Emergency Website for NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is within the mandatory evacuation zone for the Eaton Fire and is closed to employees and visitors on Wednesday, Jan. 8. The laboratory will remain closed until Monday, Jan 13. Additional updates on the Laboratory’s status will be posted on this site (emergency.jpl.nasa.gov).

Currently, JPL facilities, labs and hardware are secured and protected. Deep Space Network operations, normally conducted at JPL, have been moved offsite to a back-up operations center.

As of Tuesday night, employees were directed to work from home, with only a small number of critical personnel on-site Wednesday morning. Our Protective Services Department is maintaining constant communication with the Eaton Fire emergency command center, and the Laboratory is currently receiving assistance from the LA County Fire Department.

Also on Tuesday night, the mesa above JPL was made available to support firefighting helicopters; however, flights were cancelled due to high winds. The mesa remains available to assist firefighting efforts aimed at protecting nearby neighborhoods and JPL itself.

The safety of our employees is our top priority. We also keep our neighboring communities—many of which are home to our employees and their families—in our thoughts as they endure the challenges and devastation of this fire.

JPL is closed due to mandatory high wind and wildfire evacuations. All personnel are under mandatory telework with no Lab access except for designated personnel.

Due to current and anticipated high winds and wildfire risk, all personnel are under mandatory telework tomorrow (1/8) with no Lab access except for designated PSD, DSN, and Facilities personnel.

We will continue to provide additional updates as needed. Please ensure you are following instructions from local authorities regarding evacuation orders or warnings.

Updated Jan. 7 at 9:46  a.m.

The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning and high wind warning in effect from 10 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 7 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 8, with northeast winds at 30 to 50 mph with widespread gusts between 60 and 80 mph expected, isolated gusts between 80 and 100 mph possible. The strongest winds are expected across the San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley, and Santa Monica Mountains.

Remote work is recommended for personnel today and tomorrow if possible. For those currently on Lab, please return home as safe conditions allow.

The East Gate is currently closed. Utilize the West Gate and South Gate to access Lab.

For the latest information, visit https://www.weather.gov/lox/.

JPL will post information on this page for the Lab community during an emergency. The page is accessible on and off Lab without logging into the JPL network.