Authorities in California said that more persons have been reported missing, bringing the total number of fatalities from wildfires in the Los Angeles area to 24 as of Sunday night. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Sunday that firefighters had made some progress on the two major flames affecting the city and had completely confined three of the fires.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, said Sunday’s somewhat calmer winds helped personnel make some headway on containment operations, though at least three significant fires are still burning.
After starting on Tuesday, the Palisades Fire had spread to 23,713 acres and was 13% contained. Cal Fire said in a 7 p.m. PST report that the fire has burned at least 1,105 structures and threatened another 12,250. The fire has also claimed two life.
As of Sunday evening, the Eaton Fire north of Pasadena, which started on Tuesday as well, had spread to 14,117 acres and was 27% contained.
According to a 7:30 p.m. update from Cal Fire, the fire has caused at least 11 fatalities, damaged 1,422 buildings, destroyed 212 more, and threatened over 39,400 more.
About 800 acres and about 90% of the Hurst Fire, which began Tuesday as well, had been contained in Sylmar, northwest of San Fernando.
At a press conference on Sunday, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna stated that “dozens” more reports may have been received overnight, adding that at least 16 individuals had been reported missing in the Eaton and Palisades fire zones.
He anticipates an increase in the number of reported missing persons. As of Sunday at 5 p.m. PST, the Los Angeles medical examiner has confirmed the deaths of at least 24 persons.
Another red flag warning for fire hazard in Southern California was issued by the National Weather Service on Sunday and will remain in effect until Wednesday. In three months, this is the third high-level alert.
Wind gusts between 45 and 70 mph are predicted by the National Weather Service for Tuesday through Wednesday, increasing the risk of a fire. Guidelines for residents who are already wary of fires have been released by the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Social media on Sunday was used by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office to declare “zero tolerance for looters.” Authorities are blocking access to the impacted areas of Altadena and imposing curfews in areas under evacuation orders.
According to Luna, some 29 persons have been taken into custody in fire zones, including four close to the Palisades fire and 25 around the Eaton fire. He claimed that one individual had broken into a house by posing as a firefighter.
“Deputies are enforcing curfew in Altadena and being vigilant to prevent looting,” sheriff’s office Sergeant Miguel Meza posted on Instagram early on Sunday morning.
Less than half a mile from Eaton Canyon, Craig Curtis, a resident of Altadena, lives with his wife and cat in a house that somehow survived the Tuesday night fire that destroyed almost everything in its path, including a huge Jewish temple.
Later in the week, sheriff’s officers were replaced by National patrol soldiers to patrol the neighborhood, and they were preventing anyone from returning. Forbidden from visiting his home, Curtis and his spouse are lodging in a modest, neighborhood hotel, thinking about the future, and searching for hints of normalcy in the midst of the turmoil.
Curtis and his wife had gone out to watch a movie on Tuesday night, and by the time they returned home, the entire neighborhood was on fire, and deputies were barring anyone from entering. This is a testament to how quickly the fire spread.
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Curtis described how, as the flames raged Tuesday night, he was turned away from his neighborhood, leaving him astonished and unsure of what would happen to the house he had lived in for decades. “We left with the clothes on our backs and two half charged cell phones,” he said.
On social media, Newsom announced that the fires in Kenneth, Sunset, and Lidia had grown to 100%.
During an operational briefing on the Palisades fire on Sunday, Jeremiah Wittwer stated that “yesterday was a day of progress” in the fight against the fire.”Last night, the fire laid down a little bit when we got some work in with the helicopters in there,” Wittwer added, referring to the northeastern front of the fire. “The crews started going in direct, getting in behind those houses, starting to button that up.”
According to Wittwer, service requests have begun to come in from the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, which is located between Malibu and Santa Monica. However, he claimed that the fire started to rekindle in certain places when the morning brought with it fierce gusts.
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However, although most of the region was still under evacuation orders, Pacific Palisades was still under a do-not-drink order on Sunday due to fire-related pollutants in the tap water.
According to Cal Fire, the source of the fire is still being investigated, but aerial imagery indicates that 7,081 structures have been damaged or destroyed. The Palisades fire has burned about 604 buildings and damaged another 83.
According to the tracker Poweroutage.us, 44,947 residences and businesses in Los Angeles were without electricity on Sunday morning.
Southern California Edison’s 26,768 customers and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s 18,034 customers were the most affected. 62,850 of Southern California Edison’s customers were without power in the area, the company reported online.
