Campus Alert Archive
UCLA

'Be Ready to Evacuate': An 8:17 PM BruinAlert as the Palisades Fire Reached UCLA's Doorstep

CAwildfireemergency notificationhigh confidence
Confirmed Threat

On the evening of January 10, 2025, a BruinAlert told UCLA students to be 'ready to evacuate' as the Palisades Fire's evacuation warning zone reached the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Veteran Avenue — an intersection that directly borders the UCLA campus. UCLA canceled in-person undergraduate classes for January 9-10 and shifted classes to remote instruction through January 17. Thousands evacuated dorms voluntarily even though UCLA itself was not under a mandatory order.

Alerts
3
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
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Institution
University of California, Los Angeles
Public R1 · CA
~46,400 studentsBruinAlert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTEmail
Approximate reconstruction227 chars
UCLA is curtailing campus operations and canceling undergraduate classes for Thursday, Jan. 9 and Friday, Jan. 10. Graduate courses will move to remote instruction. Campus remains open for students who must remain in residence.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Issued the evening of January 8, 2025, after UCLA had remained open earlier that day; covers Thursday Jan. 9 and Friday Jan. 10 in-person cancellation
Distinguishes between in-person undergraduate cancellation (full stop) and graduate remote instruction (continues)
The phrase 'campus remains open for students who must remain in residence' addresses out-of-state and international students who cannot easily relocate — a thoughtful inclusion that mass evacuation orders typically lack
This pattern of curtailment-without-evacuation reflects UCLA's geographic position: Westwood is uphill and east of the active fire perimeter, but air quality and access roads were severely affected
UPDATESMS
Verified verbatimBruins Safe Online (UCLA Office of Emergency Management)244 chars
This is NOT an evacuation alert. An evacuation warning has been issued to a zone adjacent to UCLA due to the Palisades fire. We are asking Bruins on campus to remain vigilant and be ready to evacuate, should the alert be extended to our campus.
Pushed at 8:17 PM PST on January 10, 2025, as the Palisades Fire evacuation warning zone advanced toward the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Veteran Avenue at UCLA's western edge
Opens with the negation 'This is NOT an evacuation alert' to prevent panic-driven mass evacuation while still mobilizing the community to be ready
Triggering BruinAlert without a campus-side evacuation order was controversial: the Daily Bruin and Fox Business reported student frustration with the perceived delay between the fire's progression and campus communications
UPDATEEmail
Approximate reconstruction181 chars
Undergraduate and graduate classes will move to remote instruction through Friday, January 17. The campus will remain open. Air quality and fire conditions continue to be monitored.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Extended the remote-instruction window through January 17 — the longest such curtailment at UCLA since the COVID-19 era
Combined undergraduate and graduate classes into a single remote-only mode, simplifying earlier two-track guidance
Air quality framing is significant: even after the immediate evacuation warning receded, fine particulate matter from the Palisades Fire reached hazardous levels across the LA basin
Context

Background

UCLA is a public R1 research institution of about 46,400 students in Westwood, Los Angeles. When the Palisades Fire ignited on January 7, 2025, it rapidly grew into one of the most destructive fires in Los Angeles history. UCLA remained open on January 8 but that evening announced curtailed campus operations and canceled in-person undergraduate classes for January 9 and 10. By the evening of January 10, the city of Los Angeles had extended evacuation warnings to the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Veteran Avenue, directly bordering UCLA's western edge. At 8:17 PM PST that night, BruinAlert told students to be 'ready to evacuate.' UCLA itself was never placed under a mandatory evacuation order, but thousands of students chose to evacuate dorms anyway. The university canceled in-person undergraduate classes for January 9-10, then extended remote-only instruction through Friday January 17 — the longest curtailment since the COVID-19 era. By January 14, 607 students and 2,095 faculty/staff lived in areas under evacuation warning or mandatory orders, illustrating how a single regional disaster could displace thousands without a single building burning on campus. UCLA's response drew significant criticism for perceived slowness, foreshadowing a broader debate about university communication during slow-onset disasters.
Analysis

Key Findings

BruinAlert's 'be ready to evacuate' message at 8:17 PM PST January 10 marked the moment the Palisades Fire evacuation warning zone reached UCLA's doorstep
UCLA itself was never under a mandatory evacuation, but thousands of students self-evacuated from dorms — a real-world illustration of the gap between official orders and human behavior in slow-onset disasters
The 10-day remote-instruction window (January 8-17) was the longest curtailment since the COVID-19 era
607 students and 2,095 faculty/staff lived in evacuation warning or mandatory zones, showing the scope of community displacement even when the campus itself was untouched
Outcome
UCLA campus was never placed under a mandatory evacuation, but a warning zone bordered campus. 607 students and 2,095 faculty/staff lived in evacuation warning or mandatory zones. All in-person instruction was suspended through January 17. The Palisades Fire ultimately burned over 23,000 acres.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Official
    L.A. fires: UCLA campus updates and resources (UCLA Newsroom)
    newsroom.ucla.edu
  2. Official
    Reflections on the devastation in our region and an update on instruction and campus operations (UCLA Newsroom)
    newsroom.ucla.edu
  3. Student Paper
    New evacuation warning for Palisades fire borders UCLA campus (Daily Bruin)
    dailybruin.com
  4. Student Paper
    UCLA cancels in-person classes amid Los Angeles fires (Daily Bruin)
    dailybruin.com
  5. Official
    UCLA Campus Emergency Operations; Impact of the wildfires on the Bruin community (Bruins Safe Online)
    bso.ucla.edu
Tags
wildfirepalisades-fireevacuation-warninglos-angelescaliforniauclawestwoodremote-instructionpublic-r1be-ready-to-evacuate
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion