Photo: Cal Fire
The Los Angeles wildfires continued to wreak havoc on the region, even after firefighters began to contain them. At the end of January, Los Angeles County Public Health officials declared an Ocean Water Closure from Las Flores State Beach to Santa Monica State Beach, citing recent rain and fire debris runoff as the reason. However, a recent update announced that the closure has been lifted.
“Public Health has assessed ocean water quality associated with the Palisades fire-related impacts from water entering the ocean from storm drains, creeks and streams. To date, two sets of oceans samples have been collected, on January 22, 2025, and January 27, 2025, from twelve monitoring locations from Las Flores State Beach to Dockweiler State Beach. Samples were submitted to a State of California laboratory for analysis of fire-related chemicals of concern that are potentially associated with fire runoff (metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, mercury and others),” wrote the Los Angeles County Public Health in a press release. “Sampling results from both dates did not indicate ocean impacts that pose a human health risk.”
As a result, the closure has been downgraded to an advisory, which Public Health explained was the result of an “abundance of caution due to the forecasted rain which may result in fire debris entering coastal water through surface water runoff and windblown ash.” Though beach goers may go on the sand, they are still advised to stay away from fire debris and out of the water – especially near discharging storm drains, creeks, rivers, and fire damaged ocean front properties.
An earlier Ocean Water advisory for Surfrider Beach to Las Flores State Beach and Santa Monica State Beach to Dockweiler State Beach at World Way has also been lifted.
