Deadly L.A. County fires destroy thousands of structures
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Flames from the Palisades Fire burn a residential building on Sunset Boulevard amid a powerful windstorm on Jan. 9 in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. Photo: Apu Gomes/Getty Images
Raging wildfires tearing through Los Angeles County into Thursday have razed neighborhoods across the area, leaving behind a trail of destruction and deaths.
The latest: At least 10 fire-related deaths have been reported as of 9pm local time, per a statement from the County of Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner.
- At least two of the deaths occurred in the Palisades Fire and at least three were confirmed in the Eaton Fire, officials said at a briefing earlier Thursday.
State of play: Extra federal and state resources have been deployed to the region, but powerful Santa Ana winds driving fires in extremely dry vegetation have made conditions challenging for firefighters.
- The Palisades Fire is California's third-most destructive fire on record, burning an estimated 5,316 structures. Cal Fire lists the Eaton Fire as the fourth-most destructive, in terms of structures destroyed, with 5,000-plus structures believed to have been razed.
- The wildfires have caused "significant damage" to L.A. County's sewer, power and transportation systems, L.A. County Public Works director Mark Pestrella said at the briefing, adding that debris from the fires could be hazardous or even toxic.
- Images shared online showed flames engulfing multiple homes and residents abandoning their cars in Pacific Palisades, including the Palisades Charter High School and the Getty Villa museum.
Zoom in: The destruction across the greater L.A. area is so vast that parts "look like a bomb was dropped" on them, L.A. Sheriff Robert Luna said at a Thursday briefing.
- President Biden said Thursday the federal government will cover 100% of California's disaster assistance costs for the wildfires. The funding will support debris and hazardous materials removal, first responders' pay and temporary shelters.
- Luna added that nearly 180,000 county residents were under evacuation orders.
- All Los Angeles Unified Schools and offices remained closed on Friday. Almost two dozen school districts have planned full or partial closures, per LAist.
Threat level: The National Weather Service's L.A. office expected the strong winds that have driven the fires that picked back up on Thursday afternoon to continue into Friday.
- Hazardous air quality from the wildfires impacted much of Southern California, exacerbated by low relative humidity.
Situation report: Firefighters made progress with the Palisades Fire, between Malibu and Santa Monica, reaching 6% containment as it burned over 19,978 acres as of 11:19pm local time.
- The Eaton Fire remained 0% contained over 13,690 acres. However, a brief drop in winds helped firefighters curb the spread of the Eaton Fire and "growth has been significantly stopped," L.A. County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said.
Meanwhile, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass confirmed on X Thursday that the Sunset Fire in Hollywood Hills was "fully contained" over 43 acres Thursday morning.
- L.A. County firefighters made progress with the Lidia Fire that's burned 348 acres in a rural, mountainous area near Acton. It was 60% contained as of Thursday evening.
- The Hurst Fire that's burned 771 acres in the San Fernando Valley, some 25 miles northwest of downtown L.A., was 37% contained.
Driving the news: The wildfires ignited after months of dry weather. Many areas have been hit by hurricane-force gusts of 74 mph or higher. Magic Mountain Truck Trail, east of Santa Clarita, recorded a gust at 90 mph.
- The NWS' L.A. office said on X peak winds increased again across the region on Thursday and reached 74 mph along the trail that day.
- Millions of people in Southern California were affected by rare, late-season red flag warnings due to "widespread damaging north to northeast winds and extreme fire weather conditions," per a forecast discussion from the National Weather Service's Los Angeles office.
By the numbers: More than 120,000 customers in Los Angeles and Ventura counties were without power early Friday, according to PowerOutage.us.
Between the lines: Many parts of Southern California have not seen any meaningful rainfall for more than eight months.
- Much of the region is experiencing "moderate drought" conditions, per the U.S. Drought Monitor.
- Research shows human-caused climate change is leading to longer wildfire seasons in the western U.S. and has made severe seasons more frequent.
In photos: Palisades Fire engulfs L.A. homes
Go deeper:
Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout. A prior version had a correction on the rise of the death toll.
Axios' April Rubin contributed reporting.
