A group of California firefighters stopped an alleged looter from robbing a burned-down house and jetting off with an Emmy Award that had miraculously survived the fiery carnage of the Eaton Fire.
Smoke eaters with the Los Angeles County Fire Department were working in a burned-down Altadena neighborhood on Thursday when they came across two suspicious people who were leaving one of the properties.
One of the firefighters confronted a woman – wearing a dark sweatshirt and skirt over sweatpants – carrying possessions from the home including the prestigious award.
A Los Angeles County Firefighter holds an Emmy Award allegedly stolen from a property in Altadena on Jan. 16, 2025. FOX 11
“There’s no way what?” the suspected looter asked the firefighter as he walked away from a white pickup truck with the award, according to LAFD Watchdog video obtained by Fox LA reporter Matthew Seedorff.
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“No way, you are not doing this,” the first responder argued.
“This was our house. We tried to save all these people. You are not stealing from them.”
The woman claimed she wasn’t stealing and was protecting her neighborhood.
The firefighter walked away but turned around when the woman and her friend attempted to get into the truck.
“You’re not going anywhere,” the firefighter ordered.
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NEW: Firefighters stopped a burglary suspect accused of looting at the Eaton Fire. When deputies responded, they discovered a stolen 2002 Emmy Award and 2016 Sharp Award with the victim’s name on it. The suspect was arrested and charged with burglary. #EatonFirepic.twitter.com/XoOqeh8Byo
The Emmy was awarded in the news and documentaries category in 2002, Fox LA reported.
Along with the Emmy, the woman allegedly stole another award, the Sharp Award from 2016. Both awards had the name of the rightful owner on it, who was not publically named.
The firefighter called for an engine to be parked in front of the suspect’s white pickup until police arrived.
The Eaton Fire burns several homes in Altadena on Jan. 8, 2025. APA National Guard member patrols Lake Avenue after the Eaton Fire on Jan. 17, 2025. AP
Deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office arrested the looters.
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Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman revealed nine more individuals charged with crimes related to the aftermath of the Eaton and Palisades fires.
The charges included felony arson, felony possession of ammunition by a felon, felony looting during mandatory evacuations, and misdemeanor impersonation of a firefighter.
Nine people were originally charged with crimes before Hochman’s update Friday.
Over 40 out-of-town vultures were arrested by the Santa Monica police for allegedly preying on the thousands of homes left abandoned there and in the neighboring Pacific Palisades.
The suspected criminals took advantage of residents fleeing the devastating fires and allegedly burglarized the homes.
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A private firefighter from Oregon cuts up a tree that burned down during the Eaton Fire outside a destroyed home. Getty ImagesThe ruins of a destroyed home after the Eaton Fire in Altadena. London Entertainment for NY Post
“To anyone who believes they can use this disaster as a cover for criminal activity, let this be your warning: You will be caught, and you will be held accountable,” Hochman said. “The citizens of this county deserve safety and justice, especially in the wake of such unprecedented devastation, and I will not rest until we achieve both.”
The deadly fires killed 27 people and destroyed more than 11,000 structures after the raging infernos burned through over 40,000 acres since Jan. 7, 2025.
California air quality officials have sued four truck manufacturers for breaching a voluntary agreement to follow the state’s nation-leading emissions rules, the state announced Tuesday.
What happened: Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office filed a complaint Monday in Alameda County Superior Court, arguing that the country’s four largest truck-makers — Daimler Truck North America, International Motors, Paccar and Volvo North America — violated an enforceable contract that they signed with the California Air Resources Board in 2023.
The lawsuit comes two months after the manufacturers filed their own complaint in federal court, arguing the agreement — known as the Clean Truck Partnership — is no longer valid after Republicans overturned California’s Advanced Clean Truck rule in June through the Congressional Review Act.
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Why it matters: The move sets up a fight to determine whether the federal system or state courts — where CARB would have a higher likelihood of prevailing — will review the case.
California, along with other states, has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Secretary Brooke Rollins for halting SNAP benefits, cutting off food aid for over 41 million Americans, according to Attorney General Rob Bonta.
About 85% of elementary schools studied in California experienced some loss of trees between 2018 and 2022, according to a paper from the University of California, Davis, published this month in the journal Urban Forestry and Urban Greening.
Members of the UC Davis Urban Science Lab found that while the average decline was less than 2%, some districts in the Central Valley — including schools with few trees to lose — lost up to a quarter of their tree cover. The most severe losses were concentrated in Tulare County, while the most notable gains were found in Imperial County.
This map, figure 2B from the study, illustrates the net change in tree canopy cover at urban school districts between 2018 and 2022. Canopy losses tended to cluster in the Central Valley and parts of Southern California. (UC Davis)
The findings are troubling as climate change will likely intensify extreme heat and drought conditions. The study underscores an urgent need to improve tree canopy in low-shade, high-need schools and to protect existing tree cover in areas facing loss.
“We are trying to measure to what extent we are exposing kids to temperatures that might be stressing their body to a level that becomes uncomfortable or dangerous,” said Alessandro Ossola, an associate professor of plant sciences who directs the Urban Science Lab at UC Davis.
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The team continued the research this past summer at elementary schools across the state, measuring tree canopies and maximum temperatures at playgrounds, basketball courts, soccer fields and other outdoor spaces.
UC Davis researchers discovered California school playgrounds are hitting a scorching 120°F heat index. Watch as they use high-tech sensors and a roving cart named MaRTyna to measure extreme heat across elementary schools. (Jael Mackendorf/UC Davis)
Tree canopies cover only about 4% to 6% of the average California school campus. That means the roughly 5.8 million K-12 public school students in California often take breaks and participate in outdoor activities under the glaring sun.
As part of the work, researchers mapped tree cover and heat over the course of a hot day at schools in inland and coastal areas of Northern and Southern California.
UC Davis student Tyler Reece Wakabayashi works with MaRTyna, a roving cart that measures information related to mean radiant temperature and other data points. (Jael Mackendorf /UC Davis)
The research is a joint effort with UC Davis, UC Berkeley and UCLA and is funded by the U.S. Forest Service and supported by the nonprofit Green Schoolyards America through its California Schoolyard Tree Canopy study.
“Most schools are actually a nature desert, which is antithetical because we know that early life exposure of humans to nature is critical for them to develop skills, improve their microbiome, become more environmentally active and so on,” Ossola said. “Trees are a hidden asset and an underutilized asset.”
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This news release is adapted from a longer article from the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Read their full feature story, “Researchers Measure Schoolyard Heat One Step at a Time.”
