A cloud of smoke fills the sky above the Pacific Palisades and West Hollywood Area around 12:00 p.m. This morning, a brush fire erupted in these areas, causing the National Weather Service to issue evacuation orders and Archer to close campus early. (Photo courtesy of Archer parent Matthew Negrin).

Head of School Elizabeth English sent out a schoolwide email announcing Archer’s early campus closure due to the sudden wildfires in the Pacific Palisades area and West Hollywood at 11:35 a.m. this morning. Instead of departing at the usual 3 p.m., buses left the school at 12:45 p.m, and walkers left around 1 p.m.

Dozens of houses in Pacific Palisades and Pacific Palisades Charter High school are currently burning, according to updated coverage from the Los Angeles Times. The 2900-acre fire caught wind near Piedra Morada Drive around 10:30 a.m. and continues to spread. The Santa Ana winds in Southern California might reach up to 100 mph into the late hours of the night.

In the middle of third period class, many students heard a high-pitched alarm from the National Weather Service go off on their phones. Sophomore Milan Earl recounted the exact moment she learned about Archer’s campus closure.

“[Two friends] in my Spanish class were saying, ‘Oh my god, the school’s being closed.’ And I was like, ‘Why?’ And they were like, ‘There’s a fire,'” Earl said. “I was like, ‘Oh, there might it might be a little fire,’ but I didn’t know the severity. But [then] I got out of class and I saw, the smoke and everything and heard more news … I’m worried for my friends who live in the area. … I’m really hoping [and] praying that they’re okay, everything’s okay and everything fine.”

Sixth grader Cailyn McLain said this was the first time she experienced a situation like this, but said that Archer had a variety of strategies to handle it effectively.

“It was new, and I didn’t really know what to do since I hadn’t experienced it before,” McLain said. “A lot of the teachers told us information, emailed stuff of what to do and to just when to evacuate and go outside, and when we were outside, they guided us on when to go to our buses.”

Clouds of smoke currently surround LA, and debris continues to fly onto streets. At a vantage point in the One West Bluff neighborhood, college student Paul Ehasz — in town to visit his family — described how he found out about the fires.

“I first found out about the fires this morning,” Ehasz said. “I’ve woken up pretty late, like 11 o’clock, I’m on my break [and] I’m going to college right now. My mom was like, ‘[Your sister is] seeing a fire right now over at [Santa Monica High School], and she’s seeing this from her science classroom, the fire up in Malibu, there were flames, leaping up into the air, and she saw the giant cloud of smoke.'”

Official evacuation orders have been in effect for these zones: LOS-Q0767, MAL-C111-B, SSM-U010-A, SSM-U010-B, and official evacuation warnings are in effect for these zones: MAL-C111-A, RMB-U030-A, TOP-U007, TOP-U008, TOP-U009. On a similar note, junior Caroline Collis shared her worries about family members living in these areas.

“I’m very worried. My grandmother lives in the Palisades, and she’s very weak. And she might have to come to our house,” Collis said. “We’ll see what happens. But this unpredictable time is very [difficult].”