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Exhausted firefighters are making slow progress against three fires burning in Los Angeles ahead of a forecasted return of extreme wind conditions in the coming days.
As the firefight enters its sixth day, here’s everything you need to know.
- The Palisades fire remains the largest at 23,706 acres burnt (9593 hectares) and six days into the firefight it is only 11 per cent contained.
- The Eaton fire has burnt 14,117 acres (5712 hectares) and is 27 per cent contained.
- The smaller Hurst fire is still burning, but is now 89 per cent contained.
- The official death toll has hit 16, and a further 16 people are missing. That number is set to rise.
- Firefighters are making slow progress today before weather conditions deteriorate in coming days.
- Forecasters are predicting more severe fire conditions in the coming days. A “Red Flag Warning” was issued by the National Weather Service for strong winds and dry conditions.
- More than 12,000 structures have been burnt by the fires. Structures include homes, businesses and cars.
- Sheriff Robert Luna of Los Angeles County said 29 people have been arrest in fire zones, including a man who dressed like a firefighter to loot a home, The New York Times reports.
Firefighters are making the most of mild conditions today to beat back as much of the fires as they can before intense winds pick up again in the coming days.
The Santa Ana winds, which can reach extreme gusts, have fuelled the rapid spread of the fires. Now the National Weather Service is predicting these winds will return, and combined with extremely dry conditions, will create the perfect conditions for fires to spread.
Smoke from the Palisades fire seen from afar.Credit: AP
The service calls this a “Red Flag Warning”.
The service predicts “critical fire weather conditions due to moderate to locally strong Santa Ana winds through at least Tuesday and likely through Wednesday”.
“It will be very dry through the period with daytime humidities largely between 10 and 20 per cent with minimal improvement at night. The very dry vegetation combined with the prolonged extreme fire weather conditions will support rapid spread and erratic behaviour of any new or existing fires.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed an executive order to suspend some of the state’s environmental regulations in a bid to expedite rebuilds.
The order temporarily exempts fire victims from requirements under the California Environment Quality Act and the California Coastal Act. He also extended protections against price gouging on building materials for the next year.
California Governor Gavin Newsom surveys damage in Pacific Palisades.Credit: AP
“We want you to come back, rebuild – and rebuild with higher quality building standards, more modern standards – we want to make sure that associated costs with that are not disproportionate, especially in a middle-class community like this,” Newsom said on NBC’s Meet the Press in Altadena, California.
He’s fighting a war at home, but Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has offered to send a team of Ukrainian firefighters to help battle the fires in Los Angeles.
In his daily address Zelensky said he has asked his minister of internal affairs to prepare for the possibility of sending Ukrainians to California.
A firefighter monitors the Palisades Fire.Credit: Bloomberg
“The situation there is extremely challenging, and Ukrainians can help Americans protect lives,” he said.
“This matter is being worked out, and through appropriate channels, we have offered our assistance to the American side. We already have 150 firefighters prepared.”
Firefighters were slowly making progress in their battle to contain the Pacific Palisades inferno, but spreading flames and strong winds still threatened communities in the populous San Fernando Valley.
Aircraft have dropped water and fire retardant on steep hills to stem the eastward spread of the Palisades Fire and while ground crews have managed to save a number of houses, others have been lost.
“LA County had another night of unimaginable terror and heartbreak,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said on Monday AEDT.
Six simultaneous blazes that have ripped across the second-largest US city since Tuesday have killed at least 16 people. The police chief said a further 16 were missing.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said he expected the death toll to increase.
“I’ve got search and rescue teams out. We’ve got cadaver dogs out and there’s likely to be a lot more,” he told NBC’s Meet the Press program.
Newsom said the fires were likely to be the worst natural disaster in US history “in terms of just the costs associated with it”.
He signed an executive order to reduce the amount of state government red tape needed to rebuild lost homes and businesses.
Reuters
California officials including Governor Gavin Newsom have invited President-elect Donald Trump to tour the fire-damaged areas.
In just two weeks Trump will become president, and inherit responsibility for federal aid promised to California by outgoing President Joe Biden.
President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Republican governors at Mar-a-Lago.Credit: AP
Trump hasn’t responded. His staff didn’t respond to a request for comment.
LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said she’s been in touch with “high-ranking people within the incoming administration” but not Trump himself. She said she would follow up [on] Sunday on her invitation to Trump to visit.
LA Mayor Karen Bass said on Sunday she’d also been in touch with Trump representatives but has not spoken directly to the president-elect.
Trump hasn’t directly responded to the invitations, and instead has taken to his Truth Social platform to lay blame on Californian politicians for the disaster.
“They just can’t put out the fires. What’s wrong with them?” he said.
With Bloomberg
Along with crews from other states and Mexico, hundreds of inmates from California’s prison system are also helping firefighting efforts.
Nearly 950 incarcerated firefighters were dispatched “to cut fire lines and remove fuel to slow fire spread,” according to an update from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Though the state has long relied on prison labour to fight fires, the practice is controversial as the inmates are paid little for dangerous and difficult work. Inmates are paid up to roughly $US10.24 ($16.65 dollars) each day, with additional money for 24-hour shifts, according to the corrections department.
You can read more about incarcerated firefighters here.
AP
Exhausted firefighters are making slow progress against three fires burning in Los Angeles ahead of a forecasted return of extreme wind conditions in the coming days.
As the firefight enters its sixth day, here’s everything you need to know.
- The Palisades fire remains the largest at 23,706 acres burnt (9593 hectares) and six days into the firefight it is only 11 per cent contained.
- The Eaton fire has burnt 14,117 acres (5712 hectares) and is 27 per cent contained.
- The smaller Hurst fire is still burning, but is now 89 per cent contained.
- The official death toll has hit 16, and a further 16 people are missing. That number is set to rise.
- Firefighters are making slow progress today before weather conditions deteriorate in coming days.
- Forecasters are predicting more severe fire conditions in the coming days. A “Red Flag Warning” was issued by the National Weather Service for strong winds and dry conditions.
- More than 12,000 structures have been burnt by the fires. Structures include homes, businesses and cars.
- Sheriff Robert Luna of Los Angeles County said 29 people have been arrest in fire zones, including a man who dressed like a firefighter to loot a home, The New York Times reports.
