LOS ANGELES (AP) – Fire could sweep through the world-famous J. Paul Getty Museum and the University of California, Los Angeles, as new evacuation advisories continue to evacuate more homeowners. Firefighters raced to extinguish a growing wildfire on Saturday before strong winds picked up again. corner.
A fierce battle with the blaze is underway in Mandeville Canyon, home to Arnold Schwarzenegger and other celebrities not far from the Pacific Coast, as flames hurtle downhill. A helicopter sprayed water. Thick smoke blanketed the chaparral-covered hillside as firefighters on the ground used hoses to try to fight off the leaping flames.
CalFire Operations Director Christian Ritz said in a briefing that Saturday’s main focus will be on the Palisades Fire, which is located in a canyon area not far from the UCLA campus.
“We need to be aggressive there,” Ritz said.
County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said the Los Angeles area was experiencing “another night of unimaginable horror and heartbreak as more Angelenos were evacuated as the Palisades Fire spread northeast.”
Smoke from the Palisades fire rises above a home in Mandeville Canyon in Los Angeles on Saturday, January 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hon) Smoke from the Palisades fire rises over the ridges as seen from the Encino neighborhood in Los Angeles, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel) Los Angeles, January 11, 2025, as a house burns in the Brentwood area. (KTLA) NOAA satellite image of the Palisades Fire on January 11, 2025. (NOAA)
Light winds were fanning the flames, but the National Weather Service warned that strong Santa Ana winds, a natural enemy of firefighters, could soon return. These winds are largely blamed for turning the wildfires into an inferno that has devastated entire areas around the city, which had not seen significant rain for more than eight months.
The fire threatened to jump Interstate 405 and reach densely populated areas of the Hollywood Hills and San Fernando Valley.
Search for bodies continues
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said the grueling process of investigating the wreck continued Saturday, with teams conducting a systematic grid search using cadaver dogs. He said a family support center has been established in Pasadena and urged residents to abide by the curfew.
“There are people trying to drive in just to look. Stay away,” he said.
The fire destroyed approximately 56 square miles (145 square kilometers). This is an area larger than San Francisco. Tens of thousands of people remain under evacuation orders after the fire reignited on the east side of the Palisades Fire, with new evacuation orders issued Friday night.
More than 12,000 buildings, including homes, apartments, businesses, outbuildings and vehicles, have been destroyed since the fire first broke out just north of downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday.
The cause of the largest fire has not been determined, and early estimates indicate it could be the costliest in the nation’s history. AccuWeather’s preliminary estimates put the damage and economic losses to date at between $135 billion and $150 billion.
The Eaton Fire in Southern California on January 8, 2025 destroyed all eight homes owned by members of the Williams family. (Williams Family) Robert Lara, left, searches for belongings with his stepfather after the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California, Thursday, January 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Nic Coury) ALTADENA, CA – JANUARY 8: Remains of a lost home during the Eaton Fire on Wednesday, January 8, 2025 in Altadena, California. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows homes burned and destroyed in the Eaton Fire near Marathon Road in Altadena, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (Maxar Technologies, via AP) A light of kindness in the midst of misery
So many volunteers came to help at the donation center on Saturday that some were turned away. The same was true for the YMCA near Koreatown. By early morning, cars carrying would-be helpers had begun to be turned away from the Santa Anita Park racetrack, which had been accepting donations of essential items.
At the racetrack on Friday, homeless people could be seen rummaging through piles of donated shirts, blankets and other household items. Jose Luis Godinez, a resident of Altadena, said three homes in which about a dozen members of his family lived were destroyed.
“Everything is gone,” he said in Spanish. “My whole family lived in those three houses and now there is nothing.”
Officials warn against returning to burned house
After their homes were destroyed by wildfires, some residents are returning to see what they can salvage, sifting through the rubble for mementos. But authorities warned on Saturday that the ash could contain lead, arsenic, asbestos and other harmful substances and urged people to stay away.
“If you’re kicking it up, you’re breathing it in,” said Chris Thomas, a spokesman for the Palisades Fire’s Unified Incident Command. “All that stuff is toxic.”
After damage teams assess their property, residents will be allowed to return wearing protective equipment, Thomas said.
City leadership accused of skimping on fire department funding
Suspicions of leadership failure and political responsibility have begun, and an investigation has begun. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday ordered state officials to figure out why a 117 million-gallon (440 million liter) reservoir became inoperable and some fire hydrants ran dry. Meanwhile, Los Angeles Fire Chief Christine Crowley said city leadership failed to meet its responsibilities by not providing adequate funding for firefighting efforts. She also criticized water shortages.
“When firefighters come to the hydrant, we expect there to be water,” she said.
According to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, 11 people died in the Palisades fire and six in the Eaton fire. Officials expect the number to rise as cadaver dogs search the area and workers assess the devastation, and on Friday authorities set up a center where people can report missing people. He said he did.
Progress made in extinguishing Eaton fire
Firefighters made their first efforts Friday afternoon to extinguish the Eaton Fire north of Pasadena, which has destroyed more than 7,000 structures. Officials said most evacuation orders for the area have been lifted.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who faces a major test of her leadership as the city faces its biggest crisis in decades, said several small fires had been stopped. said.
The level of devastation is alarming, even in a state that regularly faces large-scale wildfires.
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Roemer reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Associated Press writers Gene Johnson in Seattle and Justin Pritchard in Los Angeles and videographer Manuel Valdez in Arcadia, California, contributed.
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