Photo: AGUSTIN PAULLIER / AFP / Getty Images
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SANTA MONICA (CNS) - Santa Monica Wednesday instituted a curfew in the wake of the Palisades Fire.
City Manager David White signed the order late Wednesday and the Santa Monica City Council will be required to call a special meeting to officially certify the order within seven days, according to a statement from the city.
The emergency order includes a curfew -- from sunset to sunrise -- in the areas where a mandatory evacuation order is in effect to support law enforcement efforts in these zones, and other measures to facilitate an effective response.
"The Palisades Fire is currently impacting neighborhoods in the northern part of Santa Monica with approximately 2,472 households under a mandatory evacuation order within the city of Santa Monica and 8,338 under a voluntary evacuation warning," Mayor Lana Negrete said
"This emergency order further assists our first responders and further protects residents as we weather this regional crisis and, ultimately, begin and support recovery efforts."
The Santa Monica Police Department, along with mutual aid law enforcement partners, has been deployed during the course of the Palisades Fire to support evacuation efforts and protect life and property.
"The local emergency order provides Santa Monica police and our mutual aid partners another tool to continue to protect our community," White said. "Our first responders are out patrolling, staying vigilant and coordinating with our partners throughout this emergency on all fronts.
"The order helps us ensure nobody enters impacted areas who is not supposed to, particularly those with nefarious intentions attempting to take advantage of the mandatory evacuations."
The local emergency order also:
-- Allows impacted schools to temporarily operate within non- residential zones in Santa Monica;
-- Suspends preferential parking rules and enforcement for residents providing accommodations for those displaced by the Palisades Fire;
-- Prohibits price gouging for emergency and recovery goods and services;
-- Restricts evictions of residential tenants who provide accommodation to those displaced by evacuation orders, including their pets; and
-- Prohibits construction activities in evacuation areas and allows for extended time to complete the work.