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Live California fires

Live L.A. fire updates: Crews improve containment on Palisades, Eaton fires; some residents allowed to return

Some residents are beginning to assess the damage to their homes as firefighters appear to turn a corner in containing the blazes. But officials say there is much work to be done.

Rows of houses are turned to rubble after the Palisades Fire torched Pacific Palisades.
Rows of houses are turned to rubble after the Palisades Fire torched Pacific Palisades.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

Palisades fire

  • Containment: The fire was 31% contained as of about 7 a.m. Friday, up from 27% Thursday evening. It has burned 23,713 acres.
  • Damage: Officials have confirmed 3,501 structures have been destroyed and 603 damaged, with totals expected to rise.
  • Lives lost: Officials have confirmed that 10 people are dead from the Palisades fire.
  • Evacuations: Some mandatory evacuation zones were opened to residents only on Thursday, and more followed on Friday. Residents must bring a valid photo ID that shows their name, photo and physical address, such as a driver’s license, according to the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department. But many parts of Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Calabasas, Brentwood and Encino are under evacuation orders or warnings. Get more details on closures, evacuations, shelters.

Eaton fire

  • Containment: The fire was 65% contained as of 7 a.m. Friday morning, up from 55% early Thursday. It has burned 14,117 acres.
  • Damage: Officials have confirmed 7,193 structures destroyed and 805 damaged, with totals expected to rise.
  • Lives lost: Officials have confirmed 17 are dead from the Eaton fire.
  • Evacuations: Effective 3 p.m. Friday, officials lifted the evacuation order in the area southwest of Altadena Drive, north of New York Drive and east of Allen Avenue. In addition, a soft closure is in effect for several other evacuated zones with access available to residents, including east of Lake Avenue and south of Mendocino Lane; and south of Church Canyon Place, east of Old Toll Road and west of Sunset Ridge Road, officials said.

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Pinned

Some residents allowed to return to devastated Pacific Palisades, Altadena neighborhoods

Rows of houses are in rubble after fire tore through Pacific Palisades.
Rows of houses are in rubble after fire tore through Pacific Palisades.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

With fire containment improving and winds dying down, some residents are being allowed back into neighborhoods devastated by the Palisades and Eaton fires, though checkpoints still remained in other places.

One day earlier, when evacuation orders in the neighborhood were lifted after more than a week, a line of cars stretched half a mile long north to Mulholland Drive, a California Highway Patrol officer said.

Samaritan scofflaws: they broke the law to stay inside the fire zone, but saved houses and helped neighbors

A man, his face obscured by a green head visor, stands amid burned homes.
Stephen Foster walks through a home destroyed by the Palisades fire in the Sunset Mesa neighborhood after delivering dog food and supplies to an elderly man who did not evacuate his home.

The fire refugees arrive with regularity at the checkpoint on Pacific Coast Highway. They come alone or in pairs, lining up behind the clutch of police cruisers and a National Guard Humvee, pleading to get back to homes inside the Palisades wildfire perimeter.

They want medicines and other necessities, sure. But they also want a sense of knowing: What has the great Palisades wildfire done to their homes and to their lives?

Firefighter union rallies behind LAFD chief, denounces unsigned attack on her performance

Fire Chief Kristin Crowley, right, at a Jan. 11 news conference.
Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley, right, at a Jan. 11 newss conference.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

The union that represents more than 3,000 Los Angeles city firefighters renewed its support for Fire Chief Kristin Crowley on Friday, denouncing an anonymous letter that accused her of mishandling the response to the massively destructive Palisades fire.

United Firefighters of Los Angeles City Local 112 condemned a letter circulated this week — one that claimed to be from “retired and active LAFD chief officers” but contained no names or signatures — saying Crowley had “failed” the residents of Los Angeles and lost the confidence of Mayor Karen Bass.

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Additional zones in Palisades, Eaton fire areas reopen to residents

An ocean-view home destroyed by the Palisades fire.
This ocean-view home was one of many destroyed by the Palisades fire in Pacific Palisades.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced Friday that additional zones in the Palisades and Eaton fire areas would reopen to residents.

For the Palisades fire, those additional zones are:

  • MTN-U028-B: North of Piuma Road and south of Mulholland Highway
  • SDP-U029-B: North of Mildas Drive/Loma Metisse Road and south of Baynes Road/Stunt Road
  • RRC-U027-B: North of Topanga Ridge Motorway and south of Sylvan Glen Road
  • TOP-U005: North of Old Topanga Canyon Road and south of Topanga Skyline Drive
  • TOP-U008-A: North of West Hillcrest Drive and South of Hondo Canyon Road
  • TOP-U009-B: North of Sischo Drive and south of Valley View Drive
  • TOP-U007-B: North of South Topanga Canyon Boulevard/Summit Drive and south of North Topanga Canyon Boulevard
  • TOP-U006: North of Robinson Road/North Topanga Canyon Boulevard/Harlan Motorway and south of Hillside Drive
  • TOP-U003: North of Hillside Drive/North Topanga Canyon Boulevard/Greenleaf Canyon Road and south of Topanga Canyon Boulevard
  • TOP-U004: North of Hillside Drive and south of Mendenhall Court/Santa Maria Road/Benkerdt Road
  • DRY-U026C: North of Saddle Peak Trail and south of Mulholland Highway

Firefighters are battling the fast-moving, destructive Palisades fire. Here are details on evacuations, road closures, shelters.

Effective 3 p.m. Friday, officials also lifted the evacuation order that had been in place for the Eaton fire in the area southwest of Altadena Drive, north of New York Drive and east of Allen Avenue.

In addition, a soft closure is in effect for several other evacuated zones with access available to residents, including east of Lake Avenue and south of Mendocino Lane; and south of Church Canyon Place, east of Old Toll Road and west of Sunset Ridge Road, officials said.

The specific zones are as follows:

  • ALD-MIDLOTHIAN
  • ALD-MEADOWS
  • ALD-MILARD B
  • ALD-MILARD C
  • ALD-MILLARD A
  • ALD-MENDOCINO B

The Eaton fire is burning near Altadena and Pasadena. Here is information on evacuations, shelters for people and animals, and road and school closures.

Entry and exit points will be at the intersections of Canyon Crest Road and Lincoln Avenue, New York Drive and Allen Avenue, New York Drive and Lake Avenue and La Vina Lane and Lincoln Avenue.

Teams being deployed to prevent, prosecute insurance fraud after fires

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman, above, is teaming with Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara to identify insurance fraud for people affected by the fires.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

State insurance regulators and county prosecutors are deploying teams to areas affected by the disastrous fires in Los Angeles County to prevent — and prosecute — insurance fraudsters targeting wildfire survivors.

Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman are partnering to dispatch teams to hold workshops in the Los Angeles area to help survivors understand their insurance policies and identify fraud by contractors and vendors.

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California warns more than 200 hotels and landlords of price gouging complaints in wake of fires

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta at a press conference in Sacramento in September
California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta at a press conference in Sacramento in September.
(Paul Kuroda/For The Times)

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta has sent more than 200 letters to landlords and hotels warning them that they’ve been accused of wildfire-related price gouging, his office announced Friday.

“The price gouging that we’re seeing and hearing about needs to stop now,” Bonta said in a release. “These letters are just one of many tools my office is using to stop this illegal activity. May they serve as declaration that we are taking swift action, and we will not stop until the price gouging does.”

Civic leader Steve Soboroff to head L.A.’s wildfire rebuilding and recovery efforts

Steve Soboroff stands at lectern with Mayor Karen Bass.
Steve Soboroff, who will lead the L.A. wildfire recovery efforts, speaks alongside Mayor Karen Bass at a city service yard on Friday.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)

Former police commission President Steve Soboroff will lead the first phase of the city’s wildfire rebuilding effort, Mayor Karen Bass said Friday.

Soboroff, a real estate developer and longtime civic leader, will serve as chief recovery officer for the city.

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Now that you can return home after the fires, how do you clean up safely?

A drone image of the aftermath of the Palisades fire
A drone image gives an overview of the aftermath of the Palisades fire near Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Now that authorities are allowing residents to return to fire evacuation zones to see what’s left of their homes, health experts say it’s safer to wait a while before venturing into the burn areas.

But if you plan on seeing with your own eyes what has become of your home, there are some precautions you can take to protect your health.

12 hours of fire that decimated Altadena: ‘I’m going to lose half of my town’

Rubble of the Altadena Community Church
A cross that once adorned the top of the Altadena Community Church lies amid scorched rubble following the Eaton fire.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

When residents first saw flames on a hillside in Eaton Canyon, the fire itself was not that large.

But with gusts clocked at 59 mph, the fire quickly started pushing a shower of sparks across the canyon.

Those rocketing embers eventually pushed west from Eaton Canyon into central Altadena, scorching a path of destruction that seemed unimaginable even in a community familiar to wildfire. When the smoke finally cleared, 7,000 structures were lost along with at least 17 lives.

During the first 12 hours of the fire, numerous agencies would work together to try to contain it, including crews from the L.A. County Fire Department, the Pasadena Fire Department, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Angeles National Forest, the Riverside County Fire Department, the Arcadia Fire Department and a Santa Barbara County task force.

It may take months, or even years, to fully understand why the Eaton fire was so devastating. However, an extensive review of firefighter radio transmissions and interviews by The Times offer a horrifying view of how the fire spread over a period of hours, and the life-or-death decisions that firefighters, police officers and emergency personnel on the ground had to face.

The review found:

  • The fire immediately threatened hillside homes around Eaton Canyon. Firefighters got to the scene quickly and saved homes, but winds were by then pushing flames and embers west toward the heart of Altadena.
  • As the blaze grew, firefighting resources were no match. Aircraft were grounded almost immediately amid intense wind, and fire operations became more about saving lives than protecting structures.
  • Embers traveled up to two miles to the west, passing over some neighborhoods but hitting central Altadena hard. Within hours, entire blocks were on fire.
  • Early Wednesday, fire officials realized mass evacuations were the only answer. With that, a sickening reality set in. “I’m going to lose half of my town,” Pasadena Fire Chief Chad Augustin recalled.
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A security checkpoint is lifted in the Topanga area for evacuated residents

Evacuated residents can now freely enter the northern part of the Topanga area from Topanga Canyon Boulevard at Cezanne Avenue, after officials late Friday morning removed the security checkpoint that had been set up there.

The day before, when evacuation orders in the neighborhood were lifted after more than a week, a line of cars stretched half a mile long north to Mulholland Drive, a California Highway Patrol officer said.

He estimated 2,000 cars had entered the checkpoint during his shift, with CHP and the National Guard carefully verifying proof of residency before allowing people to drive in.

That meant that although Carl Rheuban, 75, was able to return home on Thursday, his son’s partner, who doesn’t live with them, was denied access.

“Even as a passenger, they won’t let her up,” Rheuban said Friday morning before the checkpoint was removed. “I have another son who lives in Woodland Hills — they won’t let him in. He can’t come up to help me; we’ve got three freezers full of food that spoiled that I have to throw out.”

Farther south on Topanga Canyon Boulevard, a checkpoint at Viewridge Road was still in place as of 1 p.m. Friday, with only residents who live south of the intersection permitted to enter.

The L.A. fire victims: Who they were

Dalyce Curry, Anthony Mitchell Sr., Annette Rossilli, Erliene Louise Kelley and Victor Shaw.
From left to right, top to bottom: Dalyce Curry, Anthony Mitchell Sr., Annette Rossilli, Erliene Louise Kelley and Victor Shaw.

Los Angeles awoke on the morning of Jan. 7 unaware that the city and the people within it were about to change forever.

The most destructive fires in the city’s history claimed thousands of homes and businesses and, as of Thursday, at least 27 lives.

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Trump’s Homeland Security pick is pressed on the president-elect’s threats to put conditions on wildfire aid

One of the flashpoints of South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s confirmation hearing Friday before the Senate’s Homeland Security Committee came when Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said he was disappointed with Trump’s statements about withholding disaster relief to California.

Blumenthal repeatedly asked whether Noem would ever withhold aid approved by Congress or “stand up to the president.”

“The specter is there of potential discrimination based on politics,” Blumenthal said, pointing to reports that Trump withheld wildfire aid to Washington in 2020 amid a feud with the state’s then-Democratic governor, Jay Inslee.

Noem said she wouldn’t engage a hypothetical question, but that under her leadership there would be no political bias as to how disaster relief is delivered.

“It’s more than a hypothetical,” Blumenthal told her.

Noem demurred, saying she will abide by the law.

“Every American deserves to... have disaster relief, the same as their neighbors,” she said.

‘I failed you’: LAFD official expresses regret to Pacific Palisades residents

A top Los Angeles fire official took some accountability for his leadership as the Palisades fire burned thousands of homes and killed at least 10 people.

Los Angeles Assistant Fire Chief Joe Everett said he felt like he “failed” and expressed deep regrets during a community meeting Thursday night, where he revealed he is a third-generation firefighter in his family to serve in the area.

“Why might I tell you that? Because my blood went deep there,” he said. “It’s extremely, extremely hard for me to look you in the eye, knowing that, quite honestly, I feel like I failed you in some respect.”

Everett became obviously emotional as he told residents that a home his family once owned in the area was among those burned.

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‘Is this real?’: Three generations of Altadena family lose homes in Eaton fire

Danielle Stone and her husband, Bryan Davila, embrace at a relative's house in Hacienda Heights on Jan. 16.
(Ringo Chiu/For The Times)

A week after the Eaton fire destroyed thousands of homes in Altadena, the scope of the disaster is starting to come into focus, but still feels unreal for one multi-generational family.

Three generations of Danielle Stone’s family lost three homes in the fire. An untold number of memories and photos are gone, but like many homeowners in Altadena, that horrible reality still feels like a dream.

How did a cluster of homes near the Eaton fire’s ignition point emerge unscathed?

Michael and Josie Olson stand in the backyard of their home overlooking where the Eaton fire began.
Homeowners Michael and Josie Olson stand in the backyard of their home overlooking the transformer that may have been where the Eaton fire began. “We had a first row seat to history,” said Olson. “But for the grace of God and the Pasadena fire department, we wouldn’t be here today,” he concluded. They have lived in the home for 23 years.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

When Michael Olson saw what would become the Eaton fire, the flames at the base of an electrical tower looked small, seemingly manageable.

Then the winds that night on Jan. 7 blew a shower of sparks across the mountainside above his Pasadena home.

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These L.A. firefighters lost everything when the Eaton fire arrived at their doorstep

A firefighter puts out a hot spot on Jan. 10 at an Altadena home that burned in the Eaton fire.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

These men have dedicated their careers to stopping people’s homes from burning down, but when the Eaton fire arrived on their doorstep, even their decades of firefighting expertise were no match for its wrath.

“I’ve never seen anything like this; it’s like battling a hurricane, but instead of water it is flames,” said Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Jerry Puga, describing the fire that razed his Altadena home.

What does fire containment mean?

Crews have made progress against the California fires, with seemingly each new day bringing a further boost in containment.

But what do those figures mean? The Times’ Hannah Fry explains.

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Lessons from the burn zone: Why some homes survived the L.A. wildfires

A view of David Steiner's Malibu beach house, unburned amid rubble, has become an iconic image of the Palisades fire.
(Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images)

They’re calling it the miracle mansion of Malibu.

The beachfront house stands tall amid piles of rubble, still smoking from the Palisades fire, in an iconic image splashed around the world by news outlets.

Palisades fire now 31% contained

Containment for the Palisades fire is now 31%, up from 27% Thursday as firefighters continue to make gains in favorable weather conditions.

As conditions improve, the fire command has announced limited reentry for some evacuation zones, including parts of Encino and Brentwood within the city of Los Angeles. The Palisades fire has burned 23,713 acres.

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We are mapping the damage from the Eaton and Palisades fires

Map of damaged buildings in Altadena

The maps now reflects only a fraction of the structures lost -- because homes and businesses will not be officially declared damaged or destroyed until they are inspected. The massive loss numbers were based on aerial reviews.

Stomach flu spreading among fire evacuees at Pasadena shelter

People form lines outside the Pasadena Convention Center
People line up to fill out FEMA paperwork at the Pasadena Convention Center on Sunday.
(John McCoy / For The Times)

Health officials confirmed Thursday that a stomach bug is circulating among people at the wildfire evacuation center in Pasadena.

Manuel Carmona, Pasadena’s acting director of Public Health, said that his department and health officials from the American Red Cross, which is overseeing medical care at the Pasadena Convention Center, are “seeing people who are experiencing illness, but you know, we’re providing appropriate medical treatment and making sure that they’re not affecting others.”

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Eaton fire now 65% contained

Firefighters battling the Eaton fire have raised the containment to 65% as they continue to make progress in rough terrain. The fire is expected to stay within its current footprint and has not grown from 14,117 acres in recent days, according to officials.

Inspectors have verified that 7,193 structures have been destroyed and 805 damaged so far. Damage inspection is about three-quarters complete. Urban search and rescue teams have made over 8,000 inspections.

Firefighters are also assessing the watershed to check for potential debris flow, risk to life, flooding and other hazards, according to emergency officials.

Temperatures are expected to remain cool over the weekend, with mild south and west winds that will contribute to a marine layer starting Friday. But a dry weather pattern from an offshore flow will return by Monday, according to forecasts. The Angeles National Forest remains closed through Sunday.

Pasadena Unified School District announces phased reopening for schools

A children's mural stands amid charred debris at a  school playground.
Aveson School of Leaders, a charter in Altadena, was burned in the Eaton fire.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

The Pasadena Unified School District will reopen campuses in phases over a two-week stretch with the goal of returning all students to in-person learning by the end of January as it begins recovery from the Eaton fire, which destroyed several schools and forced the closure of all campuses.

District officials, speaking at a board meeting Thursday night, said that an initial group of schools would reopen Jan. 23, bringing at least 3,400 students back to classrooms. Those schools include Hamilton Elementary School, Willard Elementary School, San Rafael Elementary School, Blair Middle School, Blair High School, Rose City High School, CIS Academy, and a handful of other facilities, said Supt. Elizabeth Blanco.

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Padilla hopes to increase firefighter pay, create affordable housing for disaster response

President Biden, left, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Sen. Alex Padilla at a fire station
President Biden, left, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) attend a Jan. 8 wildfire briefing at Santa Monica Fire Station No. 5.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

While firefighters continue to battle the Los Angeles County fires, California’s Sen. Alex Padilla is introducing a package of bills to increase their pay and create housing for those affected by disasters — which could later add to the state’s affordable housing supply.

“Just like the firefighters on the lines right now, putting out the fires, we have to work together in our response and our recovery,” Padilla said in an interview with The Times in his U.S. Senate office.

Inside L.A.’s desperate battle for water as the Palisades fire exploded

The front of the headquarters of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in downtown L.A.
(Richard Vogel / Associated Press)

As wildfire tore through the canyons of Pacific Palisades, firefighters waged a desperate battle to save homes and lives.

Seventeen miles east in downtown L.A., dozens of officials huddled around computers over a long conference room table in the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s emergency operations center. Screens beamed in the system’s water pressure from remote sensors stationed across the city.

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Firefighters boost containment of Palisades and Eaton fires amid break from destructive winds

A wide view of destroyed homes in Pacific Palisades.
Rows of homes were turned to rubble after the Palisades fire burned through Pacific Palisades.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Containment on the Palisades and Eaton fires that have kept thousands of Los Angeles County residents out of their homes, some for more than a week, grew overnight after winds that have plagued the region began to die down.

The Eaton fire, which has burned just over 14,100 acres in Pasadena and Altadena, jumped to 55% containment on Thursday morning, up from 45% a day earlier. At the Palisades fire, which has burned 23,700 acres, containment was at 27% Thursday night, up from 17% a day earlier, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The long-term health effects of L.A. County wildfire smoke

Helicopter aerial view of the Palisades fire burning in the Mountain Gate Country Club area of Los Angeles.
An aerial view shows the Palisades fire burning on Jan. 11 in the MountainGate Country Club area of Los Angeles, with smoke visible from the San Fernando Valley.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

The explosion of smoke and ash that erupted from two wildfires was beyond belief.

In the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, as the Eaton fire engulfed homes and businesses, a thick blanket of smoke rolled over the horizon, blocking out the sun.

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