Southern California braced for ‘extremely difficult fire conditions’ as life threatening winds pick up pace
The time is 5am in Los Angeles, 8am in New York and 1pm in London. Here is the latest situation
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Southern California is braced for “extremely critical fire conditions” as strong Santa Ana winds are forecast and are expected to cause new wildfires and set back recent progress to tackle the blazes.
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Firefighters in Los Angeles expect a difficult and treacherous day amid dangerous winds and the threat of fire spread.
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A Red Flag weather warning is in place with winds of up to 70mph forecast.
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The Eaton Fire is at 14,117 acres and 33% contained. The Pacific Palisades Fire is at 23,713 acres and 14% contained The Hurst Fire is at 799 acres and 97% contained, according to latest updates from Cal Fire.
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Thousands of homes have been destroyed and at least 24 people have been killed. The death toll is expected to rise.
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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and other officials are confident they are ready to face the new threat of fires sparked into life by stronger winds. “We’re absolutely better prepared,” LA County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said.
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Just under 100,000 people in Los Angeles County remain under evacuation orders, half the number from last week.
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AccuWeather has estimated the fires could be the costliest ever seen in the US. It has made an early estimation that the total costs could top $250bn (€243bn, £205bn)
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Dozens of water trucks were in place to replenish supplies after hydrants ran dry last week.
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LA County’s fire chief says crews are better prepared but warns that everyone in the potential fire zones should be ready to evacuate.
I’m handing over to my colleague Anna Betts in New York. Thanks for reading.
Key events
Officials urge people to be prepared to evacuate if needed.
“We are giving this fire everything we’ve got” Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said. “This is a particularly dangerous situation, from now through tomorrow, the strongest winds will be this evening, and we ask everyone to get prepared now to evacuate.”
The libraries in Los Angeles County have FEMA staff available to provide assistance, Horvath added.
“Yesterday, I signed an executive directive to begin to lay the foundation policy wise for the rebuilding effort” Bass said.
“We’re going to make it through these next few days, but we want to begin to think about how we rebuild the massive destruction that I saw from the air” the Mayor added. “We don’t want people burdened by red tape and bureaucracy.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said that she did an aerial tour of the impacted areas yesterday.
“The massive, massive destruction is unimaginable until you actually see it” Bass said.
After the aerial tour, Bass said that she spoke with firefighters who have been on the job for 25, 30 years, who told her that they had “never seen destruction like this.”
“They have never seen wind so fierce in Los Angeles and California” Bass added.
Official urges mask use as high winds expected to blow ash from Palisades fire
Anish Mahajan, the chief deputy director of the Los Angeles County health department, said that a wind blown dust advisory has been issued due to the strong winds expected on Tuesday.
“High winds may disperse the ashes from the Palisades eaten and other fire burn scars” Mahajan said. “Wind blown ash from burn structures may contain higher air toxic levels if you see the ash, take precautions to reduce your exposure.”
Mahajan urged people to wear N95 or P100 masks if they are in an area affected by ash.
Over the last two days, the police have arrested three people for setting fires, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell said.
Those fires were put out and the suspects were booked and taken into custody.
The Los Angeles Police Department has made 14 arrests, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell said.
The arrests include failure to obey curfew, impersonating an officer, impersonating a firefighter, unauthorized entry, vandalism, possession of ammunition, and burglary.
Los Angeles Police Department Chief says as of this morning, 34 people were reported missing and the LAPD reports that 21 of them have been found safe.
Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell said that of the 13 remaining, 2 “most likely have been found deceased but have yet to be positively identified”. 11 remain unaccounted for, he said.
McDonnell said that there were three fatalities that “are fire related” and one person who died at a hospital but was not reported missing.
Winds still pose ‘tremendous threat’, LA officials say
While peak winds today are not expected to be as strong as last week’s wind event, they still pose a “tremendous threat”, Los Angeles officials said.
“As we enter into another period of dangerously high winds, we remain deployed and ready to assist with any additional evacuations should that need arise” said Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell.
He added, “And if you’re asked to evacuate, please listen to all evacuation orders as they are meant as a life saving measure.”
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna says that they have searched approximately 3,654 properties in the Altadena area and 1,800 properties in Eaton.
“This operation continues” Luna said. “It’s active, not easy work, and the good news was that no other remains were found yesterday.”
The death toll stands at 21 for the department’s area, not including LAPD or Pasadena numbers, Luna said.
“We are actively working 24 missing person cases, 18 in the Eaton area, six in the Malibu area, all adults” Luna added.
39 arrests made for burglary, curfew breaches and drone incidents
In total, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department have reported 39 arrests, officials said.
33 of those arrests are in the Eaton Fire area, Luna said, and 6 in the Palisades area.
The arrests include for burglary, curfew arrests, and drone incidences.
About 88,000 residents are under evaucation orders, and 84,800 residents are under evacuation warnings, Los Angeles County officials said.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said that though there is a decrease in the number of residents under evacuation orders and warnings, “it is still very dangerous for the next 24 hours, so we’re keeping a very close eye.”
“That’s why we have not downgraded the number of personnel” Luna said.
Curfew is still in effect, Luna said, from 6pm to 6am, for the impacted evacuation orderareas.
The Palisades fire is at 23,713 acres and 17% containment, fire officials said.
Kristin Crowley, the Fire Chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department, added that 5200 personnel are assigned to the fire.
“Firefighters will continue to work tirelessly throughout the day to increase containment lines prevent further spread and address any flare ups” Crowley said.
The Hurst fire is at 799 acres, Crowley added and is 97% contained.
