This post was updated Oct. 21 at 7:42 p.m.

A brush fire erupted in the Pacific Palisades on Monday, sending a plume of smoke visible from campus high into the air.

Los Angeles Fire Department officials responded to a fire near Sunset Boulevard and Palisades Drive on Monday around 10:40 a.m. The fire had consumed an estimated 40 acres of brush as of 5 p.m., according to an LAFD update.

The fire is less than 6 miles from campus.

LAFD has ordered a mandatory evacuation for all residents within the area bordered by Charmel Lane on the west, Bienveneda Avenue on the east, the end of Lachman Lane on the north, and Merivale Lane according to the update.

“The reason for that is that area was heavily impacted by smoke and we had a lot of aircraft in the area,” LAFD Assistant Chief Patrick Butler said at a media briefing.

One lane of Palisades Drive was open as of 5 p.m., and residents with identification living in the Palisades Highlands were  allowed back into their homes with police escort, according to an afternoon alert.

Two hundred homes had been evacuated across eight residential blocks by around 12:30 p.m., according to an LAFD spokesperson.

Palisades resident Corey Brown was not in an evacuation zone, but said he packed cash, his pets, his favorite guitar and some electronics just in case he needed to evacuate as well.

“Those are just the few first things that came to my mind as the only things that I would want to have on me,” the UCLA alumnus said.

Michelle Hao, a fourth-year human biology and society student, said the fire prevented her from going to her job at an orthodontist’s office in Pacific Palisades.

“I noticed on my walk back home, I noticed a big cloud of smoke,” Hao said. “I called the (orthodontist’s) office and they recommended I don’t come in because of the evacuation orders.”

The cause of the fire was not yet determined at the time of the 3:30 p.m. media briefing. Two injuries were reported, one being a firefighter who sustained minor injuries and one civilian who cited moderate respiratory distress, Butler said in the briefing.

LAFD expects to stay in the area for the next 10 hours battling the blaze.

The fire has not caused any reported injuries so far.

Administrative Vice Chancellor Michael Beck said in an email statement that there is no risk to the UCLA campus at the moment.

UCLA Fire is in communication with LAFD and is monitoring the fire, he added.

This is a developing story, and will be updated as more information becomes available. 

Contributing reports by Jintak Han and David Gray, Daily Bruin senior staff.