Campus Alert Archive
UCLA

Palisades Fire Forces UCLA to Cancel Classes as Evacuation Warnings Creep Toward 47,000-Student Campus

CAwildfireemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

On January 8, 2025, UCLA cancelled all undergraduate classes and moved graduate instruction online as the Palisades fire — which had burned over 17,000 acres — threatened the Westwood campus. Chancellor Julio Frenk issued a BruinPost alert after 6:30 PM PST on January 8. Evacuation warnings for the zone adjacent to UCLA were issued on January 10. Remote instruction continued through January 17.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
—
Institution
University of California, Los Angeles
Public R1 · CA
~47,000 studentsBruinALERT
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 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 reconstruction383 chars
Due to the devastating fires in the Los Angeles area, all undergraduate classes are cancelled and graduate instruction will move to remote for Thursday, January 9, and Friday, January 10. A significant number of our staff, faculty and students live in areas subject to evacuation warnings and mandatory evacuation orders. Please monitor BruinALERT for any campus evacuation guidance.

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

Chancellor Julio Frenk's message was sent shortly after 6:30 PM PST on January 8, 2025
Classes were later extended to remote instruction through Friday, January 17, as fire conditions persisted
The Palisades fire had burned over 17,000 acres as of January 9 and was threatening areas west of campus
UPDATEmulti-channel
Verified verbatimUCLA Bruins Safe Online official archive of the BruinALERT message362 chars
BruinALERT: Evacuation WARNING issued to zone adjacent to UCLA; NOT an evacuation. Stay vigilant & ready to evacuate. 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.
Verbatim text from the official UCLA Bruins Safe Online archive page for this BruinALERT
The evacuation warning for the zone adjacent to UCLA was issued on January 10, 2025, bringing the fire threat closer to campus
UCLA distinguished between evacuation warnings (adjacent areas) and evacuation orders (campus itself), which was never issued
Context

Background

On January 8, 2025, as the Palisades fire burned over 17,000 acres in the Los Angeles area, UCLA cancelled all undergraduate classes and moved graduate instruction to remote delivery. Chancellor Julio Frenk's BruinPost, sent shortly after 6:30 PM PST, acknowledged that a significant number of staff, faculty, and students lived in areas subject to evacuation. On January 10, evacuation warnings for the zone adjacent to UCLA were issued, though the campus itself was never under an evacuation order. UCLA Newsroom provided ongoing updates, and the university activated its Campus Emergency Operations Center. Remote instruction continued through January 17. Some students criticized the administration's response timing. The university established a Bruin Wildfire Relief Fund and coordinated with FEMA on disaster recovery centers.
Analysis

Key Findings

UCLA's 47,000-student campus was adjacent to but never under a mandatory evacuation order, creating a complex alert communication challenge
Remote instruction was extended for 10 days (January 8-17), one of the longest wildfire-related academic disruptions at a major US university
Students criticized the administration's response timing, highlighting tension between administrative deliberation and student expectations for rapid communication
Outcome
UCLA's campus was never under a mandatory evacuation order, but classes were remote through January 17. Many students, staff, and faculty were displaced from their homes by the fires. UCLA established a Bruin Wildfire Relief Fund.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Official
    L.A. fires: UCLA campus updates and resources (UCLA Newsroom)
    newsroom.ucla.edu
  2. Student Paper
    UCLA cancels in-person classes amid Los Angeles fires (Daily Bruin)
    dailybruin.com
  3. Student Paper
    Evacuation warnings for Palisades fire move closer to UCLA (Daily Bruin)
    dailybruin.com
  4. Official
    UCLA Campus Emergency Operations (Bruins Safe Online)
    bso.ucla.edu
  5. Student Paper
    UCLA students react to LA wildfires, evacuations (Daily Bruin)
    dailybruin.com
Tags
wildfirepalisades-fireevacuation-warningclasses-cancelledremote-instructioncaliforniafemadisplacement
Added April 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion