California fires: LA fire crews make progress as officials expect ‘much-needed break’ from dangerous weather – as it happened

Firefighters make progress in containing Los Angeles wildfires

Firefighters have reported significant gains in containing two massive wildfires burning around Los Angeles.

Firefighters are also tackling smaller blazes set by arsonists in recent days.

This came as the last wave of windy, fire-prone weather moved through southern California.

With winds picking up again, much of the nation’s second-most populous metropolitan region was still on alert for new outbreaks and flareups.

In the mountains, gusts reached up to 50mph, but many areas saw relatively light winds late in the morning, according to the National Weather Service.

Better conditions expected in the coming days should help fire crews make even more headway and allow residents to return to their neighborhoods to begin rebuilding.

Thanks for joining our live coverage of the Los Angeles wildfires so far today. It’s 6.30pm in California and this blog is closing. These are the top headlines we followed this afternoon and evening:

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There are five wildfires currently raging in Los Angeles county. They include:

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  The Palisades fire, at ‎23,713 acres and 19% containment.

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  The Eaton fire, at 14,117 acres and 45% containment.

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  The Hurst fire, at 799 acres and 97% containment.

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  The Little Mountain fire, at 34 acres and 0% containment.

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  The Auto fire, at 61 acres and 85% containment.

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  Forecasters expect a “much-needed break” but say next week is a “concern”. The National Weather Service in Los Angeles said the dry winds fueling wildfires had eased on Wednesday and were forecast to change direction on Thursday afternoon.

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  More than 120,000 customers remained without power in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. On Wednesday afternoon, nearly 100,000 of those were customers of Southern California Edison energy company in Ventura, Los Angeles, San Bernadino and Riverside counties.

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  Nearly 30 people were still missing, Los Angeles county sheriff Robert Luna said. Deputies have searched more than 5,500 properties for victims from the Eaton Fire and hoped to finish in that area by Thursday, he said. The fires have killed at least 25 people and destroyed thousands of homes.

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  A particularly dangerous situation red flag warning expired on Wednesday afternoon, the NWS in Los Angeles said. Still, dry conditions and locally gusty winds will linger into Thursday – especially in some mountain areas.

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  Officials formed a taskforce to combat crimes related to the Los Angeles wildfires. The taskforce is composed of federal and local law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and local prosecutors, and will focus on arson, looting, fraud, illegal drone activity and related offenses, according to the United States attorney for the central district of California.

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  California governor Gavin Newsom announced that he signed an executive order to allow cleanup crews from the US Environmental Protection Agency offices to move into neighborhoods devastated by the Los Angeles fires.

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  The Grammy awards will not be canceled or postponed as wildfires continue to ravage Los Angeles. The ceremony will instead refocus the show on fire relief efforts.

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More than 120,000 customers remained without power in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

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On Wednesday afternoon, nearly 100,000 of those were customers of Southern California Edison energy company in Ventura, Los Angeles, San Bernadino and Riverside counties.

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“Our thoughts are with everyone impacted by the extreme weather event,” the utility said on its website.

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The company on Wednesday afternoon said on social media it had completed 100% of the damage assessments for non-fire areas where it was safe to do so. After the assessments, repairs are prioritized based on conditions, and the time needed will vary depending on the extent of the repair work required, the post said.

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“Due to unsafe conditions, restoration may take longer than usual,” the company said.

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The National Weather Service in Los Angeles has posted a good news/bad news forecast for the next week in the Los Angeles area.

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“Good news: we are expecting a much-needed break from the fire weather concerns to close this week,” the weather service posted on social media Wednesday afternoon.

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“Bad news: next week is a concern. While confident that we will NOT see a repeat of last week, dangerous fire weather conditions are expected,” the post said.

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The highest chance of a red flag warning being issued because of Santa Ana winds will come on Monday and Tuesday, the weather service said.

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The warning expired on Wednesday afternoon, the National Weather Service in Los Angeles said. Still, dry conditions and locally gusty winds will linger into Thursday – especially in some mountain areas.

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Winds peaked before 3pm on Wednesday and will continue to lessen into the evening. Red flag warnings remain in effect due to locally strong north-east to east winds and low relative humidity in much of Los Angeles and Ventura counties and parts of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties until 6pm on Wednesday.

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In the Santa Susana mountains, Western San Gabriel mountains and the Interstate 5 corridor, red flag warnings remain in effect through 3pm on Thursday, the weather service said.

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Firefighters have reported significant gains in containing two massive wildfires burning around Los Angeles.

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Firefighters are also tackling smaller blazes set by arsonists in recent days.

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This came as the last wave of windy, fire-prone weather moved through southern California.

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With winds picking up again, much of the nation’s second-most populous metropolitan region was still on alert for new outbreaks and flareups.

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In the mountains, gusts reached up to 50mph, but many areas saw relatively light winds late in the morning, according to the National Weather Service.

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Better conditions expected in the coming days should help fire crews make even more headway and allow residents to return to their neighborhoods to begin rebuilding.

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The taskforce is composed of federal and local law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and local prosecutors, and will focus on arson, looting, fraud, illegal drone activity and related offenses, according to the United States attorney for the central district of California.

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The United States attorney Martin Estrada said:

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n

We will not permit victims to be re-victimized. Our community has suffered tremendously, and we are here to support them. The Joint Fire Crimes Task Force is committed to addressing crimes coming out of the fires, including any looting, arson, illegal drone flights and fraud. As the rebuilding process begins and donations and relief funds come in, we must ensure that those seeking to take advantage through criminal activity are held fully accountable.

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of burned home”,”caption”:”The remains of a home demolished by the Eaton fire in Altadena.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Frederic J Brown/AFP/Getty Images”}}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1736974422000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”15.53 EST”,”blockLastUpdated”:1736976586000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”16.29 EST”,”blockFirstPublished”:1736974994000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”16.03 EST”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”16.03″,”title”:”Officials form taskforce to combat crimes related to LA wildfires”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Wed 15 Jan 2025 21.29 EST”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Wed 15 Jan 2025 03.33 EST”},{“id”:”678802338f08ce4b9f2db000″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

As Los Angeles anxiously watches how several fires develop amid expected hurricane-force winds in the state, here is a roundup of the latest updates from officials:

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  Critical fire weather conditions will continue through Wednesday evening. Gusts were hitting up to 35mph on the coast and valleys and 55mph in the mountains before dawn, the National Weather Service meteorologist Todd Hall said.

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  The Los Angeles police department chief, Jim McDonnell, said of 38 people initially reported missing, 27 have been found safe. Of the 11 remaining, two have most likely died but have yet to be positively identified.

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  LA’s county district attorney condemned people who have price-gouged on housing, saying some people had increased rents by 100 to 300%. Nathan Hochman said anyone caught price gouging will be prosecuted, adding: “Your name will get out there. Your company’s name will get out there. You will be publicly shamed.”

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  The Joint Regional Fire Crimes Task Force is investigating looting, burglary, robbery, grand theft, impersonation of firefighters or law enforcement, curfew violations, and related crimes stemming from the Palisades fire, the Eaton fire, and other wildfires. To date more than 50 people have been arrested, and nine defendants have been charged and face maximum sentences ranging from six years to life in prison.

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  Eighty-two thousand people remain under evacuation warnings. The curfew is still in effect from 6am to 6pm.

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  Two people have been arrested for arson, officials said, but not in connection to the Palisades or Eaton fires.

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  More than 53,000 people have registered for Fema’s individual assistance program, according to the regional Fema administrator Robert Fenton Jr. Twelve million dollars have already been distributed.

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Extreme winds threatened to feed the fires tearing through Los Angeles and surrounding areas, even as firefighters battled to contain the blazes that have killed at least 25 people and scorched more than 40,000 acres.

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The National Weather Service issued the most extreme level of a red flag fire warning of a “particularly dangerous situation” in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

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“The danger has not yet passed,” said the Los Angeles fire department chief, Kristin Crowley, during a Wednesday news conference. “So please prioritize your safety.”

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The deadly Palisades fire in the western suburbs of Los Angeles – the largest of the four wildfires – was still only 19% contained on Wednesday morning, more than a week after it ignited, and has destroyed thousands of properties and killed residents. But the Eaton fire, the next largest fire, in the Altadena area in north-eastern LA county, is now 45% contained – up 10% from Tuesday – with 14,100 acres burned. Officials said the Eaton fire is expected to stay within its existing footprint.

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The regional Fema administrator Robert Fenton Jr said that more than 53,000 people have registered for Fema’s individual assistance program.

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Twelve million dollars have already been distributed.

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The total number of arrests for the LA county sheriff’s jurisdiction is 44 – 36 in the Eaton incident and eight in the Palisades incident. Fourteen of these arrests were for burglary. Other arrests were made for curfew violations, trespassing or possession of narcotics.

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An individual was also arrested for impersonating a firefighter.

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Eighty-two thousand people remain under evacuation warnings. The curfew is still in effect from 6am to 6pm.

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Critical fire weather conditions will continue through this evening. Officials warn the region is still at risk for 70mph winds.

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The fire, which began near Eaton Canyon in Pasadena, California, last Tuesday, has burned 14,117 acres (5,713 hectares). More than 4,500 structures have been damaged. But more progress has been made in containing the fire, officials say. It’s now 45% contained – up from 35% early this morning.

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“Today’s efforts are focused on mop up and reinforcing containment lines to ensure perimeter control,” Angeles National Forest officials say in a statement. “Hazard trees along roadways are being mitigated to protect both firefighters and the public.”

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Officials say the fire is expected to remain within its current footprint and aircraft will continue to drop fire retardant in inaccessible areas.

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“Contingency resources are strategically prepositioned and ready to respond throughout communities along the fire’s western edge to due to the Santa Ana wind conditions.”

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92,000 southern California customers are without power, according to poweroutage.us.

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These impacted customers are in Ventura, San Bernadino, Riverside, and San Diego counties.

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A “particularly dangerous situation” – the most extreme advance warning, that can be issued for expected weather hazards by the National Weather Service – is in place for parts of southern California, like Ventura county. A combination of damaging winds, low humidity, and dry vegetation means this region remains at high risk of extreme fire behavior and very rapid growth.

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California governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order on Tuesday to protect homeowners affected by the Los Angeles fires from predatory behavior, like land speculators making aggressive and unsolicited cash offers to purchase their property.

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“As families mourn, the last thing they need is greedy speculators taking advantage of their pain,” Newsom said. “I have heard first-hand from community members and victims who have received unsolicited and predatory offers from speculators offering cash far below market value – some while their homes were burning. We will not allow greedy developers to rip off these working-class communities at a time when they need more support than ever before.”

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More than 6 million people are under a critical fire threat on Wednesday across several counties in southern California, reports CNN. This also includes cities outside Los Angeles county such as Anaheim, Riverside, San Bernardino and Oxnard.

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The National Weather Service (NWS) forecast north-east winds of 20-30mph, with gusts of 50mph possible. In its Wednesday national forecast chart, the NWS said:

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n

Critical fire weather conditions will continue for coastal southern California through Wednesday due to moderate to locally strong Santa Ana winds. Particularly dangerous situation red flag warnings remain in effect.

n

Much below average temperatures Wednesday from the midwest to the central Appalachians while a brief warm up moves into the central US.

n

Another surge of Arctic air will move over the central and eastern US beginning this weekend. Heavy lake effect snow will continue downwind of the Great Lakes with the heaviest forecast off Lakes Erie and Ontario into early Thursday.”

n

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Wednesday's National Forecast Chart:

Critical fire weather conditions will continue for coastal southern California through Wednesday due to moderate to locally strong Santa Ana winds. Particularly Dangerous Situation Red Flag Warnings remain in effect.

Much below average… pic.twitter.com/lh47b78mWl

— National Weather Service (@NWS) January 15, 2025

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Gusting winds were also whipping up toxic ash, with health officials urging everyone to wear a mask, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

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“Ash is not just dirt,” said Anish Mahajan of the Los Angeles county public health department. “It’s hazardous fine dust that can irritate or harm your respiratory system and other parts of your body where it lands.”

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California governor, Gavin Newsom, on Tuesday ordered debris removal teams to be on standby, as emergency managers look ahead to possible winter rainstorms that could provoke mudslides.

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Some Palisades locals have decided not to wait, working to remove scorched debris from roads and sidewalks themselves, reports AFP.

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Contractor Chuck Hart and his crew were working on a construction site in his neighbourhood when the fire broke out. AFP reports that after they saved his mother’s house from encroaching flames, Hart said they began making rounds to clean debris from the streets.

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“We just rock-and-rolled,” he said. “We’ve just been doing that non-stop ever since.”

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“We’re going to do everything we can to get this place back up and running as quickly as possible.”

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Powerful winds forecast for Wednesday threatened to whip up massive fires still burning around Los Angeles, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

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A week after blazes erupted and spread uncontained, forecasters predicted “particularly dangerous” Santa Ana winds would spike.

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“Stay aware of your surroundings. Be ready to evacuate. Avoid anything that can spark a fire,” the National Weather Service (NWS) said, warning of gusts up to 70 miles (110 kilometers) an hour between 3am (11am GMT) and 3pm (11pm GMT) on Wednesday.

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Part of Los Angeles county and much of neighboring Ventura county were in a “particularly dangerous situation,” according to the NWS, a designation that was in effect before last week’s deadly blazes.

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“All the plants and vegetation is really dry and ready to burn so … fires can grow pretty fast,” meteorologist Ryan Kittell told AFP on Tuesday.

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The Palisades and Eaton fires – both of which are still burning in places – could flare up, and new ignitions could quickly turn problematic, Kittell said.

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Officials insisted they were poised for any renewed threats, particularly around the existing burn sites, after hydrants ran dry in the initial firefight.

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“We have checked the water system in the Eaton fire area, and it is operational, meaning that we have water and we have pressure,” fire chief Anthony Marrone said.

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The renewed danger comes with 24,000 acres (9,700 hectares) of the upmarket Pacific Palisades in ruins and 14,000 acres (5,700 hectares) of the community of Altadena badly charred.

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“Conditioning aid is simply un-American,” the California governor, Gavin Newsom, said in response to suggestions that additional aid might come with certain conditions.

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House speake, Mike Johnson, has said he believes there should be conditions on disaster aid to California, citing “state and local leaders [who] were derelict in their duties”.

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governor, Gavin Newsom, surveys damage from the Palisades fire in Pacific Palisades on 8 January.”,”caption”:”California governor, Gavin Newsom, surveys damage from the Palisades fire in Pacific Palisades on 8 January.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Jeff Gritchen/AP”}},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Asked by an MSNBC journalist what his reaction was to Johnson’s comments and those from other leaders in Washington DC that echo the sentiment, Newsom said:

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n

Well if that’s leadership, I have a different definition. I imagine it would be universally felt here.

n

I’m not meeting Democrats, I’m not meeting Republicans, I’m not meeting Californians. I’m meeting American citizens, desperate [and] in need, and what they need is empathy, care, compassion [and] understanding. They need support, not rhetoric, not ‘strings attached’.

n

I mean, I met families who lost not only their home, but their business and their church, their sense of self, place [and] community.”

n

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In the video of the interview with MSNBC, posted on Newsom’s X account, he added:

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n

They [residents] had a Zoom the other night and everyone broke down crying because all they wanted to do is see the faces of one another. And yet, that’s the face of leadership in the United States of America? Conditioning aid to the American people in need? Politicising this tragic moment?

n

So, I’ll spare any more commentary on it, except to say I would encourage these people – they’re human beings, they’re parents, I respect that – to come out here visit, visit with these folks and let’s have a conversation after that.”

n

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Millions of southern Californians were on edge as a final round of dangerous fire weather was forecast for the region on Wednesday, reports the Associated Press (AP).

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Police announced roughly 50 arrests, for looting, flying drones in fire zones, violating curfew and other crimes.

n Of those, three people were arrested on suspicion of arson after being seen setting small fires that were immediately extinguished, LA police chief Jim McDonnell said. One was using a barbecue lighter, another ignited brush and a third tried to light a trash can, he said. All were far outside the disaster zones. Authorities have not determined a cause for any of the major fires.

n Among nine people charged with looting was a group that stole an Emmy award from an evacuated house, Los Angeles county district attorney, Nathan Hochman, said.

n The biggest worry remained the threat from intense winds. Now backed by firefighters from other states, Canada and Mexico, crews were deployed to attack flareups or new blazes. The firefighting force was much bigger than a week ago, when the first wave of fires began destroying thousands of homes in what could become the nation’s costliest fire disaster.

Kaylin Johnson and her family told the AP that they planned to spend the night at their home, one of the few left standing in Altadena, near Pasadena. They intended to keep watch to ward off looting and to hose down the house and her neighbors’ properties to prevent flareups.

n “Our lives have been put on hold indefinitely,” Johnson said via text message to the AP, adding that they cannot freely come and go because of restrictions on entering the burn areas. “But I would rather be here and not leave than to not be allowed back at all.”

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Los Angeles mayor, Karen Bass, has cautioned residents that the emergency isn’t over yet, but she wants them to start thinking about recovery and rebuilding if possible.

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“While we’re going through what I hope is the final hours of this emergency, it’s also time to begin to talk about our recovery,” she said.

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You can listen to her comments in this video:

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Forecasters have warned of another “particularly dangerous weather situation” across northern Los Angeles where residents are braced for new wildfire evacuation orders.

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Los Angeles, and parts of Ventura county to the north, faced “extreme fire risk” warnings through Wednesday, with officials warning of “significant risk of rapid fire spread” due to the Santa Ana winds – which have gusts of up to 75mph.

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The “particularly dangerous weather situation” designation is used very rarely, and was designed by meteorologists to signal “the extreme of the extremes”. The winds were predicted to reach near hurricane-force in some areas.

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This is the fourth time in recent months that Los Angeles has faced a “particularly dangerous weather situation”, and the three previous warnings all resulted in major wildfires, the Los Angeles Times reported.

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“I don’t want people to start thinking everything’s OK now. Everything’s not OK yet,” the Los Angeles county sheriff, Robert Luna, said in a Tuesday morning press conference. “It is still very dangerous for the next 24 hours.”

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county sheriff, Robert Luna, speaks at a press conference in downtown Los Angeles, on Tuesday.”,”caption”:”LA county sheriff, Robert Luna, speaks at a press conference in downtown Los Angeles, on Tuesday.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images”}},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Meanwhile, the official death toll from last week’s fires in Altadena and the Pacific Palisades is expected to rise.

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Here is the latest on the evolving situation in southern California:

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  As of Tuesday morning, 84,800 people had been warned they might be ordered to evacuate because of fire risk, while another 88,000 people remained under current evacuation orders.

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  On Tuesday afternoon, officials said at least 25 people had died from the fires, but this number is expected to rise. At least two dozen people have been reported missing, 18 of them in the Eaton fire in north-east Los Angeles, and six around the Pacific Palisades.

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  More than 12,000 structures had been destroyed. Estimates put the cost of damage at about $250bn, which could make it the costliest fire in American history.

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  Los Angeles mayor, Karen Bass, and other officials – who have faced criticism over their initial response to the fires – expressed confidence that the region was ready to face the new threat with scores of additional firefighters brought in from around the US, as well as from Canada and Mexico. At a press conference, Bass described the level of destruction across parts of the city as the aftermath of a “dry hurricane”, and pledged that city officials would work hard to reduce the bureaucracy residents may face as they start to recover from the fires.

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  More than 75,000 households, most of them in Los Angeles county, were without power on Tuesday morning, but Southern California Edison had warned nearly half a million customers on Monday that their power may be shut off temporarily because of the expected high winds on Tuesday and Wednesday.

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  As of midday on Tuesday:

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    The Palisades fire, at 23,700 acres and 17% containment.

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    The Eaton fire, at 14,100 acres and 35% containment.

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    The Hurst fire, at nearly 800 acres and 97% containment.

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    The new Auto fire, which broke out on Monday night in Ventura, is now fully contained, and no evacuation orders remain in effect.

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Closing summary

Thanks for joining our live coverage of the Los Angeles wildfires so far today. It’s 6.30pm in California and this blog is closing. These are the top headlines we followed this afternoon and evening:

There are five wildfires currently raging in Los Angeles county. They include:

• The Palisades fire, at ‎23,713 acres and 19% containment.

• The Eaton fire, at 14,117 acres and 45% containment.

• The Hurst fire, at 799 acres and 97% containment.

• The Little Mountain fire, at 34 acres and 0% containment.

• The Auto fire, at 61 acres and 85% containment.

• Forecasters expect a “much-needed break” but say next week is a “concern”. The National Weather Service in Los Angeles said the dry winds fueling wildfires had eased on Wednesday and were forecast to change direction on Thursday afternoon.

• More than 120,000 customers remained without power in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. On Wednesday afternoon, nearly 100,000 of those were customers of Southern California Edison energy company in Ventura, Los Angeles, San Bernadino and Riverside counties.

• Nearly 30 people were still missing, Los Angeles county sheriff Robert Luna said. Deputies have searched more than 5,500 properties for victims from the Eaton Fire and hoped to finish in that area by Thursday, he said. The fires have killed at least 25 people and destroyed thousands of homes.

• A particularly dangerous situation red flag warning expired on Wednesday afternoon, the NWS in Los Angeles said. Still, dry conditions and locally gusty winds will linger into Thursday – especially in some mountain areas.

• Officials formed a taskforce to combat crimes related to the Los Angeles wildfires. The taskforce is composed of federal and local law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and local prosecutors, and will focus on arson, looting, fraud, illegal drone activity and related offenses, according to the United States attorney for the central district of California.

• California governor Gavin Newsom announced that he signed an executive order to allow cleanup crews from the US Environmental Protection Agency offices to move into neighborhoods devastated by the Los Angeles fires.

• The Grammy awards will not be canceled or postponed as wildfires continue to ravage Los Angeles. The ceremony will instead refocus the show on fire relief efforts.

Santa Monica officials said the voluntary evacuation warning in the areas north of San Vicente Boulevard remains in place and a curfew remains in effect from 6 pm to 6 am in all evacuation zones.

The Santa Monica Police Department has made over 40 arrests in evacuation zones for crimes related to burglary, drug possession, and outstanding warrants.

The Grammy awards will not be canceled or postponed as wildfires continue to ravage Los Angeles. The ceremony will instead refocus the show on fire relief efforts.

The Recording Academy will be “raising additional funds to support wildfire relief efforts and honoring the bravery and dedication of first responders who risk their lives to protect ours,” reads a statement from the academy.

“We understand how devastating this past week has been on this city and its people,” said Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr.

“This is our home, it’s home to thousands of music professionals, and many of us have been negatively impacted. So after thoughtful consideration, and multiple assurances from state and local elected leaders, public safety agencies, and with support from our incredible artist community, we have decided to go ahead with the Grammy telecast and some select events.”

More than 120,000 still without power in Los Angeles

More than 120,000 customers remained without power in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

On Wednesday afternoon, nearly 100,000 of those were customers of Southern California Edison energy company in Ventura, Los Angeles, San Bernadino and Riverside counties.

“Our thoughts are with everyone impacted by the extreme weather event,” the utility said on its website.

The company on Wednesday afternoon said on social media it had completed 100% of the damage assessments for non-fire areas where it was safe to do so. After the assessments, repairs are prioritized based on conditions, and the time needed will vary depending on the extent of the repair work required, the post said.

“Due to unsafe conditions, restoration may take longer than usual,” the company said.

Forecasters expect ‘much-needed break’ but say next week is ‘concern’

The National Weather Service in Los Angeles has posted a good news/bad news forecast for the next week in the Los Angeles area.

“Good news: we are expecting a much-needed break from the fire weather concerns to close this week,” the weather service posted on social media Wednesday afternoon.

“Bad news: next week is a concern. While confident that we will NOT see a repeat of last week, dangerous fire weather conditions are expected,” the post said.

The highest chance of a red flag warning being issued because of Santa Ana winds will come on Monday and Tuesday, the weather service said.

State Farm, the insurance giant, said that it will offer renewals to residential policyholders affected by the California fires that it had previously planned to drop, the LA Times reports.

The decision applies to policies held by homeowners, owners of rental dwellings, and residential community associations, which include condominium associations.

About 1,600 policies in Pacific Palisades were dropped by State Farm in July, a spokesperson for the California department of insurance told CBS.

San Bernardino county officials reported that a new fire ignited within the past hour, but firefighters successfully contained it to 34 acres.

The San Bernardino county fire department confirmed there was no damage to structures and no reported injuries. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.

Particularly dangerous situation red flag warning expires

The warning expired on Wednesday afternoon, the National Weather Service in Los Angeles said. Still, dry conditions and locally gusty winds will linger into Thursday – especially in some mountain areas.

Winds peaked before 3pm on Wednesday and will continue to lessen into the evening. Red flag warnings remain in effect due to locally strong north-east to east winds and low relative humidity in much of Los Angeles and Ventura counties and parts of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties until 6pm on Wednesday.

In the Santa Susana mountains, Western San Gabriel mountains and the Interstate 5 corridor, red flag warnings remain in effect through 3pm on Thursday, the weather service said.

Some of the firefighters who are battling the blazes in Los Angeles are returning to their base camps “bruised and battered”, Anthony Marrone, the LA county fire chief, told reporters during a Wednesday afternoon press conference.

Marrone’s statement was in response to a reporter’s question about the physical state of the more than 5,000 people working to contain and extinguish the Palisades and Eaton fires.

While the chief emphasized the steadfastness of the crew, he also said “a lot of them are hurting inside”.

Here are some pictures as the wildfires continue to burn around Los Angeles and search-and-rescue teams continue their work:

Dani Anguiano

My colleague Dani Anguiano brings us this dispatch from her visit to an Altadena neighborhood on Wednesday morning:

In Altadena, residents are still coming to terms with the death and destruction left in the wake of the Eaton fire. Large swaths of the community remain cordoned off, and law enforcement and national guard crews are stationed at the entrances of blocked-off streets.

On Wednesday morning, displaced residents collected clothes and shoes at a donation center set up by Jose Velazquez and his family in front of their still-standing home on Woodbury Road. The street was quiet, save for the sound of demolition workers scraping up debris and vegetation, as people quietly sorted through the dozens of shoes, sneakers and tiny baby sandals.

“People are all so grateful. Some people break down here, and start crying,” Velazquez said.

When the fire broke out, Velazquez and relatives watered their roof and lawn for hours as well as the homes of their neighbors. But the 30-year-old watched as a massive burning palm tree spewed large embers directly onto the homes on his street. Soon they started going up one after another, reducing the houses to rubble and leaving cars charred metal husks.

Velazquez was shocked that his home survived.

He and his family have spent the last few days giving donations, provided by people and community organizations across the region, to their neighbors.

For the last five years, they’ve run a churro business in their front yard and they have deep ties in Altadena. The community has always supported them, Velazquez said, and the family wanted to do the same for them.

“From the moment we started our business to the very end, you know, like they’ve been here. It’s a very close community.”

California governor Gavin Newsom has announced that he has signed an executive order to allow cleanup crews from the US Environmental Protection Agency offices to move into neighborhoods devastated by the Los Angeles fires.

“We appreciate the Biden administration’s support and the fast-acting teams executing this first phase of recovery,” Newsom said in a post on X.

Teams from the EPA and Fema, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will soon begin removing explosive and highly toxic materials. Fema has allocated $100m to the EPA to begin this work.

Debris removal teams will clean up household hazardous waste, including pesticides, propane tanks, and batteries in conventional and electric vehicles.

Clothes, toiletries – and a free stylist: the LA teen creating a space for peers amid the fires

Cars lined up outside an art studio in eastern Los Angeles on Sunday morning, packed with boxes of feminine care products, pimple patches, skincare, clothes, underwear, makeup and more. Some volunteers had driven for hours to support a unique mutual aid effort.

As fires in Los Angeles continue to rage, people across the city are springing into action to meet the needs of the thousands of families who have been displaced. Among the dozens of clothing donation and bottled water distribution sites, Altadena Girls – a new organization started by 14-year-old Avery Colvert – has struck a chord with its focus on teen girls’ recovery.

“I was thinking about, if I lost everything in my own bedroom, how would I feel?” Colvert said. “My clothes and my makeup and my shoes, and everything I have, that’s my identity and that’s my sense of self and that’s how so many other teenagers feel, and they don’t have any of that.”

As volunteers sorted through dozens of donations on Sunday, they organized items into sections for makeup, skincare, bras and underwear, clothing, haircare and jewelry throughout the makeshift boutique, ordering everything by size beside a full-length mirror. The group had also brought in stylists to help girls select outfits and match their makeup shades and select clothes.

“I want a place where people can shop and get all these items for free and it’s all brand-new clothes, shoes, makeup, hair products,” Colvert said. “I want these girls to feel confident in themselves again and to feel normalcy in a time where nothing else is normal for them.”

Read the full story by Amber X. Chen:

Firefighters make progress in containing Los Angeles wildfires

Firefighters have reported significant gains in containing two massive wildfires burning around Los Angeles.

Firefighters are also tackling smaller blazes set by arsonists in recent days.

This came as the last wave of windy, fire-prone weather moved through southern California.

With winds picking up again, much of the nation’s second-most populous metropolitan region was still on alert for new outbreaks and flareups.

In the mountains, gusts reached up to 50mph, but many areas saw relatively light winds late in the morning, according to the National Weather Service.

Better conditions expected in the coming days should help fire crews make even more headway and allow residents to return to their neighborhoods to begin rebuilding.

Oliver Wainwright

‘Criminally reckless’: why LA’s urban sprawl made wildfires inevitable – and how it should rebuild

“Crime don’t climb” is one of the glib mottoes long used by Los Angeles real estate agents to help sell the multimillion-dollar homes in the hills that surround the sprawling metropolis. Residents of the lush ridges and winding canyons can rest assured, in their elevated green perches – safely removed from the smog-laden, supposedly crime-ridden flatlands beneath. What the realtors neglect to mention, however, is that, while crime rarely ascends the hills, flames certainly do. And that the very things that make this sun-soaked city’s dream homes so attractive – lush landscaping, quaint timber construction, raised terrain and narrow, twisting lanes – are the very things that make them burn so well. They create blazing infernos that, as we have seen over the past week, are tragically difficult to extinguish.

LA’s ferocious wildfires have seen an area about three times the size of Manhattan incinerated. At least 12,000 homes have burned to the ground and 150,000 people have been evacuated, as entire neighbourhoods become smouldering ruins. Twenty-five people have died, 24 more are missing. Estimates suggest the cost of damage and economic losses could reach $250bn, making it the costliest wildfire in US history – mainly due to the flames torching some of the highest-value real estate in the country. And it’s not over yet. The city is bracing for further destruction, as weather forecasts suggest winds might pick up again.

Media coverage has had the air of a Hollywood disaster movie, as helicopters swoop through dark red skies while the list of charred celebrity homes grows, and the palm fronds are left blackened. Mel Gibson lost his $14.5m Malibu mansion while recording a Joe Rogan podcast. Anthony Hopkins’ colonial pile in Pacific Palisades was reduced to a scorched brick chimney. Bella Hadid posted about the loss of her 11-bathroom childhood home, in the inauspiciously named Carbon Canyon. There were Ballardian scenes of bulldozers sweeping abandoned Porsches off the streets, while imprisoned firefighters – temporarily released from jail to battle the blazes for around $10 a day – risked their lives to prevent the inferno from consuming further luxury properties.

Celebrity mansions have made most of the headlines, but fire doesn’t discriminate. Most of the 200 mobile homes of the Palisades Bowl trailer park went up in flames too. Across town, the Eaton fire ripped through the mixed-income community of Altadena, ravaging more than 14,000 acres of homes, schools, churches and businesses. It has been a shocking, saddening spectacle – but also one that was entirely predictable. Blame has been variously hurled at water mismanagement and fire department budget cuts, but little could have been done to stop these blazes. After a century of misguided urban development and flagrant disregard for climate change, it was only a question of when they would ignite.

Here’s the full analysis by the Guardian’s architecture critic, Oliver Wainwright:

Here’s the latest on the fires’ containment:

• As of Wednesday afternoon, the Eaton fire was 45% contained. Firefighters continue to reinforce containment lines around the blaze, which is expected to remain within its 14,117-acre boundary. A red flag warning will remain in effect through 6pm.

• The Palisades fire was 19% contained and has so far burned 23,713 acres.

• The Auto fire was 50% contained and forward progress remains stopped at 61 acres, while the Hurst fire was 97% contained.

Officials form taskforce to combat crimes related to LA wildfires

The taskforce is composed of federal and local law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and local prosecutors, and will focus on arson, looting, fraud, illegal drone activity and related offenses, according to the United States attorney for the central district of California.

The United States attorney Martin Estrada said:

We will not permit victims to be re-victimized. Our community has suffered tremendously, and we are here to support them. The Joint Fire Crimes Task Force is committed to addressing crimes coming out of the fires, including any looting, arson, illegal drone flights and fraud. As the rebuilding process begins and donations and relief funds come in, we must ensure that those seeking to take advantage through criminal activity are held fully accountable.

Nearly 200 artworks by Hunter Biden have been destroyed in the wildfires ravaging Los Angeles, according to the New York Post.

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The pieces were stored near the Pacific Palisades home of Hunter Biden’s attorney, Kevin Morris, who also financed a documentary on him and loaned him nearly $5m for a tax bill.

Morris’s five-bedroom, six-bathroom home remains one of the few intact properties in the affluent neighborhood. Last week, as the fires spread, Joe Biden mentioned that his son’s nearby Malibu residence appeared to have survived but added: “They’re not sure.”

Hunter Biden is a self-taught artist who turned to painting during his recovery from drug addiction.