The 405 Freeway was shut down and four homes, including some multi-million dollar properties, were destroyed Wednesday when the fast-moving Skirball fire chewed through vegetation near the Getty Center in Los Angeles.

Another 11 homes were damaged in the inferno.

The Skirball fire was first reported at 4:52 a.m. on the east side of the freeway near the Sepulveda Pass and Bel-Air. By 7 p.m. the fire had grown to more than 475 acres and was 5 percent contained, fire officials said, as they continued to battle sustained winds of 15 to 25 mph Wednesday. The winds have been a challenge for firefighters on the front lines throughout Southern California.

Los Angeles City firefighters planned to continue their work against the fire overnight, and the Police Department had officers in place around the Mandeville Canyon area in case the flames spread toward the Brentwood area, officials said at a Wednesday night news conference.

“What we’re concerned about now is, should the fire spark up or flare up, we are concerned with areas west of the 405 Freeway,” Los Angeles Police Deputy Chief Dennis Kato said during the conference at a command center established near UCLA’s Jackie Robinson stadium.

Mandeville Canyon, north of the main part of Brentwood, is a place of narrow and windy roads. Kato and Los Angeles Councilman Paul Koretz, who also spoke during the news conference, emphasized that any residents who receive an evacuation order should obey emergency orders.

“We have to implore you. Get your animals, get whatever possessions you can and leave,” Koretz said.

UCLA announced classes on Thursday would be canceled, noting “the array of uncertainties caused by the fire near campus.”

“This is a difficult decision, since final exams begin on Saturday,” the university said on its website. “The university remains safe, remains outside the evacuation area, and The South Coast Air Quality Management District continues to indicate that campus air quality is in the moderate range. However, canceling Thursday classes will allow UCLA officials to assess logistical issues in advance of finals week. UCLA medical centers and clinics will be fully operational.”

UCLA earlier canceled its men’s basketball game against Montana at Pauley Pavilion on Wednesday due to concerns about area wildfires.

A mandatory evacuation was in place for the area surrounded by Mulholland Drive, Roscomare Road, Sunset Boulevard and the 405 Freeway.

The exception to the evacuation order was the Bel-Air Crest housing development, which was not threatened, Mayor Eric Garcetti said.

The area where the Skirball Fire is burning hasn’t had a major fire since the 1961 Bel Air Fire, said Peter Sanders, the Los Angeles Fire Department’s public information director.

He said firefighters continued to work on active firefighting and containment operations, including air drops, at the time of the 10 p.m. conference.

“We are dealing with a number of flare ups now that the wind has come back,” Sanders said.

Los Angeles City firefighters battle the Skirball Fire in Bel-Air on Wednesday, Dec. 06, 2017. (Photo by Ed Crisostomo, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Los Angeles City firefighters battle the Skirball Fire in Bel-Air on Wednesday, Dec. 06, 2017. (Photo by Ed Crisostomo, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

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Los Angeles City firefighters battle the Skirball Fire on Casiano Road in Bel-Air on Wednesday, Dec. 06, 2017. (Photo by Ed Crisostomo, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Los Angeles City firefighter Luis Vargas battles the Skirball Fire on Casiano Road in Bel-Air on Wednesday, Dec. 06, 2017. (Photo by Ed Crisostomo, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Los Angeles City firefighters battle the Skirball Fire on Bel Terrace in Bel-Air on Wednesday, Dec. 06, 2017. (Photo by Ed Crisostomo, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)



Los Angeles City firefighters battle the Skirball Fire on Casiano Road in Bel-Air on Wednesday, Dec. 06, 2017. (Photo by Ed Crisostomo, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Los Angeles City firefighters battle the Skirball Fire in Bel-Air on Wednesday, Dec. 06, 2017. (Photo by Ed Crisostomo, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Los Angeles City firefighters battle the Skirball Fire on Bel Terrace in Bel-Air on Wednesday, Dec. 06, 2017. (Photo by Ed Crisostomo, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Los Angeles City firefighters battle the Skirball Fire in Bel-Air on Wednesday, Dec. 06, 2017. (Photo by Ed Crisostomo, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Los Angeles City firefighters battle the Skirball Fire on Casiano Road Bel-Air on Wednesday, Dec. 06, 2017. (Photo by Ed Crisostomo, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)



Los Angeles City firefighters battle the Skirball Fire in Bel-Air on Wednesday, Dec. 06, 2017. (Photo by Ed Crisostomo, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

A resident sprays water by her home as Los Angeles City firefighters battle the Skirball Fire on Casiano Road in Bel-Air on Wednesday, Dec. 06, 2017. (Photo by Ed Crisostomo, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Los Angeles City firefighters Tanner Keeler, left, and Francisco Martinez protect a home on Bel Terrace as firefighters battle the Skirball Fire in Bel-Air on Wednesday, Dec. 06, 2017. (Photo by Ed Crisostomo, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Los Angeles City firefighters battle the Skirball Fire on Casiano Road in Bel-Air on Wednesday, Dec. 06, 2017. (Photo by Ed Crisostomo, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

A resident watches as Los Angeles City firefighter protect her home on Bel Terrace as firefighters battle the Skirball Fire in Bel-Air on Wednesday, Dec. 06, 2017. (Photo by Ed Crisostomo, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)



Los Angeles City firefighters battle the Skirball Fire on Casiano Road in Bel-Air on Wednesday, Dec. 06, 2017. (Photo by Ed Crisostomo, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Los Angeles City firefighter Francisco Martinez protects a home on Bel Terrace as firefighters battle the Skirball Fire in Bel-Air on Wednesday, Dec. 06, 2017. (Photo by Ed Crisostomo, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Thick black smoke rises into the air Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017, from a burning home in the Skirball fire. (Photo by Gene Blevins/Special to the Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Flames erupt out of a Bel-Air mansion Wednesday afternoon as the Skirball fire continues to burn through the area. (Photo by Gene Blevins/SCNG)

Traffic backs up on the southbound 405 Freeway while the northbound lanes are closed due to the Skirball fire Wednesday morning. (Photo by Gene Blevins for the Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)



Traffic backs up on the southbound 405 Freeway while the northbound lanes are closed due to the Skirball fire Wednesday morning. (Photo by Gene Blevins for the Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

A Los Angeles firefighter battles the Skirball Fire on Wednesday in the Bel-Air area that prompted the shutdown of the 405 Freeway. (Ed Crisostomo/Staff Photographer)

Los Angeles firefighters are ready to protect homes Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017, in the Bel-Air area where the Skirball fire erupted early in the morning. (Photo by Ed Crisostomo/Los Angeles Daily News)

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti talks during a news conference on the Skirball fire burning in the Sepulveda Pass Wednesday morning. (Photo by Olga Grigoryants)

LA City firefighters put out hot spots in the Skirball Fire on a canyon along Linda Flora Drive in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday, December 6, 2017. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)



LA City firefighters put out hot spots in the Skirball Fire on a canyon along Linda Flora Drive in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday, December 6, 2017. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

LA City firefighters put out hot spots in the Skirball Fire on a canyon along Linda Flora Drive in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday, December 6, 2017. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

LA City firefighters put out hot spots in the Skirball Fire on a canyon along Linda Flora Drive in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday, December 6, 2017. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

An LA City firefighters pulls hose around a house as a helicopter drops water during the Skirball Fire along Linda Flora Drive in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday, December 6, 2017. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

An LA City firefighters pulls hose around a house as a helicopter drops water during the Skirball Fire along Linda Flora Drive in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday, December 6, 2017. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)



An helicopter drops water on the Skirball Fire in a canyon along along Linda Flora Drive in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday, December 6, 2017. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

An helicopter drops water on the Skirball Fire in a canyon along along Linda Flora Drive in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday, December 6, 2017. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

An helicopter drops water on the Skirball Fire in a canyon along along Linda Flora Drive in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday, December 6, 2017. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

An helicopter drops water on the Skirball Fire in a canyon along along Linda Flora Drive in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday, December 6, 2017. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

An helicopter drops water on the Skirball Fire in a canyon along along Linda Flora Drive in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday, December 6, 2017. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)



LA City firefighters put out hot spots in the Skirball Fire on a canyon along Linda Flora Drive in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday, December 6, 2017. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

LA City firefighters put out hot spots in the Skirball Fire on a canyon along Linda Flora Drive in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday, December 6, 2017. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

LA City firefighters put out hot spots in the Skirball Fire on a canyon along Linda Flora Drive in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday, December 6, 2017. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

LA City firefighters put out hot spots in the Skirball Fire on a canyon along Linda Flora Drive in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday, December 6, 2017. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

LA City firefighters put out hot spots in the Skirball Fire on a canyon along Linda Flora Drive in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday, December 6, 2017. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)



LA City firefighters put out hot spots in the Skirball Fire on a canyon along Linda Flora Drive in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday, December 6, 2017. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Earlier, the fire was kept to the 405’s east side and with winds easing, the forward movement of the fire was halted by the afternoon.

Forecasters were predicting gusts up to 90 mph in some areas late Wednesday night into Thursday, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Stephen Harrison.

Discussing the fire’s damage statistics, LAFD spokesman Brian Humphrey said: “The most important number, still no reports of injuries to civilians or firefighters.”

Drew Smith a fire behavior analyst with the LAFD, talked Wednesday about how the fire crews have been able to fight the fires.

“We captured the big animal and hope it will stay captured,” he said referring to the fire. “We still have some huge amount of threat. The firefighting crews are really aggressively engaged. We have some critical points that we are working on with our aircrafts.”

The California Highway Patrol initially closed both sides of the 405 Freeway between the 101 and the 10 freeways, along with on-ramps, off-ramps and freeway transition roads in the affected area. The southbound lanes were reopened just before 9 a.m. while most northbound lanes reopened by 1:30 p.m.

Two lanes of the northbound 405 remained closed at Getty Center Drive to ease fire crews’ access to the offramp and fire, according to Marc Bischoff, a Caltrans spokesman. Those lanes were opened at 3:30 p.m. Caltrans officials have said the off-ramps for Moraga, Getty Center and Skirball Center drives from the northbound 405 remain closed until further notice.

Garcetti declared a local state of emergency in response to the Skirball fire, requesting state and federal assistance. He signed an emergency declaration Tuesday due to the Creek fire near Sylmar. Gov. Jerry Brown also declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles and Ventura counties Tuesday in response to the fires in the area.

“These are days that break your heart; but these are also days that show the resilience of our city,” Garcetti said.

Mandatory evacuations were issued for approximately 2,200 people, according to a news release from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). FEMA approved the use of federal funds to assist in the combat of the fire after it was “determined the Skirball fire threatened such destruction as would constitute a major disaster.”

Residents near Mullholand, Sunset, and Mandeville Canyon Road, on the other side of the 405 were told to be prepared for possible evacuation if the flames jumped the freeway, LAFD Capt. Cody Weireter said.

“Please stay out of the area until we tell you it’s safe to return,” Koretz said at an afternoon news conference. He also said that residents in the areas adjacent to the fire should be prepared to go should the fire spread.

“It’s critical that you cooperate,” Koretz said of those being asked to evacuate, “for the sake of your lives and the safety of your neighbors and first responders.”

Evacuation centers were set up at the Delano Recreation Center, 15100 Erwin St. in Van Nuys, the Balboa Recreation Center, at 17015 Burbank Blvd. in Van Nuys; and the Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks Recreation Center at 14201 Huston St. in Sherman Oaks.

A shelter initially set up at Barrington Recreation Center was forced to close around 9 a.m. Wednesday due to smoke, according to a tweet from Garcetti.

Evacuation centers were also set up at the Westwood Recreation Center, 1350 Sepulveda Blvd. in Westwood; and at Cheviot Hills Recreation Center, 2551 Motor Ave in Cheviot Hills.

According to L.A. city park staffers, evacuation shelters were set up in gyms at parks in the south San Fernando Valley communities of Encino and Van Nuys.

At Sherman Oaks Recreation Center, Brian and Claudia Petrunich, a retired lawyer and defense industry employee, respectively, were the first evacuees to show up by 10:30 a.m.

“I don’t want to lose my home,” said Brian Petrunich, who was optimistic the fire won’t reach it unless winds shift. “But I don’t want to die either. There’s no point in panicking or crying about it. Let me share some advice: ‘Never cry over anything that can’t cry over you.'”

Brian Petrunich said they left their home in Roscomare Road in Bel-Air, taking surface streets to the San Fernando Valley, after police came through the neighborhood with a mandatory-evacuation alert. They brought a “go bag” with essentials.

“Isn’t it amazing how everything becomes unimportant? You think, ‘What do I really need?’ You become philosophical,” Claudia Petrunich said in the center’s parking lot.

Brentwood resident Patricia Moore, 83, wasn’t told to evacuate from her home, but firefighters told her to be prepared.

“It’s scary and we are ready to go. We woke up this morning and saw that the fire was much closer than we expected,” Moore said. “We dressed and put our stuff in the car. We are ready to leave.”

Instead of going to an evacuation center, Moore had planned to stay at Hotel Angeleno near the 405 Freeway, but then realized the hotel is much closer to the fire than her Brentwood house.

“Those houses burned just as fast as the other ones,” Moore said of the homes that burned earlier in the day. “That’s just stuff. People’s lives are much more important.”

About 100 officers from the Los Angeles Police Department were sent to the neighborhood to handle evacuation orders, said LAPD Chief Charlie Beck. Citywide, about 600 officers were assigned to coordinate security and various “firefighting events,” Beck said.

The ongoing Creek fire in the Sylmar area has scorched more than 11,000 acres.

“It’s been years since anything has burned at all,” LAFD Capt. Weireter said as crews worked to set up initial hose lines Wednesday morning.

The fire was burning in the same area as the devastating Bel-Air Fire of 1961. That blaze destroyed about 500 homes and led to various policy changes, including a prohibition on wood-shingle roofing and the strict requirement to remove brush from around properties.

Fifty-two fire engines were deployed, according to LAFD Chief Ralph Terrazas, who noted that red flag conditions are expected to remain in effect through the week. Other agencies assisting include the U.S. Forest Service, Los Angeles County Fire Department and Cal Fire.

The Getty Center and the nearby Skirball Center are both on the west side of the freeway, but the fire was threatening homes toward the top of the hill on the east side.

Officials with the Getty Center said the museum would stay closed through Thursday and onsite staff were taking precautions to make sure their art collection wasn’t damaged by smoke. The Getty Villa in Malibu will also be closed.

Santa Monica College and all schools in the Santa Monica-Malibu school district were closed.

Los Angeles Unified School District officials say at least 265 schools will be closed both Thursday and Friday due to the continuing fires. A full list of affected schools will be posted on the district’s website.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The fire affected people in different ways.

Life more or less went on during a breezy Wednesday night in Westwood Village, a short distance south from the fire zone.

Glowing cinema marquees and Christmas lights wrapped around street trees and illuminated the streets and those who ventured into the area for the likes of a cup of coffee or a meal.

Boxer Shane Mosley and his girlfriend, Trista Pisani, were among those who went out Wednesday night. Pisani said she has two sisters who live in Sherman Oaks and she invited one of her siblings, who is pregnant, to spend the night with her in Playa del Rey where she would be farther away from the fire.

“I’m trying to convince her to come back,” Pisani said.

“Those fires jump quick,” Pisani also said. “They jump far.”

The air around Westwood Village didn’t seem to be very smoky Wednesday night, but two UCLA students wore masks over there faces while outside.

“Looking at all the ash on our window, it’s like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to breathe that in,'” said one, who only provided her first name, Hannah.

“I was coughing a little when I was going to class,” said another student, who identified herself as Jane D.

Staff writers Ogla Grigoryants, Kevin Modesti, Brenda Gazzar and Andrew Edwards; and City News Service contributed to this report.