Live updates: Los Angeles fires expand as winds forecast to pick up
The largest of the Los Angeles fires spread towards previously untouched neighbourhoods, forcing new evacuations, and dimming hopes that the disaster was coming under control.
Across the city, at least 11 people have died as multiple fires have ripped through residential areas since mid-week, razing thousands of homes in destruction that United States President Joe Biden likened to a “war scene”.
Despite huge firefighting efforts, the Palisades fire’s expansion prompted evacuation orders in ritzy neighbourhoods along its eastern flank, home to the famous Getty Centre art museum.
Winds were forecast to pick up again today after a brief lull, posing the risk of new fires as embers are blown into dry brush.
Los Angeles residents have increasingly demanded to know who is at fault for the disaster as they grapple with the ruin and local anger rises over officials' preparedness and response.
Nicole Perri, whose home in the upmarket Pacific Palisades burned down, told AFP that officials “completely let us down”.
Story continues after live blog
16 confirmed dead in LA wildfires
Nazahryth Bernard
The number of people confirmed dead in fires that raced through Los Angeles rose to 16 on Saturday, authorities said.
The County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner published a list of fatalities without giving details of any identities.
Five of the dead were found in the Palisades Fire zone, and 11 in the Eaton Fire zone, the document said.
Death toll rises to 13 - reports
Nazahryth Bernard
Authorities have confirmed at least 13 people have died in the Los Angeles wildfires, according to the LA Times, with eight of those occurring in the Eaton blaze.
The Eaton wildfire burned through 14,000 acres and left more than 7000 structures damaged or destroyed, according to Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone.
“Please be assured that we will continue to battle these wildfires until they are fully contained,” Marrone said.
“We stand alongside all of you as we begin to plan for the repopulation of evacuated areas disaster recovery and the rebuilding of your homes and your lives.”
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner had previously said five deaths were attributed to the Palisades fire.
Search and rescue teams were also looking for 13 people reported missing, although it is unclear if any of those overlapped with those now confirmed dead.
Stay inside to avoid toxic LA wildfire smoke, residents warned
Nazahryth Bernard
Health bosses warn people living in Los Angeles to stay indoors because of dangerous wildfire smoke wreathing the area.
Monster blazes tearing through the city are pumping toxic clouds into the air, blanketing a vast region with choking fumes. "We are all experiencing this wildfire smoke, which is a mix of small particles, gasses and water vapours," Anish Mahajan of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health told a press conference.
"It's those small particles that get into our noses and throats and cause those sore throats and headaches.
"Everyone in the areas where there's visible smoke or the smell of smoke, and even where you don't see that, we know that the air quality is poor, so you should limit outdoor exposure as much as possible."
Multiple fires that have erupted around Los Angeles have laid waste to vast areas, reducing homes, businesses, cars and vegetation to ash.
That means plastics, chemicals, fuel and building materials all went up in smoke, and now hang in the air across a densely populated region.
Earlier this week, Los Angeles County declared a public health emergency because of the smoke, and banned the use of machines like leaf blowers that can whip up dangerous ashes.
- AFP
Among the LA wildfire victims: A great-grandmother, surfer, father, and son
Nazahryth Bernard
As of late Friday afternoon, local time, officials had confirmed 11 deaths – six from the Eaton fire in the northeast part of the county and five from the Palisades fire on the city’s west side.
Here’s what we know so far about some of those individuals.
'She didn't get out': Actress Jennifer Garner loses friend in LA wildfires
Nazahryth Bernard
Jennifer Garner lost a friend in the Los Angeles wildfires.
While the 52-year-old actress confirmed a close friends of hers had died, she admitted she was not quite ready to talk about it as the loss was too raw.
Speaking on MSNBC, she said: “I did lose a friend, and for our church, it’s really tender so I don’t feel like we should talk about it yet. I did lose a friend. She didn’t get out in time.
”My heart bleeds for my friends. I mean, I can think of 100 families, and there are 5000 homes lost.
“I can, without even [thinking], I could just write out a list of 100 friends who lost their homes.“
Garner’s house survived the fires, and her former husband Ben Affleck sought shelter at her house after being evacuated from his own.
The latest figures
Ebba Strand
At least 11 people are known to have died in the chaotic infernos, with 13 reported missing, but the toll is widely expected to rise.
The Palisades fire is now 11% contained and spreading east after burning 9,100ha. The Eaton Fire is at 5600ha and 15% contained.
Five separate fires have destroyed around 12,000 structures, California's fire agency reported. But Todd Hopkins, who is overseeing the Palisades Fire fight, said not all of those buildings were homes.
"Structures can be homes, outbuildings, RVs, automobiles or other types of things like sheds," he said, adding the confirmed total of homes destroyed in the biggest fire was 426.
- AFP
LA mayor denies sacking fire chief
Ebba Strand
Los Angeles city and fire officials have put on a united front following reports of a furious row over the handling of devastating wildfires raging throughout the city.
In an at-times tense press conference, Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass denied a report that she had been planning to fire Los Angeles City Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley.
Crowley, standing alongside Bass, meanwhile said the city's political leaders, fire and police departments were "all on the same page" as they battled the devastating infernos that have left at least 11 people dead.
Crowley had appeared to direct a barb at city leaders earlier this week when she said her department was underfunded.
"My message is the fire department needs to be properly funded," Crowley told Fox television's local network. "It's not."
Hours later, Crowley met Bass in a private meeting at city hall which ran so late that Bass was forced to miss a scheduled news briefing. The Daily Mail later reported on its website that Bass had fired Crowley.
Yet Bass and Crowley denied the reported rift as they stood alongside Los Angeles Police Department chief Jim McDonnell.
"As you see here, the chief and I are lockstep in our number one mission, and that mission is to get us past this emergency," Bass told reporters.
"We want to make sure that we save lives, we save housing, we save businesses, and if there are differences that we have, we will continue to deal with those in private."
Asked if she had been planning to fire Crowley, Bass replied emphatically: "No."
- AFP
Ebba Strand
Australian man Rory Sykes, 32, killed at Malibu home
Ebba Strand
An Australian man living in Los Angeles has died as a fire tore through Malibu.
Rory Callum Sykes, 32, was confirmed to have died in a statement by his mother Shelly Sykes on Twitter.
"I’m totally heart broken", she writes.
Getty art center faces LA flames
Ebba Strand
Wildfires are looming toward the celebrated Getty Center and its priceless collection.
Nestled in the mountains above Los Angeles, the famed art museum is within a new evacuation warning zone as the Palisades Fire roars east toward populated areas.
Dubbed a "beautiful fortress" and constructed of fire-resistant travertine stone, as well as cement and steel, the center has drawn museum experts from around the world to observe its safety system.
Its roofs are covered with crushed stone to prevent embers igniting, and even in the gardens, resilient plants were chosen.
Inside, the galleries can be closed off with a vault-like double door that, museum officials say, is practically impenetrable.
"Getty staff, the art collections and buildings remain safe from the Palisades Fire," the museum said hours before the evacuation warning.
"The threat is still happening," Getty added in an X post.
The museum's unique collection comprises 125,000 artworks -- including paintings by Rembrandt, Turner, Van Gogh and Monet -- and 1.4 million documents. It also houses a research hub and a foundation.
- AFP
LA fire chief says city failed her department
Kurt Bayer
Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley has blasted the City of Los Angeles for failing its more than 100,000 displaced residents who were forced to evacuate from the ongoing wildfire siege.
When asked by Fox News' affiliate, KTTV, if the City of Los Angeles, and its Mayor Karen Bass failed the city, Crowley replied: "Yes."
Crowley said that pressing staffing shortages impacted the department's response time when the blaze began tearing across Los Angeles.
"Any budget cut is going to impact our ability to provide service," she told KTTV. "That is a ground truth in regard to our ability. If there's a budget cut, we had to pull from somewhere else. What does that mean? That doesn't get done or that there are delays."
Pope Francis: 'Saddened by the loss of life'
Ebba Strand
Pope Francis yesterday expressed his sadness over the havoc caused by the giant California wildfires and expressed his spiritual closeness with the victims in a telegram to the archbishop of Los Angeles.
"Saddened by the loss of life and the widespread destruction," the pontiff expressed his "spiritual closeness" with the victims, Vatican number two Pietro Parolin wrote in the telegram.
- AFP
Australian citizen confirmed dead in the LA wildfires
Ebba Strand
Story continues
“I don’t think the officials were prepared at all,” said James Brown, a 65-year-old retired lawyer across the city in Altadena.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has ordered a “full independent review”, describing the lack of water supplies during the initial fires as “deeply troubling”.
“We need answers to how that happened,” he wrote in an open letter.
As reports of looting grew, a sunset-to-sunrise curfew was imposed in evacuated areas.
About two dozen arrests have already been made across Los Angeles, where some residents have organised street patrols and kept armed watch over their own houses.
The National Guard has been deployed to bolster law enforcement.
Five separate fires have so far burned more than 15,000ha, destroying around 12,000 buildings, California’s fire agency reported.
The Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office confirmed an additional fatality, bringing the overall death toll so far to 11, although the figure is expected to rise.
“It reminded me of more of a war scene, where you had certain targets that were bombarded,” said Biden, as he received a briefing at the White House.
Winds had calmed yesterday, providing a fleeting window of opportunity for firefighters battling blazes around the clock for a fourth consecutive day.
Braveheart actor Mel Gibson was the latest celebrity to reveal his Malibu home had burned down, telling NewsNation the loss was “devastating”.
Paris Hilton, Anthony Hopkins, and Billy Crystal were among a long list of celebrities who lost houses, while Prince Harry and his wife Meghan – who quit royal life in 2020 and moved to California – were seen comforting survivors.
The Palisades fire was only 8% contained and spreading east after burning 8740ha.
Emergency chiefs warned the situation was still extremely dangerous.
The winds “are going to increase again in the coming days”, said Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema).
Authorities have said it was too early to know the cause of the blazes.
Biden took a veiled swipe at President-elect Donald Trump, who has spread misinformation over the fires that has then been amplified on social media.
“You’re going to have a lot of demagogues out there trying to take advantage,” the President said.
Newsom, who has been blamed for the disaster by the President-elect, invited Trump to visit Los Angeles and survey the devastation with him.
“We must not politicise human tragedy or spread disinformation from the sidelines,” said Newsom.
Los Angeles fire chief Kristin Crowley pointed to recent funding cuts of the service, saying her department was chronically under-resourced and short of staff.
Wildfires occur naturally, but scientists say human-caused climate change is altering weather and changing the dynamics of the blazes.
Emergency managers apologised after false evacuation alerts were erroneously sent to millions of mobile phones, sparking panic.
– Agence France-Presse