The fire in Pacific Palisades and Malibu topped 21,300 acres Friday evening, encroaching into the San Fernando Valley and prompting residents of Encino and other communities to flee the area. The new evacuation zone included the Getty Center.

Five people have died in the Palisades fire this week: two in Malibu, one in Pacific Palisades, one in Topanga Canyon and one in a location not publicly disclosed yet.

More than 3,000 personnel were battling the blaze in its fourth day, working with more favorable weather conditions after days of strong winds, Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said. Crews were bracing for the possibility of strong winds again, though.

“Firefighters will continue to respond to any flare-ups,” Crowley said.

On Friday evening, the fire moved toward the San Fernando Valley, as evacuation orders were expanded to include the areas from Sunset Boulevard North to Encino Reservoir, as well as the 405 Freeway West to Mandeville Canyon. The orders encompass parts of Encino and Brentwood.

The devastating Palisades fire, which has been declared by fire officials as the most destructive in the history of Los Angeles, has damaged or destroyed more than 5,300 structures since it started about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday near the 1100 block of Piedra Morada Drive.

The medical examiner’s office Friday updated the death toll, saying it was investigating 11 fatalities deemed to be related to the fires in L.A. County.

Firefighters have faced many challenges: the strong and damaging winds, a shortage of water due to unprecedented demand early Wednesday morning, and a drone strike grounding a Super Scooper on Thursday.

On Friday, firefighters battled a flare-up near the Sullivan Fire Road as the Palisades fire began moving into Sullivan Canyon towards Mandeville Canyon, attacking the area with resources throughout the day and planning for water drops overnight.

Another spot with fire activity Friday was the Fernwood area of Topanga Canyon, where fire retardant was dropped to help crews, said Cal Fire Operations Chief Christian Litz.

Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said the Super Scooper, a plane from Quebec, Canada, suffered a “fist-sized” hole in the front side of one of the wings but should be repaired and ready to fly again by Monday.

“Flying a drone in the fire area is dangerous and illegal,” Marrone said.

Also Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom called for an independent probe into the loss of water pressure and the “reported unavailability of water supplies from the Santa Ynez Reservoir,” a 117 million gallon facility that sits near Pacific Palisades neighborhoods.

“While water supplies from local fire hydrants are not designed to extinguish wildfires over large areas, losing supplies from local fire hydrants likely impaired the effort to protect some homes and evacuation corridors,” Newsom wrote in a letter to Janisse Quiñones, LADWP’s CEO, and Mark Pestrella, director of L.A. County Public Works. The missive was posted on X.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said a 6 p.m. curfew will remain in place for fire-affected areas in order to prevent further burglaries and looting and said his deputies would book people who violate that curfew into jail rather than cite and release.

“We are doing it to protect the structures — the houses that people left because we ordered them to leave,” he said. “I want them to feel confident that we are doing everything we can to protect that.”

Members of the National Guard arrived to help with traffic control and structure protection.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said his office is considering cases for arson, looting, curfew restriction, drones and scams.

Officials also addressed the erroneous messaging sent out by the county’s alert system, including one that went countywide of an evacuation warning meant only for those affected by the Kenneth fire. Kevin McGowan, director of the county’s Office of Emergency Services, said the messages were not being administered by a person.

“We have every technological specialist working to resolve this issue and to find the root cause,” McGowan said. “I implore everyone to not disable the messages on your phone. This is extremely frustrating, painful and scary, but these tools have saved lives during emergencies. Not receiving an alert can be a consequence of life and death.”