viralnews
Topline The National Weather Service’s highest level red flag warning went into effect in parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties early Tuesday as authorities braced for dangerously strong wind gusts that threaten to worsen the four wildfires burning across the area.
A firefighter monitors the spread of the Auto Fire in Oxnard, North West of Los Angeles, California.AFP via Getty Images
Tuesday, 4:00 a.m. PSTThe National Weather Service’s “particularly dangerous situation” red flag warning for parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties is now in effect, and the agency’s LA office noted that while such warnings “do not predict fire starts, they do highlight an extremely dangerous environment that is favorable to very rapid fire growth if a fire does start.”
Tuesday, 12:15 a.m. PSTNearly 20,000 homes and businesses were without power early Tuesday in Ventura County as the area deals with the new Auto Fire, while the number of outages in Los Angeles County stands at 44,000, according to PowerOutages.US.
Tuesday, 12:15 a.m. PSTThe Ventura County Fire Department announced that “forward progress on the Auto fire has been stopped” and the fire “was confined to the river bottom and no structures were threatened.”
Monday, 11:50 p.m. PSTAccording to the Los Angeles Times, the Auto Fire received its name because of the large number of auto dealerships in the impacted area.
Monday, 11:45 p.m. PSTA new fire, called the Auto Fire, broke out late on Monday night in Ventura county and, according to Cal Fire’s latest update, has rapidly grown to cover 56 acres.
Monday 9:00 p.m. PSTThe Los Angeles Department of Water and Power issued a warning that it may be forced to cut off power supply—with outages potentially lasting as long as 48 hours—in certain areas as a safety measure to prevent wildfires while the Red Flag Warning remains in effect until Friday.
Monday 8:45 p.m. PSTLos Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued an executive order on Monday night, which aims to expedite the process of rebuilding homes in the impacted areas by requiring city officials to complete all building permitting reviews needed for reconstruction within 30 days of an application.
Monday, 2:48 p.m. PSTCalifornia Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed $2.5 billion in additional funding for disaster response and recovery efforts in Los Angeles, adding that if the funding is approved by the legislature it will specifically go toward “recovery and cleanup, additional wildfire preparedness, and reopening schools shuttered by the fires.”
Monday, 2:00 p.m. PSTLos Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced nine people were charged in connection to looting carried out in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena, in addition to one arson charge for a man who allegedly started a fire in the city of Azusa, which is located about 20 miles east of Altadena.
Monday, 11:12 a.m. PSTThe NWS, which has a red flag warning in effect for a large portion of southern California until Wednesday, says much of the San Fernando Valley and Ventura County will be in a “Particularly Dangerous Situation”—an especially severe fire warning—from early Tuesday morning until noon Wednesday. Forecasters are expecting 45 to 70 mph wind gusts and low humidity capable of creating rapid fire growth in the most hard-hit areas: “In other words, this setup is about as bad as it gets,” the agency said.
Monday, 8:10 a.m. PSTLos Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said 23 people have been reported missing as a result of the fires—17 near the Eaton Fire and six near the Palisades Fire—and LAPD Assistant Chief Dominic Choi said six people are also missing and unaccounted-for in the city of Los Angeles, though it’s unclear if there’s overlap with Luna’s count. The death toll remains at 24, including a former child actor from Australia, a surfer from Malibu and a 67-year-old amputee who refused to leave his disabled son behind. Luna also said 34 people have been arrested since the fires began for breaking curfew and other offenses, including three arrests for drone-related incidents.
Monday, 8:10 a.m. PSTThe $30 million ‘Super Scooper’ plane that was damaged by a private drone last week has been repaired and is expected to rejoin the firefighting efforts Tuesday, after federal officials sign off, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said.
Monday, 8:10 a.m. PSTCrowley said: “We are not in the clear as of yet and we must not let our guard down, as we have, right now, extreme fire behavior.”
Monday, 8:10 a.m. PSTProsecutors will announce the first set of looting and arson charges later Monday, said L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, calling the defendants “despicable and disgraceful” and warning they could face “very significant sentences” (he said the arson case isn’t related to any of the major fires).
Monday, 7:40 a.m. PSTThe Palisades Fire—the largest of the three blazes still burning—is now 14% under control after having grown to cover 23,713 acres, according to the latest Cal Fire update, while the Eaton Fire covers 14,117 acres and is 33% contained.
Monday, 7:00 a.m. PSTFEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told CNN the agency will cover the full cost of removing wildfire debris for six months—180 days—but warned cleanup from the disaster is going to take longer.
Monday, 1:20 a.m. PSTThe Pasadena Unified School District announced all its schools will remain closed this week as evacuation orders remain in effect, the air quality in the area is “unhealthy” and “damage to school facilities and safety concerns, make it impossible to reopen schools for in-person learning at this time.”
Monday, 1:10 a.m. PSTLos Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced firefighters and engines were being “strategically pre-deployed in areas close to the Palisades Fire as well as various fire stations throughout the city,” in response to the National Weather Service’s warnings about strong gusts winds on Tuesday and Wednesday that have raised risk of further flareups early this week.
Monday, 12:40 a.m. PSTThe Hurst Fire, the smallest of the three active fires which covers 799 acres, is now 95% contained and has no active evacuation orders or warnings linked to it.
Sunday, 10:30 p.m. PSTNearly 33,000 homes and businesses across Los Angeles County remained without power, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said, adding its crews were “assessing the fire-affected areas” and power restoration work will begin after the assessments are completed.
Sunday, 9:50 p.m. PSTThe Los Angeles United School District said it will reopen most of its schools and all of its offices on Monday but officials will continue to “monitor conditions” and inform families about any changes by 5.30 a.m. on Monday.
Sunday, 5 p.m. PSTSome 24 people have been reported dead in the two most severe blazes (16 from the Eaton Fire and eight from the Palisades Fire), the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office said Sunday, up from 16 deaths reported one day earlier, while another 16 people remained missing—a number that is expected to go up.
Sunday 2:34 p.m. PSTAuthorities will start drawing up plans for evacuated residents to return to their neighborhoods “first thing Thursday,” after another bout of heavy wind subsides, County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said in a meeting.
Sunday, 6:02 a.m. PSTCriswell told CNN, “the winds are potentially getting dangerous and strong again,” adding that the firefighters’ response in the coming days “all depends on the weather.”
Sunday, 12:30 a.m. PSTStrong winds are expected Sunday morning before dying down through the day and increasing again late Monday into Tuesday, the National Weather Service says, issuing a “red flag warning” for potential “critical fire weather conditions” for parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties through Wednesday, though possible rain later in the week could help tame the fires.
Friday, 1:26 p.m. PSTAll evacuation warnings linked to the Archer Fire in Granada Hills are lifted as the blaze lessened in size to about 19 acres, after officials lifted evacuation orders and said the fire was no longer spreading.
Friday, 1:01 p.m. PSTNewsom directed state water and fire officials to conduct an independent investigation into causes of the “lost water supply and water pressure in municipal water systems” during the fires, also requesting reviews of preparation and response procedures taken by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, as well as Los Angeles County Officials.
Friday, 9:30 a.m. PSTPresident Joe Biden, who described Los Angeles as a “war zone,” said the death toll for the fires is still expected to rise, though it’s not clear how significantly: “There are still a lot of people who are unaccounted for. We don’t know where they are,” he said.
Friday, 8:15 a.m. PSTBass said FEMA has pledged to reimburse disaster relief expenses, as the Palisades Fire expanded to more than 20,000 acresand the Eaton Fire increased to nearly 14,000 acres.
Friday, 8 a.m. PSTKevin McGowan, director of Los Angeles County’s Office of Emergency Management, apologized during a press conference for an evacuation alert mistakenly sent to millions of county residents at about 4 a.m. local time, saying the error was “not human driven” while acknowledging “an extreme amount of frustration, fear and anger.”
Friday, 5:20 a.m. PSTSatellite images released by Maxar on Thursday night showed the scale of devastation caused by fires so far as Cal Fire’s latest update says the blazes have destroyed more than 10,000 structures, including homes and businesses.
Friday, 4:05 a.m. PSTBiden announced he has approved Newsom’s request for a Major Disaster Declaration, adding that it will allow “folks impacted by the Southern California wildfires to get cash assistance to cover things like groceries and medicine.”
