A firefighter stands on a hillside covered with retardant as the Palisades Fire, one of several simultaneous blazes that have ripped across Los Angeles County, burns in Mandeville Canyon, a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, U.S., January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Ringo Chiu
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Dangerously high winds were expected to return to Los Angeles on Monday, jeopardizing efforts to contain two massive wildfires that have leveled whole neighborhoods, claimed the lives of at least two dozen people and burned an area the size of Washington, D.C.
Dry Santa Ana winds of up to 50 to 70 miles per hour (80 to 112 kph) were forecast to resume later on Monday and persist through Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service, which issued a "particularly dangerous situation" red flag warning, the agency's most serious fire warning.
Fire crews were able to keep the fires from spreading overnight and are preparing for increased winds in the days ahead, officials said at a press conference on Monday morning.
"We are not in the clear," Los Angeles City Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said.
Officials said the state was pre-positioning firefighting crews in vulnerable areas, including around the Palisades and Eaton fires, the two largest blazes burning on either side of Los Angeles. More than 8,500 firefighting personnel are assigned to those two fires.
Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said firefighters were "absolutely better prepared" for extreme winds this week, after the fires grew rapidly last week following similar dire warnings from forecasters.
There are more personnel on the ground and additional firefighting aircraft in the air now, he said, though he acknowledged that nothing was guaranteed.
"We're never sure that we're going to be able to catch the next fire and keep it small," he said. "They said 70-mile-an-hour winds. It's going to be very difficult to contain that fire."
At least 24 people have died since the fires began last Tuesday, and more than two dozen people are reported missing, authorities said. The fires have destroyed or damaged more than 12,000 structures.
Deputies are finding human remains every day as they search through burned-out parts of Altadena, where the Eaton fire first ignited, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.
"It is a very grim task," Luna said, adding that he expected the confirmed death toll to rise in the days ahead.
The blazes have reduced entire neighborhoods to smoldering ruins, leaving an apocalyptic landscape. California Governor Gavin Newsom has said the firestorm could rank as the most devastating natural disaster in U.S. history. Private forecaster AccuWeather has estimated the damage and economic loss at $135 billion to $150 billion.
Hundreds of volunteers gathered at the Santa Anita Park racetrack on Sunday in Arcadia, close to the Eaton Fire, hauling in boxes of food, clothing and diapers for victims.
HIGH WINDS THREATEN PROGRESS
The return of high winds threatens the hard-won progress that crews have made in containing the fires.
Over the weekend, aerial and land-based firefighters managed to stop the Palisades Fire as it encroached on the upscale Brentwood section and advanced toward the populous San Fernando Valley in the north.
That fire on the western side of the metropolis has consumed 23,713 acres (96 sq km), or 37 square miles, and stood at 14% contained, a figure representing the percentage of the fire's perimeter that firefighters have under control.
The Eaton Fire east of Los Angeles has scorched 14,117 acres (57 sq km), or 22 square miles, but firefighters increased the containment to 33%.
North of the city, the Hurst Fire was 89% contained, and three other fires were now 100% contained, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) reported.
Angelenos, even far from the fires, were urged to wear N95 masks when outside due to the smoke.
Authorities have arrested dozens of people for violating curfews and evacuation orders, for burglary and shoplifting, for flying unauthorized drones and in at least one case for impersonating a firefighter, officials said.
The Oscar nominations were postponed for a second time and will now be announced on Jan. 23, six days later than originally scheduled, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences said. The Dolby Theater, where the awards will be presented on March 2, was temporarily within an evacuation zone last week.
President Joe Biden, who will hold another briefing on Monday afternoon on the federal response to the fires, issued a statement expressing sympathy for the victims.
"I am being frequently briefed on intensive efforts to suppress the wildfires across Los Angeles, and have directed our team to respond promptly to any request for additional federal firefighting assistance," he added.
CITY ON ALERT
In anticipation of high winds returning on Monday, officials have warned the entire Los Angeles County population of nearly 10 million to be ready to evacuate.
As of Monday morning, more than 92,000 people in Los Angeles County were under an order to evacuate - down from a previous high of more than 150,000 - while another 89,000 faced evacuation warnings.
At a Pasadena town hall on Sunday, state and local officials told residents it still wasn't safe to return to their fire-damaged homes, even as containment of the fire improves.
In addition to lingering hot spots, downed power lines and contaminated water supplies, officials warned residents that clearing ash and other household debris could expose them to hazardous materials such as lead, arsenic and asbestos.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told MSNBC on Monday that residents out of harm's way can begin applying for federal assistance.
Firefighters from seven states, Canada and Mexico have converged on the Los Angeles area.
The Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena has been transformed into a base camp for fire trucks and firefighters from all over California and the West to fight the nearby Eaton fire.
In Altadena on the edge of the Eaton Fire, Tristin Perez said he never left his home, defying police orders to evacuate as the fire raced down the hillside.
Instead, Perez insisted on trying to save his property and his neighbors' homes.
"Your front yard is on fire, palm trees lit up – it looked like something out of a movie," Perez told Reuters in an interview in his driveway. "I did everything I could to stop the line and save my house, help save their houses."
(Reporting by Nathan Frandino and Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Jonathan Allen, Brendan O'Brien, Mary Milliken, Lisa Richwine and Chad Terhune; Writing by Daniel Trotta and Joseph Ax; Editing by Frank McGurty and Nick Zieminski)
