Los Angeles Wildfire Death Toll Surges to 24 as Firefighters Brace for More Fierce Winds

The light of a fire fighting helicopter illuminates a smoldering hillside as the Palisades fire grows near the Mandeville Canyon neighborhood and Encino, California, on January 11, 2025. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)
The light of a fire fighting helicopter illuminates a smoldering hillside as the Palisades fire grows near the Mandeville Canyon neighborhood and Encino, California, on January 11, 2025. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)
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Los Angeles Wildfire Death Toll Surges to 24 as Firefighters Brace for More Fierce Winds

The light of a fire fighting helicopter illuminates a smoldering hillside as the Palisades fire grows near the Mandeville Canyon neighborhood and Encino, California, on January 11, 2025. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)
The light of a fire fighting helicopter illuminates a smoldering hillside as the Palisades fire grows near the Mandeville Canyon neighborhood and Encino, California, on January 11, 2025. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)

After a weekend spent blocking the explosive growth of fires that destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 24 people in the Los Angeles area, firefighters got a slight break with calmer weather but cast a wary eye on a forecast for yet more wind.
Should that happen, already burned homes and valleys could flare anew, sending embers to unburned territory miles downwind. New fires could add to the complication.
The death toll surged late Sunday with an update from the Los Angeles County medical examiner. At least 16 people were missing, a number authorities said was also likely to rise.
The relative calm Sunday allowed some people to return to previously evacuated areas, however, The Associated Press said.
The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings for severe fire conditions through Wednesday, with sustained winds of 50 mph (80 kph) and gusts in the mountains reaching 70 mph (113 kph). The most dangerous day will be Tuesday, warned fire behavior analyst Dennis Burns at a community meeting Sunday night.
“It will kind of ebb and flow over the next couple days,” Burns said. “Tomorrow night, it will really ramp up.”
Spotting — new fires caused by blowing embers — could happen as much as 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) or more downwind of areas that have already burned, Burns said.
Despite their recent losses, stress, and uncertainty, the crowd in a Pasadena City College gym was mostly respectful, in contrast with harsh criticism elsewhere for Los Angeles and California leaders. Applause followed each of the experts, police, firefighters and community leaders who spoke.
Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone said 70 additional water trucks arrived to help firefighters fend off flames spread by renewed gusts. “We are prepared for the upcoming wind event,” Marrone said.
Fire retardant dropped by aircraft will act as a barrier along hillsides, officials said.
Fierce Santa Ana winds have been largely blamed for turning the wildfires sparked last week into infernos that leveled entire neighborhoods around the city where there has been no significant rainfall in more than eight months.
Twelve people were missing within the Eaton Fire zone and four were missing from the Palisades Fire, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said. Investigators were reconciling whether some of the missing might be among the dead but so far no children were among those reported missing, he said.
Meanwhile, the death toll rose to 24 over the weekend. Eight deaths were attributed to the Palisades Fire and 16 to the Eaton Fire, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.
The toll could rise still more as cadaver dogs conducted systematic searches in leveled neighborhoods. Authorities established a center where people could report the missing.
Officials also were building an online database to allow evacuated residents to see if their homes were damaged or destroyed. In the meantime, LA city Fire Chief Kristin Crowley urged people to stay away from scorched neighborhoods.
“There are still active fires that are burning within the Palisades area, making it extremely, extremely dangerous for the public," Crowley said at a Sunday morning briefing. “There’s no power, there’s no water, there’s broken gas lines, and we have unstable structures.”
Officials warned the ash can contain lead, arsenic, asbestos and other harmful materials.
About 150,000 people in Los Angeles County remained under evacuation orders, with more than 700 residents taking refuge in nine shelters, Luna said. Officials said most of the orders in the Palisades area were unlikely to be lifted before the red flag warnings expire Wednesday evening.
“Please rest assured that first thing Thursday we will begin talking about repopulation,” Marrone said.
In all, four fires had consumed more than 62 square miles (160 square kilometers), an area larger than San Francisco. The Palisades Fire was 11% contained and containment on the Eaton Fire reached 27%. Those two blazes alone accounted for 59 square miles (nearly 153 square kilometers).
Crews from California and nine other states are part of the ongoing response that includes nearly 1,400 fire engines, 84 aircraft and more than 14,000 personnel, including newly arrived firefighters from Mexico.
Fighting to save public and private areas After a fierce battle Saturday, firefighters managed to fight back flames in Mandeville Canyon, home to Arnold Schwarzenegger and other celebrities near Pacific Palisades not far from the coast, where swooping helicopters dumped water as the blaze charged downhill.
The fire ran through chaparral-covered hillsides and also briefly threatened to jump over Interstate 405 and into densely populated areas in the Hollywood Hills and San Fernando Valley.
Arrests for looting Looting continued to be a concern, with authorities reporting more arrests as the devastation grew. Those arrested included two people who posed as firefighters going into houses, Los Angeles Police Department Capt. Michael Lorenz said.
With California National Guard troops on hand to guard properties, Gov. Gavin Newsom posted on X: “California will NOT allow for looting.”
Historical cost The fires that began Tuesday just north of downtown LA had burned more than 12,000 structures. No cause for the largest fires was determined.
Early estimates suggest they could be the nation's costliest ever, as much as $150 billion according to an AccuWeather estimate.
Inmate firefighters on the front lines Along with crews from other states and Mexico, hundreds of inmates from California’s prison system were also helping fight the fires. Nearly 950 prison firefighters were removing timber and brush ahead of the fires to slow their spread, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The practice is controversial as the inmates are paid little for dangerous and difficult work: $10.24 each day, with more for 24-hour shifts, according to the corrections department.
Rebuilding will be a challenge Newsom issued an executive order Sunday aimed at fast-tracking rebuilding by suspending some environmental regulations and ensuring that property tax assessments were not increased.
“We’ve got to let people know that we have their back,” he said. “We want you to come back, rebuild, and rebuild with higher quality building standards, more modern standards."
More than 24,000 people had registered for federal assistance made available by a major disaster declaration by President Joe Biden, according to the White House.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said Sunday that she had spoken with President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration and expected that he would visit the city.
Leadership accused of skimping Bass faces a critical test of her leadership during the city's greatest crisis in decades, but allegations of leadership failures, political blame and investigations have begun.
Newsom on Friday ordered state officials to determine why a 117 million-gallon (440 million-liter) reservoir was out of service and some hydrants had run dry.



UK to Use Police Stations as Prisons under Emergency Measure

Police officers are seen in London, Britain, November 27, 2024. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police officers are seen in London, Britain, November 27, 2024. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
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UK to Use Police Stations as Prisons under Emergency Measure

Police officers are seen in London, Britain, November 27, 2024. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police officers are seen in London, Britain, November 27, 2024. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy

Police cells will temporarily be used to hold prisoners in a stop-gap measure to cope with overcrowding in jails, the British government said on Tuesday.

The emergency action, dubbed "Operation Safeguard", allows inmates to be held in police cells when prisons are full, and was previously used from February 2023 to October last year, Reuters said.

The prison population in England and Wales has doubled in the last 30 years, according to official data, leading to overcrowding as new places have failed to keep pace with demand. Justice systems in Scotland and Northern Ireland are run separately.

In a statement to parliament, Shabana Mahmood said the prison system was operating at more than 99% occupancy.

January saw the highest average monthly prison population growth in almost two years, as part of a rising trend in the last three months that "has only just begun to slow", she added.

"Given the recent increase in demand, it is necessary, and prudent, for me to temporarily reactivate Operation Safeguard to better manage the flow of offenders into the prison estate," Mahmood said.

According to the World Prison Brief database, imprisonment rates in England and Wales are higher than in other major European countries, with 141 detainees per 100,000 population, against 120 in France, 117 in Spain, 105 in Italy and 68 in Germany.