Los Angeles wildfires live updates: 5 killed, Palisades and Eaton fires spread, Sunset Fire erupts in Hollywood Hills
The Hurst, Lidia and Woodley wildfires are also burning in Los Angeles County, officials said.
The number of deaths resulting from ongoing wildfires burning in Los Angeles County has reportedly increased to five, according to multiple local news outlets citing L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna. More than 130,000 people have been forced to evacuate the region, and more evacuations were ordered Thursday evening as a new and fast-moving blaze, the Sunset Fire, erupted in the Hollywood Hills.
More than 1,000 structures have been destroyed by the fires, which have been fueled by strong Santa Ana winds, low humidity and ongoing drought conditions.
According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, at least five wildfires were at 0% containment as of Thursday evening, including the Palisades Fire, which has so far burned more than 15,832 acres, and the Eaton Fire, which has so far torched 10,600 acres. The Sunset Fire, which is located in densely populated Runyon Canyon area, had quickly burned 20 acres.
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Katie Mather
Traffic gridlock as people try to escape Sunset Fire in Hollywood Hills
As residents heeded evacuation orders for the Sunset Fire and attempted to leave the Hollywood Hills area, traffic was snarled for miles.
CBS reporter Andre Tinoco posted footage of the gridlock on Franklin and La Brea avenues about half an hour after mandatory evacuation orders were sent out.
Katie Mather
Another fire has broken out — this one in Hollywood Hills
A new wildfire erupted Wednesday evening, this one in the Hollywood Hills area, Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said at a press conference. She noted that the fire department was already responding to the situation and excused herself from the meeting to join in the effort.
Sunset Fire, which it has been named as has covered 20 acres already.
Chris Christi, a helicopter reporter for ABC7 Los Angeles, shared a photo of the fire on X.
The LAFD sent out an emergency alert to residents and posted mandatory evacuations for the area of the new fire.
“A wildfire is burning at Runyon Canyon,” the alert read. “Those nearby should get set for a potential evacuation. Monitor local news, LAFD social media, and lafd.org/alerts for updates. Evacuation preparation info here: lafd.org/ready-set-go.”
Eyewitnesses say the latest blaze is rapidly expanding in a densely populated area.
Katie Mather
All Los Angeles public schools will be closed Thursday
All Los Angeles public schools and offices will be closed Thursday, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said at a Wednesday evening press conference. A decision on whether schools and offices will remain closed on Friday will be announced Thursday at 4 p.m. PST.
“The confluence of factors” from the wildfires have “created dangerous, complex situations that present unsafe conditions for our school communities,” a statement posted to social media said.
Some meals and mental health services will be available for Los Angeles Unified School District students despite the school closings.
David Knowles
Pasadena fire chief: ‘We’re going to get a handle on this fire’
Pasadena Fire Chief Chad Augustin said Wednesday afternoon he was optimistic that firefighters would soon get the upper hand on the Eaton Fire, which has so far burned over 10,600 acres in and around Altadena and Pasadena, destroying numerous homes and structures.
“Tonight we have very mild wind conditions,” Augustin said at a press conference, adding that the lull in the winds would help allow aircraft to get back in the sky.
He added that the arrival of additional fire crews, some from neighboring states, would help support exhausted local firefighters. “That’s what’s giving me confidence that we’re going to get a handle on this fire,” he said.
Still, Augustin acknowledged that the past 24 hours had been devastating for the community.
“I would be kidding all of you if I said we didn’t have our resources stretched thin yesterday,” he said, noting that with 70 mph wind gusts experienced in Pasadena overnight, planes used to dump water on the fires were forced to be grounded.
“I’ll be clear,” Augustin continued, “with those wind gusts, we were not stopping that fire last night. Those erratic wind gusts were throwing embers for multiple miles ahead of the fire and that’s really what caused the rapid spread of this fire.”
Katie Mather
Eaton Fire death toll rises to 5
The death toll from the Eaton Fire has risen to 5 people, L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna confirmed to Eyewitness News Los Angeles. Earlier on Wednesday, officers had told reporters that two people had died.
As of 3 p.m. PST, the Eaton Fire had burned 10,600 acres in Altadena, west of Los Angeles, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reported. Several areas are under mandatory evacuation orders.
Kate Murphy
California power outages top 1.5 million
Over 1.5 million utility customers in Southern California are without power as of 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time Wednesday, according to PowerOutage.us.
The majority of the outages (942,218) are in Los Angeles County, where there are five raging wildfires. Ventura, San Bernardino, Orange, San Diego and Riverside counties also reported outages.
Kate Murphy
Various highways in SoCal are fully closed due to wildfires or wind-related incidents
Various highways throughout Southern California are fully closed as of 2 p.m. local time on Wednesday, due to the ongoing wildfires and heavy winds. Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath posted a list of closures on X and advised people to avoid nonessential travel.
David Knowles
UCLA climate scientist explains ‘why we are where we are right now’
In a Wednesday briefing with reporters, UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain laid out the scenario that has given rise to the intense wildfire activity sweeping the Los Angeles area.
“Lack of rain and the anomalous warmth leading up to the present and recent months in Southern California is what has precipitated this crisis,” Swain said, adding, “Had it rained a nice inch or two, even a below-average but above-zero amount in recent weeks, we would not be seeing these catastrophic fires in January.”
Since May, the National Weather Service said, downtown Los Angeles has received just 0.16 inches of rain. Even though the area has seen wet winters for the past two years, that helped vegetation grow that quickly dried out as drought conditions developed, Swain said.
“Because we had this sequence of extraordinarily wet conditions for the past two years that resulted in abundant growth of grass and brush throughout Southern California and then experienced this wet-to-dry whiplash event with a very wet season being followed by the driest season [this autumn] on record, being punctuated across inland areas by the hottest summer on record,” he said.
Rising global temperatures have increased the rate of evaporation in vegetation, producing more potent fuel for wildfires.
“We have vegetation that is extremely dry, unusually, historically so in some cases for the time of year, and that confluence of that extremely dry vegetation conditions plus an unusually strong Santa Ana wind event is why we are where we are right now,” Swain said.
David Knowles
The Lidia Fire, another major blaze, erupts north of the Eaton Fire
More wildfires continued to erupt Wednesday as firefighters struggled to contain several blazes.
UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain told reporters in a briefing that officials had reported that the Lidia Fire had grown well north of downtown Los Angeles, and that fire officials had requested air tanker planes be sent to try to contain the blaze.
“This is a new major fire,” Swain said.
Katie Mather
Oregon sending 240 firefighters, 60 engines to help California
Oregon plan to send 12 firefighting crews to California to help fight against the wildfires, local officials said Wednesday. Collectively, the 12 crews have a total of 240 firefighters and 60 engines.
“Oregon and California have a strong partnership supporting each other,” Oregon State Fire Marshal Mariana Ruiz-Temple said in a statement. “We both understand that fire does not recognize map lines, and we are ready to help each other whenever there is a need. During our historic 2024 wildfire season, California sent us help and in their time of need, we are working as fast as possible to lend them support during this emergency.”
Ruiz-Temple also said that the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s office will continue to watch the situation in California and prepare to fulfill any more requests for help.
Katie Mather
L.A. Metro suspends fares due to power outages
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority agreed to wave all fares for rides, County Supervisor Janice Hahn said on X.
According to Hahn, the increase in power outages throughout the city has complicated travelers’ abilities to buy or refill their metro cards.
While Hahn mentioned Metro rides would be free “for the rest of the day,” she did not specify if the free rides would continue tomorrow.
Katie Mather
Defense Department is sending additional firefighting assets to California
The Defense Department is sending additional firefighting assets to Southern California to help control and fight the wildfires that have been spreading for two days, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters this afternoon.
“The president has directed this department to bolster whatever California needs,” Singh said of Biden, who had traveled to California this week before the wildfires broke out to announce the creation of two new national monuments that would honor Native American tribes.
Singh said the California National Guard and Nevada National Guard would be adding two modular air firefighting system units. She added that 10 Navy helicopters with water delivery buckets will be sent to California.
“We have to work with California, and right now we can’t even get assets up in the air because the fires are so bad and because the winds are so bad,” Singh explained.
Katie Mather
Pacific Palisades fire is now the most destructive in L.A. city history
After destroying roughly 1,000 homes and buildings, the Palisades Fire — which has not been contained by the California Fire Department — is now the most destructive fire in Los Angeles history, the Associated Press reported.
The Sayre Fire in November 2008 previously held that record after it destroyed 604 structures in Sylmar, a northern suburb of Los Angeles.
David Knowles
5 of 7 wildfires in L.A. and Ventura counties remain at 0% containment
With Santa Ana winds continuing to fuel multiple wildfires in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, and with water supplies running low from some fire hydrants, firefighters are struggling to keep up.
As of 6:00 p.m. PT, five of the seven major fires in the area were 0% contained, according to Cal Fire and the L.A. Fire Department.
In L.A. County, the Palisades Fire has now burned 15,832 acres and is 0% contained. The Eaton Fire has burned 10,600 acres and is 0% contained. The Hurst Fire has burned 700 acres and is also 0% contained, the Lidia Fire has burned 80 acres and is 30% contained, and the Woodley Fire has burned 30 acres and is now “controlled,” according to LAFD chief Kristin Crowley. The Sunset Fire, which erupted Thursday evening, has burned 20 acres and is 0% contained.
In Ventura County, the Olivas Fire has burned 11 acres and is also 0% contained.
Kate Murphy
NHL postpones Los Angeles Kings game due to wildfires
The National Hockey League announced in a post on X that Wednesday night’s game between the Los Angeles Kings and Calgary Flames originally scheduled for 10:30 p.m. ET has been postponed due to the “devastating effects of the wildfires.”
Katie Mather
Maria Shriver, former first lady of California, calls fires ‘heartbreaking, devastating, beyond belief’
Maria Shriver, who was first lady of California during her marriage to then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, called the Southern California wildfires “heartbreaking, devastating, beyond belief.”
“Everything is gone,” Shriver wrote in a post on X. “Our neighborhood, our restaurants. All our friends have lost everything. We have evacuated, but are safe. But people have lost everything.”
Her message was in response to a video filmed by CBS News correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti that showed the aftermath of the Palisades Fire.
“People need to stay safe, stay out of harms way, and allow firefighters [to] do what they can to help those who need immediate assistance,” Shriver continued. “Stay alert and stay safe.”
Katie Mather
TV show sets shut down, filming canceled due to L.A. fires
Several TV show production sets have shut down as strong winds and fires continue to cause chaos in the Los Angeles area, Deadline reported.
The Warner Bros. lot, based in Burbank, closed, which affects shows like Abbott Elementary, All American, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage and The Pitt, which were all scheduled to shoot today. There was also an upcoming Leanne Morgan project scheduled to meet and have table reads and rehearsals in the area that has since been canceled, per the news outlet.
CBS Studios closed down its productions too, including NCIS, which films in Santa Clarita.
NBCUniversal shut down its lower lot at Universal Studios for the day, so the casts and crews of Hacks, Happy’s Place, Loot, Suits L.A. and Ted won’t be filming today either.
Late-night TV is also affected, with ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live and CBS’s After Midnight canceling their tapings.
Kate Murphy
Palisades Fire grows to over 11,800 acres
The Palisades Fire has grown to over 11,800 acres, according to fire officials. The fire is currently at 0% containment.
About 37,000 residents have been ordered to evacuate parts of Los Angeles County, with 15,000 structures at risk of burning, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Wednesday.
Firefighting efforts continue to be challenging due to “extreme fire behavior,” and “winds gusts up to 60 mph are expected to continue through Thursday,” the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.
David Knowles
The main factors that set the stage for this week’s wildfires
The Los Angeles wildfires that have so far killed at least two people, destroyed more than 1,000 structures and displaced more than 70,000 residents as the result of an unprecedented collision of factors. Those include the following:
A worsening drought: Much of Southern California including the area affected by the wildfires has been experiencing “moderate drought” conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Downtown Los Angeles, for instance, has only received 0.16 inches of rain since May 6, according to the National Weather Service.
Ferocious Santa Ana winds: While Santa Ana winds are nothing new to the region this time of year, this week’s have proven especially strong, with numerous wind gusts topping 100 mph. The warm, dry winds, which originate from the Great Basin (an area centered over Nevada), have been responsible for spreading the flames and embers faster than firefighters can extinguish them.
Climate change: Underlying the dry conditions and extraordinary wind event this week is the fact that average temperatures in California and around the world have steadily risen since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Hotter temperatures increase evaporation rates, sucking the moisture from vegetation and leaving them more susceptible to fire. As Texas Tech University climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe said on Wednesday, the top 20 largest California wildfires have all happened since 2020.
Katie Mather
Olivas Fire burns in Ventura County, fire officials say
A brush fire started in Ventura County this morning, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.
The Olivas Fire broke out near Olivas Park Drive, and according to the Cal Fire website is 0% contained. However, Andrew Dowd, a firefighter with the Ventura County Fire Department, said the blaze was stopped at around 11 acres. “It’s not spreading any further,” he told the Ventura County Star.
No homes or buildings were damaged by the fire, officials said. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Dylan Stableford
Biden receives wildfire briefing in Santa Monica
At a Santa Monica fire station, President Biden — who is in Los Angeles this week on an unrelated trip — and California Gov. Gavin Newsom received a briefing from first responders on the response to the ongoing wildfires.
Biden pledged to provide more federal resources, including 10 Navy helicopters and additional National Guard troops, to assist state and local efforts.
“We’re prepared to do anything and everything as long as it takes to contain these fires, and help reconstruct,” Biden said.
Kate Murphy
Aerial operations to combat Palisades Fire have resumed, L.A. mayor says
Firefighters battling the Palisades Fire have regained aerial support Wednesday afternoon, after they were temporarily suspended because of extreme wind conditions, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a post on X.
Kate Murphy
Excess water demands in Pacific Palisades caused hydrants to run dry, residents urged to conserve water
Officials in Los Angeles County are urging resident across the area to conserve water for firefighters to use in battling the blazes across Southern California.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) said that over the course of about 15 hours, water systems had faced four times the normal demand, leaving them without enough water to fill each of the three one-million-gallon tanks in the Pacific Palisades area to help maintain fire hydrant pressure.
“We pushed the system to the extreme,” said Janisse Quiñones, CEO of the LADWP, on Wednesday. “We’re fighting a wildfire with urban water systems, and that is really challenging.”
Officials said one tank ran out of water late Tuesday afternoon, another Tuesday evening and the third one early Wednesday.
Los Angeles County Public Works Director Mark Pestrella said Wednesday: “That’s why air support is so critical to the firefight. And unfortunately, wind and air visibility have prevented that support.”
Katie Mather
Hollywood cancels movie premieres, events due to wildfires
Amazon MGM Studios and Universal Studios canceled their premiere events for Unstoppable and Wolf Man, both of which were supposed to take place on Tuesday night.
Paramount and Max canceled their Wednesday events for the movie Better Man and the upcoming TV show, The Pitt.
“The safety and well-being of our attendees, staff, and community are our top priority,” HBO and Max, which were hoping to premiere The Pitt, wrote in a statement. “We are grateful for the first responders bravely working to protect our community, and our thoughts are with those affected. Stay safe!”
The Last Showgirl, from Roadside Attractions, was also scheduled to premiere on Jan. 9 at the Chinese Theatre Multiplex but has since been canceled.
In addition to film and television premieres, several other Hollywood events have been canceled, including the SAG Awards nominations, which were supposed to take place at a live event earlier Wednesday, the AFI Awards Luncheon and the BAFTA Tea Party. The American Cinematheque Tribute to the Crafts event, which was planned for Jan. 9, s postponed to a later date. A Meta event with an appearance by Jane Fonda, who was planning to promote her new VR fitness series, has also been canceled.
The Critics Choice Awards, which were set to take place on Jan. 12, have been postponed to Jan. 26.
Kate Murphy
Actor James Woods tearfully recounts harrowing evacuation
Actor James Woods tearfully described how the wildfires forced him to evacuate his home in Pacific Palisades during a Wednesday appearance on CNN.
“I’m sorry, it’s just one day you’re in the pool and the next it’s all gone,” he said tearfully as he held his head.
Woods also told viewers about his 94-year-old neighbor with dementia, who was in the hospital. He called the neighbor’s family just in case, and they said he had been released. Woods said the neighbor’s caregiver was told to evacuate first by the fire department and he feared that his neighbor had been forgotten.
Woods said his neighbor was ultimately evacuated and that “about an hour later” the house burned down. “He would have been in there alone,” Woods said, choking up.
Dylan Stableford
Eaton Fire grows to over 10,000 acres
The Eaton Fire has now grown to 10,600 acres, fire officials said.
At a press conference earlier in the day, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said the Eaton Fire had burned 2,000 acres and the Palisades Fire had burned more than 5,000 acres.
Both fires were at 0% containment, Marrone said.
Two other fires listed on the Cal Fire website — the Hurst Fire (500 acres) and Woodley Fire (30 acres) — are also at 0% containment.
Dylan Stableford
GoFundMe launches hub for verified wildfire fundraisers
GoFundMe has launched a hub page that it says will house “all verified GoFundMe pages related to these wildfires in Southern California.”
“Our hearts are with everyone impacted by the devastating wildfires in Southern California,” the company said. “At GoFundMe, we are working around the clock to ensure these impacted communities receive the support they need.”
Katie Mather
Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag’s house reportedly burns down; Jamie Lee Curtis and Mark Hamill among stars to evacuate area
The Palisades Fire has forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes. Former reality TV star Spencer Pratt posted a video to TikTok early Wednesday of flames surrounding his and Heidi Montag’s home as they were evacuating.
“Nightmare came true,” Pratt captioned the video.
Other celebrities who live in the areas affected by the wildfires have shared footage and sentiments on social media as the chaos continues to rage on.
Actor James Woods shared footage of the fires on X and wrote that he “couldn’t believe our lovely little home in the hills held on this long. It feels like losing a loved one.”
Jamie Lee Curtis described the situation as “terrifying” on Instagram, adding that while her family is safe, “many of my friends will lose their homes.”
In an Instagram Story, Dan Levy wrote that he was “heartbroken for my family, my friends and the people of L.A. affected by these catastrophic fires.”
Dylan Stableford
L.A. water official: ‘We pushed the system to the extreme’
Addressing reports of fire hydrant water shortages for firefighters battling the Palisades Fire, Janisse Quiñones, chief executive of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, told reporters at Wednesday’s press conference that demand was so high that three water tanks, which hold a million gallons each, ran out of water in a 12-hour span.
“We pushed the system to the extreme,” Quiñones said, urging residents across to the city to conserve water for firefighters.
“We’re fighting a wildfire with urban water systems, and that is really challenging,” she said.
David Knowles
California wildfires could be a worst-case scenario for insurance market
This week’s wildfires come at a crisis point in the homeowner’s insurance market in which companies, citing the growing risks caused by climate change, have been dropping policies and refusing to write new ones.
Last spring, State Farm announced it was canceling 72,000 policies in California, including 1,600 for homes located in Pacific Palisades.
“We must now take action to reduce our overall exposure to be more commensurate with the capital on hand to cover such exposure, as most insurers in California have already done,” State Farm executive Denise Hardin explained in a letter to California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, adding, “We have been reluctant to take this step, recognizing how difficult it will be for impacted policyholders, in addition to our independent contractor agents who are small business owners and employers in their local California communities.”
That has left homeowners flocking to the Fair Plan, the state’s insurer of last resort. As a result, the Fair Plan’s financial exposure has skyrocketed.
“As of September 2024 (current fiscal year-end), the FAIR Plan’s total exposure is $458 billion, reflecting a 61.3% increase since September 2023 (prior fiscal year-end),” the Fair Plan says on its website.
If the losses from the current wildfires are higher than what the Fair Plan can pay, it will legally be able to seek rate increases from all other insured Californians.
“In California, just as in Florida, ordinary homeowners who have car insurance policies, life insurance, will be on the hook for the failures of the insurance in that state,” Susan Crawford, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former science adviser to President Obama, previously told Yahoo News.
If that fails to balance the books, she added, “the likelihood is that the state will then turn to the federal government for a bailout.“
