Los Angeles faces little relief from fires as winds persist; death toll rises to 24

LOS ANGELES – Dry, hot winds will fan blazes in Los Angeles into midweek – and some forecasts show little relief from the gusts for the rest of January – as Southern California struggles with one of the worst starts to a year for wildfires.

The number of people confirmed dead in the fires rose to 24 on Jan 12, the authorities said.

The County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner published a list of fatalities without giving details of any identities. Eight of the dead were found in the Palisades fire zone and 16 in the Eaton fire zone, the document said.

While good progress has been made blunting two of the region’s smaller blazes, the largest were raging almost out of control on Jan 12 even as

thousands of firefighters take on the infernos

in what the city fire chief described as a “relentless air attack”.

Firefighters from across the US, as well as Canada and Mexico, have converged in California to assist in battling the flames.

Los Angeles City Fire Department chief Kristin Crowley told reporters on Jan 12 that favourable winds overnight had helped to slow the spread of the Palisades fire, but said evacuation orders and warnings remain in place. 

Ms Crowley said the Hurst fire, near San Fernando, which stands at 323ha, is 89 per cent contained. But firefighters are anticipating wind gusts of up to 80kmh on Jan 12, with persistent low humidity, she said. 

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna cautioned residents to stay away from affected areas, which in some cases “look like war zones – there are downed power poles, electric wires, there are still some smouldering fires. It is not safe”.

A stagnant pattern of high pressure and low pressure across the west has created a natural funnel to blast winds over Southern California.

“It is a disastrous pattern and there is not much chance of it changing,” said Mr Bob Oravec, a senior branch forecaster at the US Weather Prediction Centre. “If anything, it just looks like it reloads across the west, and it looks like it gets worse by the end of the month.”

Expanded evacuation areas

include the ultra-affluent neighbourhoods

of Brentwood and Bel Air, as well as some of Los Angeles’ most important cultural institutions. The Getty Centre, an architectural landmark with a world-class art collection, has a fire-resistant design that may be put to the test.

There were several more arrests overnight for curfew violations, burglary and looting, bringing the totals to approximately 25 in the Eaton fire and four in the Palisades. Mr Luna said one individual caught burglarising a home in the Malibu area was impersonating a firefighter.

By the morning of Jan 12, the Palisades fire near Malibu had burned 9,596ha and was 11 per cent contained, while the Eaton blaze close to Pasadena had consumed 5,713ha and was 27 per cent contained, officials said.

More than 10,000 structures have been destroyed in the two fires, placing them as the third- and fourth-most destructive in state history.

The weather is proving to be a formidable foe. Red flag fire warnings were posted on Jan 8 as the wind swept the region, spreading blazes, turning vegetation to fuel and making water dropped from aircraft less effective.

More than 8.4 million people will face critical fire-weather conditions on Jan 12, and that danger will linger for days, the US Storm Prediction Centre said, with no rain in the forecast.

More than 16,000 people have applied for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, regional administrator Bob Fenton said on Jan 11.

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Jan 12 issued an executive order aimed at helping Los Angeles rebuild faster once the fires are contained.

The order suspends certain state environmental and permitting regulations, including the California Environmental Quality Act and California Coastal Act, to expedite the rebuilding of homes and businesses in affected areas.

Mr Newsom also extended anti-price gouging protections in Los Angeles County until January 2026.

The fires threaten to worsen a region already grappling with some of the highest US housing costs, with the governor warning that delays in rebuilding could drive up homelessness and further inflate housing prices.

“When the fires are extinguished, victims who have lost their homes and businesses must be able to rebuild quickly and without roadblocks,” Mr Newsom said in a statement.

“We’ve got to be thinking three weeks, three months, three years ahead at the same time we’re focusing on the immediacy, which is life safety and property,” he said on Jan 12 on NBC’s Meet The Press.

California officials have invited President-elect Donald Trump to tour the fire-damaged areas, but he has not responded. His staff did not respond to a request for comment.

Los Angeles County supervisor Kathryn Barger said she was in touch with “high-ranking people within the incoming administration” but not Trump himself. She said she would follow up on Jan 12 on her invitation to Trump to visit.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said on Jan 12 that she had also been in touch with Trump representatives but has not spoken directly to the President-elect.

At least 101 fires have started in January, which is higher than the 39 in 2024 and the five-year average of 46, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

In addition to the threats posed to residents, the University of California, Los Angeles told students and staff all classes will be remote till at least Jan 17, and the entire campus is operating under emergency conditions, according to its website.

At least 17,587 emergency responders have joined the fight. Mr Newsom also announced on Jan 11 that he has doubled National Guard personnel working on the fires to 1,680 responders. Altogether, the state has deployed more than 14,000 people to support firefighting efforts.

Searches begin

The US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is leading a task force to investigate the cause of the fires, Los Angeles police chief Jim McDonnell said on Jan 12.

Mr McDonnell added that the authorities have begun search operations and will deploy cadaver dogs. “That will result in crime scene preservation efforts and then the recovery of remains, working closely with the Los Angeles County coroner.”

The fires also have put pressure on utilities that preemptively cut electricity to residents. Edison International’s Southern California power company has been asked by attorneys representing insurance companies to preserve evidence in connection with the Eaton fire.

Edison has also said fire agencies are investigating whether the company’s equipment was involved in the ignition of the smaller Hurst fire near San Fernando.

“Right now, we don’t have any evidence that says that the Hurst fire was caused by our equipment, but there’s a lot more investigation to be done,” Mr Steven Powell, president and chief executive of Southern California Edison, told reporters on Jan 11.

As at Jan 12, 63,485 customers were without power, PowerOutage.us said.

California has a history of devastating wildfires sparked by electric utility equipment during wind storms. The state’s largest utility, PG&E Corp, filed for bankruptcy in 2019 after a series of deadly blazes blamed on its wires.

The fires are the most devastating natural disaster to strike Los Angeles since the 1994 Northridge earthquake, which killed 57 people, and are likely to rank among the costliest natural disasters in modern US history.

Commercial-forecaster AccuWeather estimates direct and secondary losses, which account for uninsured destruction and indirect economic impact such as lost wages and supply-chain disruptions, may reach between US$135 billion (S$185 billion) and US$150 billion. BLOOMBERG, AFP