Devastating wildfires continue to burn through Los Angeles County, fueled by dangerous winds and dry conditions. The death toll has risen to 25, with hundreds of thousands under evacuation orders. Firefighters are battling two major blazes, the Palisades and Eaton fires, as they brace for an onslaught of powerful winds.
The battle against devastating wildfires that have gripped Los Angeles County for nearly a week, destroying thousands of structures and killing at least 25 people, continued Monday as officials prepared for the onset of another round of dangerous winds that will significantly heighten fire risk. Over the last 24 hours, both the Eaton and Palisades fires saw increased containment and no significant growth.
But officials are still on high alert ahead of red flag conditions expected to begin early Tuesday and last through noon Wednesday. 'We are not in the clear as of yet and we must not let our guard down,' Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said during a news conference Monday. The National Weather Service has issued an ominous 'particularly dangerous situation' warning for swaths of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, cautioning of wind gusts ranging from 45 mph to 70 mph, dry air and a higher risk of rapid fire spread and extreme fire behavior. Issuing this warning 'is one of the loudest ways that we can shout,' said Rose Schoenfeld, a National Weather Service meteorologist. 'This is a continued extreme fire weather and wind scenario,' Schoenfeld said. The sobering forecast comes as firefighters have worked through the weekend to boost containment of the Palisades and Eaton fires. The Palisades fire had burned more than 23,700 acres and was 14% contained as of early Monday. The Eaton fire, which has burned more than 14,100 acres, was 33% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Mexican firefighters and emergency personnel have arrived in Los Angeles to help with the fire fight. Gov. Gavin Newsom said 72 firefighters arrived Saturday, joining thousands of others battling the fires. Newsom said Sunday he was deploying an additional 1,000 members of the California National Guard to fire-ravaged Los Angeles. The new additions will bring the total number of Guard members in the region to about 2,500 by Monday, according to the governor’s office. Hundreds of federal personnel and aerial support have also been deployed to California to support firefighting efforts, President Biden said Monday. Roughly 92,000 people remain under evacuation orders and 89,000 more people are in areas where evacuation warnings have been issued. Crowley said that fire crews had made extensive preparations in advance of the latest extreme weather event. 'As we speak, the Los Angeles City Fire Department has maximized our resource capabilities and response capabilities. ... I have strategically pre-positioned engine strike teams and task forces, which are dedicated to rapid response for any new fire that breaks out in the city,' Crowley said. These preparations include reinforcing fire control lines around the Eaton and Palisades fires, clearing dry brush away from surviving structures, and staging resources in areas where new fires could ignite. The Governor's Office of Emergency Services has also pre-positioned additional engines, fire crews, helicopters, bulldozers and water tenders across all of Southern California. Crews are preparing for a worst-case scenario where high winds prevent the use of firefighting aircraft from strategically dropping retardant around the fires' perimeters. 'The National Weather Service is predicting close to hurricane force level winds and so we're making urgent preparations,' Mayor Karen Bass said. 'My top priority and the top priority of everyone else is to do everything we can to protect lives.' The number of confirmed deaths from the devastating Palisades and Eaton fires jumped to 25, officials said Monday. Eight of the fire victims died in the Palisades fire and 17 in the Eaton fire in Altadena, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said. There are also still 29 missing persons reports across both fires, all of which have been made for adults, officials said. Officials warn that the death toll will probably keep rising. Search and recovery operations are underway in the Eaton and Palisades fire zones using cadaver dogs and grid searches, Luna said. 'Unfortunately, every day we're doing this, we're running across the remains of individual community members,' Luna said. The fires are among the deadliest in California’s modern history. The state's deadliest wildfire remains the Camp fire, which leveled the town of Paradise in Butte County in 2018 and killed at least 85 people. The second deadliest was the Griffith Park fire of 1933, with 29 fatalities; followed by the Oakland-Berkeley hills fire of 1991, where 25 died; and the Tubbs fire in Napa and Sonoma counties in 2017, with 22 killed. Although there is no final tally yet of structures burned, the fires are already among the most destructive in modern California history. Damage assessments have confirmed 1,902 structures destroyed in the Eaton fire, though inspection teams are only through about 30% of the fire footprint
CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE LOS ANGELES FIRE EATON FIRE PALISADES FIRE GAVIN NEWSOM WILDFIRE DAMAGE NATURAL DISASTER EVACUATIONS FIRE SAFETY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
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