anymore. Jan. 9, 2025 

A look at Sunset Boulevard in Palisades. Jan. 9, 2025 

A look at downtown Palisades after destructive firestorms. Jan. 9, 2025

Mangled metal on Sunset Boulevard in downtown Palisades in Los Angeles. Jan. 9, 2025 

Fox 11 reporter Gigi Graciette gives a tour of wildfire-damaged downtown Palisades in Los Angeles. Jan. 9, 205 

Casa Nostra Trattoria on Sunset Boulevard in downtown Palisades was damaged in the LA wildfires. Jan. 9, 2025 

A building on Sunset Boulevard in downtown Palisades was damaged in the LA wildfires. Jan. 9, 2025 

Bank of America on Sunset Boulevard in downtown Palisades was damaged in the LA wildfires. Jan. 9, 2025 

WildfiresCalifornia