The Getty Fire, the latest in a recent string of blazes to tear through California, broke out this morning approximately 16 miles from Emerson’s Los Angeles campus.

Operations at ELA remain normal despite forced evacuations for close to 180,000 residents of West Los Angeles, according to Associate Dean of Students and Chief Operations Officer at ELA Timothy Chang

“Everything right now is normal other than the fact that we have some staff that live out that way,” Chang said in a phone call from Los Angeles. “We’re trying to be mindful of their sensitivity to needing to evacuate at a moment’s notice.”

As of 3 p.m. PST, the fire moved westward, away from ELA’s campus.

In an email to the Emerson community, President M. Lee Pelton wrote that the college is closely monitoring the fire and the LA campus remains safe.

“Emerson’s Los Angeles campus is safe; the fires are 16 miles away from ELA, and the air quality near campus remains unaffected,” Pelton wrote.

Chang confirmed the air quality remains acceptable.

“I would say that the air quality is no worse where we are than it typically is at this time of year,” he said. “It feels really normal where we are.”