LA fires live updates: 38 people still missing, say officials as firefighters report gains against massive wildfires

The Hollywood sign was not on fire. Firefighters weren’t using women’s purses to put out fires. A fish is not responsible for the blazes. The Los Angeles fire department didn’t see big budget cuts. The fires were not started deliberately as some kind of mass plot related to high-speed rail or the 2028 Olympics. Firefighting efforts did not include spraying a mood stabilizer into the air to put locals into a trance. Diversity measures are not to blame.

“Misinformation can kind of rush into that void and give people explanations for why this is happening, and typically those explanations fit into kind of their existing beliefs or narratives that they want to perpetuate,” said Lisa Fazio, a professor of psychology and human development at Vanderbilt University.

After Hurricane Helene devastated North Carolina just before the election last November, misinformation similar to the claims circulating about Los Angeles emerged. Donald Trump, Elon Musk and others used the disaster to attack the Biden administration and spread unfounded claims.

Read the full story by The Guardian’s democracy reporter focused on misinformation, Rachel Leingang:

My colleague Katharine Gammon brings us this story of California residents who lost their fire insurance before the blazes erupted last week:

When James Borow realized last Tuesday that his Palisades house was on fire, he was 300 miles away in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show. The power was out at his house but a friend suggested he remotely turn on his Tesla and see if the cameras showed anything.

From the car camera, he watched in a panic as his house burned. As he drove home from Vegas to LA, he called his parents and told them: “You’ll see it on the news tomorrow, but the house is totally gone. I just watched it.”

Borow’s first concern was securing a place for his family to live. His second was insurance. Three months ago, he had received a letter from his insurer, State Farm, that his fire policy wasn’t being renewed. The letter advised him to get fire insurance through California’s Fair plan, created by lawmakers 50 years ago to help people who had no other options for insurance. “The end result was that my insurance increased 400%,” says Borow. “It was expensive, but it wasn’t complicated.”

Borow was one of 1,626 State Farm customers in the Palisades neighborhood whose fire insurance was not renewed at the end of 2024, according to California’s insurance office. They represented about 70% of State Farm’s market share in Pacific Palisades, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Some of the people dropped by insurance, like Borow, found insurance with Fair. For others, the steep prices, or certain fireproofing requirements issued by new insurers, were prohibitively expensive.

Francis Bischetti told the Los Angeles Times that Farmers Insurance, another major provider, had told him last year that his homeowners insurance for his house in the Pacific Palisades was going to increase from $4,500 to $18,000, which was out of reach for his budget. He was unable to get a Fair plan because he would have to cut down 10 trees around his house, another huge cost, he said. His house burned down, and he had no insurance.

Finding fire insurance for homes in areas with high fire risk is a challenge that will only increase for Californians, experts predict. Michael Coffey, an insurance defense litigator who works on large, global insurance cases, says he expects more insurance companies to leave the state – forcing prices up for everyone.

Read the full story here:

Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order today to provide temporary housing for those displaced by the Los Angeles firestorms.

“We are expediting the creation of new temporary housing by removing roadblocks and strengthening protections against exploitation,” said Newsom in a statement.

The order directs state departments to support local governments in creating temporary housing plans for fire victims, fast-tracks the construction of accessory dwelling units on affected properties by extending California Environmental Quality Act and Coastal Act exemptions, and allows temporary trailers and housing on properties during rebuilding efforts.

It waives mobile home park fees for three years, opens fairgrounds to provide emergency shelter, and extends protections against price gouging for hotels, motels, and rentals in Los Angeles county through 8 March 2025.

Lauren Aratani

The extreme winds behind the disastrous fires in Los Angeles are forecast to calm the rest of the week into the weekend, making it easier for firefighters to further efforts to put out the massive Palisades and Eaton fires that have been ablaze for over a week.

The National Weather Service said on Thursday that the “nine-day wind siege has finally ended” and the weekend will bring a “significant cooling trend” with higher humidity in the region. But it warned that high winds could pick up again early next week.

LA county supervisor Lindsey Horvath said that “price gouging continues to be an issue that is top of mind and a painful experience for those who are seeking to recover in this difficult time”.

She said that the Department of Consumer and Business Affairs has a price gouging task force that includes the LA district attorney, the county council’s consumer protection division, the LA city attorney, and the Santa Monica city attorney.

“I spoke again with our California attorney general, who is here in Los Angeles today, and he is pursuing vigorous investigations, which have already begun.”

Mark Pestrella, Los Angeles county public works director, said that in the event of major rain, “we do expect that all of the street areas and all the communities will be impacted by debris flows that could be hazardous to human health.”

He warned that “we do expect the window to open for rain in the later part of this month.”

“We are already pre-deploying labor forces into the area to make sure that the flood control system is ready.”

Sheriff Robert Luna said that 31 people remain missing, 24 in the Eaton area, which represents an increase of four from Wednesday.

Seven people are missing in the Palisades area as of Thursday, which is an increase of one from the day before.

Robert Luna, sheriff of Los Angeles county, said officials have arrested 36 people at the Eaton incident and 11 at Palisades.

The Los Angeles county fire chief, Anthony Marrone, said at a news conference on Thursday that the Eaton fire remains at 14,117 acres with 55% containment. Over 7,000 structures are damaged or destroyed, he said.

“A limited red flag warning remains in effect through 3pm today for the Santa Susana mountains, the Western San Gabriel mountains and the I-5 corridor,” Marrone said. “We look forward to the weather conditions returning to normal this evening.”

“However, a moderate red flag event is predicted for this coming Monday and Tuesday,” he added.

Windy, flame-fanning weather in southern California has eased up as firefighters report significant gains against the two massive wildfires burning around Los Angeles, the Associated Press reports.

A “particularly dangerous situation” red-flag warning has expired as of Wednesday. But dry conditions and gusty winds are expected to linger into Thursday, mostly in the mountains.

Improved conditions expected later this week should help fire crews and allow residents to return to their neighborhoods.

The fires have killed at least 25 people and destroyed thousands of homes.