California
Trump says US government is behind California during visit to fire-stricken state
U.S. President Donald Trump said the federal government is standing behind California 100% in the aftermath of devastating wildfires and said during a visit to the state on Friday that he would come back as much as needed.
“The first lady and I are in California to express a great love for the people of California,” Trump told a gathering of local leaders at a fire station in Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades neighborhood.
The neighborhood was one of the worst hit by the recent fires, with rows of homes left in ashes. Trump participated in a walking tour of the area earlier in the day and also surveyed recovery efforts from a helicopter as firefighters in the Los Angeles area continued to confront multiple blazes amid high winds and dry conditions.
“I don’t think you can realize how rough it is, how devastating it is, until you see it,” Trump said after the tour.
The Palisades Fire is about 77% contained and has burned through nearly 9,500 hectares of land, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Trump has criticized California leaders for water policies that he says have exacerbated the recent wildfires. He said before traveling to California that he would “take a look at a fire that could have been put out if they let the water flow, but they didn’t let the water flow.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom has rejected the president’s assertion, and other state legislators have said the fierce wildfires placed extreme demand on a municipal system not designed to battle such blazes.
Newsom greeted Trump as he arrived on the tarmac in Los Angeles on Friday. The two were cordial and shook hands.
“I have all the expectations we’re going to be able to work together,” Newsom said.
Trump responded: “We’re going to get it fixed.”
During the gathering with community leaders, Trump said that Los Angeles residents who lost homes should be allowed back onto their properties immediately, challenging Mayor Karen Bass to speed up the cleanup process.
“People are willing to get a dumpster and do it themselves and clean it up. There is not that much left, it is all incinerated,” Trump said.
Bass said, “the most important thing is for people to be safe,” but promised residents should be able to return home within the week.
Trump promised that federal permits to rebuild would be granted promptly and urged local officials to do the same.
Before visiting California, Trump first visited North Carolina, where he was briefed on monthslong recovery efforts of the damage caused by Hurricane Helene.
Speaking to reporters at Asheville Regional Airport, Trump said FEMA “has been a very big disappointment” and said he is considering “getting rid” of the agency.
FEMA is the Federal Emergency Management Agency that has been responding to disasters in both California and North Carolina.
“It’s very bureaucratic. And it’s very slow,” Trump said of the agency.
Trump continued to express dissatisfaction with FEMA while in California, calling it a “big disappointment.”
Trump, a Republican, has broached using federal disaster assistance as a bargaining chip during unrelated legislative negotiations over government borrowing, or as leverage to push California to alter its water policies.
“Playing politics with people’s livelihoods is unacceptable and a slap in the face to the southern California wildfire victims and to our brave first responders,” Representative Young Kim, a Republican from Orange County, south of Los Angeles, said in a recent statement.
Trump has also suggested putting more responsibility on individual states to respond to disasters.
“I’d rather see the states take care of their own problems,” he said in a Wednesday interview with Fox News. “FEMA is getting in the way of everything.”
Michael A. Coen Jr., who served as chief of staff at FEMA during the Biden administration, said Trump has been “misinformed” about the agency, and he took exception to what he characterized as Trump’s inclination to play politics with disaster relief.
Ahead of Trump’s visit to southern California, firefighters continued to fight multiple fires in the Los Angeles region.
The second-largest fire, known as the Eaton Fire, is now 95% contained after burning through more than 5,600 hectares of land, according to Cal Fire.
The Hughes Fire in the mountains northwest of Los Angeles near Castaic Lake started Wednesday, prompting evacuation orders for more than 50,000 people. Health advisories for smoke and windblown dust and ash have been issued for surrounding areas.
“Smoke and ash can harm everyone, even those who are healthy,” Dr. Muntu Davis, Los Angeles County’s health officer, said in a statement.
Firefighters received help fighting the Hughes Fire overnight with aerial water drops from helicopters. The fire is now 56% contained and has burned more than 4,200 hectares of land, according to the Cal Fire.
The Laguna Fire in Ventura County initially prompted evacuation orders for California State University Channel Islands and University Glen, but the orders were downgraded to warnings Thursday afternoon.
That fire is 70% contained after charring nearly 40 hectares of land, according to Cal Fire.
The U.S. Storm Prediction Center said high winds, low humidity and dry conditions continued to cause “elevated” fire weather conditions on Friday.
There is a chance for some relief in the coming days. The National Weather Service said rain is expected in the area beginning Saturday.
Forecasters expect up to a centimeter of rain across much of the Los Angeles area, while localized thunderstorms could bring even more rain in limited locations. The potential for those storms has prompted concerns about the possibility of mudslides, with debris flowing down hilly areas that have been scorched by several weeks of wildfires.
The fires that broke out in southern California on Jan. 7 have killed at least 28 people and destroyed an estimated 16,000 buildings. The death toll is expected to climb as emergency workers comb through the ashes.
Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
In summary
Citing the LA fires, Trump directed federal agencies to “immediately take actions to override” water operations and environmental rules. But the water mostly serves Central Valley farms.
President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order Sunday that told federal agencies to “immediately take action” to deliver more Central Valley water and eliminate rules that stand in the way, including endangered species protections.
In the new order, Trump cited the Los Angeles fires, even though the actions he is ordering — delivering more water from the federal Central Valley Project — would primarily serve farms. About 75% of Central Valley Project water is used for agriculture, while much of the rest goes to cities and towns in the San Joaquin Valley, including Sacramento and Fresno.
“In particular, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce shall immediately take actions to override existing activities that unduly burden efforts to maximize water deliveries,” Trump’s order reads.
At stake are the rules that guide two massive Delta water systems, the federal Central Valley Project and a state-operated system, the State Water Project. These networks of reservoirs, pumps and canals deliver water to millions of acres of farmland and 30 million people. They draw water from rivers that flow into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay, which imperils Chinook salmon, smelt and sturgeon that are protected by the federal Endangered Species Act.
Trump ordered federal agencies to “expedite action related to any exemption under the Endangered Species Act…for the long-term operation” of the water delivery systems. In addition, he directed the federal Bureau of Reclamation to “take all available measures to ensure that State agencies — including the California Department of Water Resources — do not interfere.” He entitled a section “Overriding Disastrous California Policies.”
Environmental groups are likely to sue if federal agencies override the Endangered Species Act when setting rules that control how much water is delivered via the Central Valley Project or State Water Project.
“Do not be fooled by Trump’s lies: none of the policies in this executive order will move even a single drop of extra water to communities devastated by these wildfires. This administration is presenting us with a false choice,” U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, a California Democrat who is the ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement Sunday. “Fishers, farmers, treasured species, and every water user all depend on our water resources – we do not have to pick winners or losers.”
Several community watchdog and environmental groups, including Restore the Delta and San Francisco Baykeeper, warned that Trump’s actions “will have devastating consequences for California’s water future, public health, and environmental protections, threatening a federal takeover of California’s right to manage its land and waters.”
Noting that the actions would benefit farmers, San Francisco Baykeeper Science Director Jon Rosenfield called the administration “a lawless regime that uses extortion to enrich their political supporters.”
The powerful Westlands Water District, representing farmers in parts of Kings and Fresno counties, said Sunday that they welcome Trump’s order. “The challenges that he highlights are real, and his leadership in addressing the barriers to water delivery are welcomed,” the district said in a statement. “It’s clear that what we’ve been doing for the past few decades has not been working; not for the people, for agriculture, or for the fish.”
Trump’s order said “it is in the Nation’s interest to ensure that California has what it needs to prevent and fight these fires and others in the future. Therefore, it is the policy of the United States to provide Southern California with necessary water resources, notwithstanding actively harmful State or local policies.”
The environmental groups said Trump’s directives “conflate fire prevention needs with water operations in California all based on the myth that water operations for environmental protections had any impact on water infrastructure used in the Los Angeles fires.”
Some Los Angeles fire hydrants ran out of water fighting the fires, but city fire and utility officials say it was caused by a sudden surge in demand and limited capacity of city pipelines, not lack of water supply. In addition, the city’s water comes mostly from the Owens Valley and groundwater, not the Delta or the Central Valley, and Southern California cities say they have ample supply after two wet winters.
Rosenfield said the State Water Project ensures, even in the worst of droughts, that communities have a minimum share of water designated for purposes of “human health and safety,” which includes firefighting needs. “They always deliver that human health and safety water, always — it’s never interrupted,” Rosenfield said.
The Central Valley Project provides about 5 million acres feet of water to farms, enough to irrigate about a third of the agricultural land in California, according to the Bureau of Reclamation. It also delivers about 600,000 acre-feet for municipal and industrial use in the San Joaquin Valley and some Bay Area cities, enough to supply about 1 million households with water each year.
Trump called on the Bureau of Reclamation to operate the Central Valley Project with rules that his first administration implemented in 2020. Reverting to those rules could override rules signed into law in December by Biden administration officials and endorsed by Gov. Gavin Newsom administration officials. The Biden rules would reduce Central Valley Project farm deliveries, but the State Water Project — which serves Southern California cities as well as San Joaquin Valley farms — would receive more water compared to Trump’s 2020 rules.
Directors of the state’s water and resources agencies could not be reached for comment.
Ryan Endean, a public information officer with the California Department of Water Resources, said in a statement last week that his agency stands by its new Delta water management rules. Under those rules, Endean said, “farms and cities have the potential to gain additional water supply, while endangered species are protected. To abandon these new frameworks would harm California water users and protection of native fish species.”
Experts say the Bay-Delta ecosystem is collapsing, and salmon populations have declined so severely that commercial and recreational salmon fishing have been banned in California for two straight years — with a third year expected, too.
The order follows a series of remarks in recent weeks by the President that reflect a profound misunderstanding of California’s water supply, weaving between inaccurate and fantastical.
In Pacific Palisades on Friday, while visiting with local leaders in the aftermath of the region’s wildfires, Trump said, “We have to have that water … You’re talking about unlimited water coming down from the Pacific Northwest, even coming up from parts of Canada, and it pours down naturally … you’ll never run out, you’ll never have shortages and you won’t have things like this, and when you do you’ll have a lot of water to put it out.” Water does not flow into California from Canada, and the Pacific Northwest does not feed into Central Valley rivers. Instead, the water comes largely from Sierra Nevada snowmelt.
The order also includes provisions to expedite aid to victims of the Southern California wildfires and Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.
He ordered federal agencies to provide a plan that “expedites options for housing relief to survivors displaced by wildfires in California.” Also, “within 5 days from the date of this order,” he ordered federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, to “expedite the bulk removal of contaminated and general debris” in order “to accelerate the rebuilding of areas devastated” by the wildfires.
County officials and the Army Corps of Engineers officials have warned homeowners in the fire zones that sifting through debris and removing it could be harmful without guidelines and precautions from the EPA for handling hazardous waste.
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California
California Wildfire Updates: Fires Near Full Containment—As Officials Warn Of Flooding, Mudslides
Three active fires in Los Angeles neared full containment Sunday, as the region receives much-needed rain that has produced flood and mudslide warnings lasting through Monday.
Cal Fire data marked the Palisades Fire at 87% containment, the Eaton Fire at 95% containment and the Hughes Fire at 92% containment.
A flood watch lasting until Monday at 4 p.m. goes into effect for areas in or near burn scars created by the Eaton, Franklin, Palisades, Hughes and Bridge fires, with the NWS noting a 10% to 20% chance of significant debris flows (see what areas are at risk here).
The NWS’s red flag warning for most of Los Angeles and Ventura counties expired, meaning firefighters should receive a break from strong winds and gusts that swept through the regions Wednesday and Thursday.
President Donald Trump, who is scheduled to visit Los Angeles on Friday, suggested abolishing the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is set to cover 100% of the cost of California’s disaster response to the fires for 180 days, suggesting the federal government would still fund disaster response efforts but states would be responsible for response actions.
The National Weather Service forecasted a low pressure system “likely” to bring much needed rain to Southern California would move through the area Saturday into Sunday, though experts have warned the precipitation could create flash flooding, mudslides and toxic runoff.
The National Weather Service warned Thursday is a particularly dangerous day for fires in Los Angles and Ventura counties, adding most of both counties are at “critical red flag levels” with humidity less than 15% and winds that frequently hit 25 mph or greater.
In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday night, President Donald Trump threatened to withhold federal disaster funds from California as he blamed the state’s fish conservation efforts in its north for water shortages that have hampered the firefighting efforts. Trump told Fox: “I don’t think we should give California anything until they let water flow down.”
The Los Angeles Fire Department said it was able to stop forward progress of the Sepulveda Fire, which covered 40 acres near the Getty Center and Los Angeles’ upscale Bel Air neighborhood.
The wildfires have cost the city of Los Angeles at least $385 million so far, according to a preliminary report released by the city on Wednesday. Around $350 million of that cost is linked to the damage caused by the fire to the city’s infrastructure.
A small new fire, called the Sepulveda Fire, was reported in Los Angeles county near the Getty Center and state freeway 405, and according to Cal Fire it covers around 20 acres.
According to Cal Fire’s latest update the Hughes Fire expanded to cover 10,176 acres with 14% of the blaze contained—but despite it swelling in size, no structural damage or casualties have been linked to the Hughes Fire so far as the blaze mostly covers hills in the northern part of Los Angeles County.
Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) called for an investigation into delayed evacuation orders issued for Western Altadena, where 17 people died, at the start of the Eaton Fire on Jan. 7.
According to the Los Angeles Times, more than 31,000 people were ordered to evacuate due to the Hughes Fire while evacuation warnings were issued to another 23,000 people.
Cal Fire officials announced the Hughes Fire reached over 9,400 acres, noting no buildings or homes were destroyed as of the early evening.
The Hughes Fire increased to 8,096 acres, spreading northeast and triggering 12 evacuation warnings and 10 evacuation orders for adjacent areas.
The Hughes Fire spread to 5,054 acres in a largely mountainous area.
The Hughes Fire grew to 3,407 acres, according to Cal Fire, with evacuation orders extending to the community of Castaic and evacuation warnings stretching to the northernmost parts of Santa Clarita, which had an estimated population of 224,028 in 2023.
The Hughes Fire began just north of the city of Santa Clarita and quickly spread to about 500 acres, with 0% contained, triggering evacuation orders in Naylor Place and Martins.
Cal Fire data marked the Palisades Fire at 68% containment and the Eaton Fire at 91% containment, listing no other active fires in Los Angeles as a red flag warning is in effect for much the region until Friday evening.
A “particularly dangerous situation” is forecasted to develop in parts of Ventura County, the San Fernando Valley and adjacent areas just north of the regions, with the National Weather Service warning of 50 to 70 mph wind gusts across coasts and valleys, as well as 60 to 100 mph gusts in mountains and foothills from noon Monday to Tuesday morning.
President Donald Trump commented about the fires in Los Angeles during his inauguration speech, focusing on the impact they have had on “some of the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in our country,” with Trump adding, “They don’t have a home any longer. That’s interesting.”
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced another eight people were charged for crimes linked to the wildfires in Los Angeles, bringing the total to 17 as the accused face charges such as looting, arson and impersonation of a firefighter.
The National Weather Service said winds peaked for the day and would lower into the evening, noting the end of several red flag warnings at 6 p.m. with the exception of warnings in mountainous regions that remain effective until Thursday at 3 p.m.
Some 25 people have died, with nine confirmed deaths from the Palisades fire and 16 from the Eaton Fire, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner said. An earlier toll for the Eaton Fire was at 17, but officials later clarified that a set of remains was non-human.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order aimed at cracking down on “predatory land speculators making aggressive and unsolicited cash offers” to victims of the fire to purchase their property. The order makes it illegal to make “unsolicited undervalued offers to purchase property,” in specified areas of Los Angeles County.
Cal Fire says the Auto Fire, which broke out Monday in Ventura County, is 25% contained several hours after fire crews stopped forward progress on the 56-acre blaze.
The National Weather Service’s “particularly dangerous situation” red flag warning for parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties went into effect through Wednesday, 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.”
The Auto Fire started late on Monday night and rapidly grew to cover 56 acres (the fire received its name because of the large number of auto dealerships in the impacted area, according to the Los Angeles Times).
The 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 remained in effect.
Local, state, and federal officials announced help for those affected: former President Joe Biden announced wildfire victims are eligible for a $770 one-time payment designated for essential items (here’s who can apply), while Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued an executive order aiming to expedite the process of rebuilding homes, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed $2.5 billion in additional funding for disaster response and recovery efforts in Los Angeles that will need to be approved by the legislature.
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.
The NWS issued a red flag warning for a large portion of southern California until Wednesday and said much of the San Fernando Valley and Ventura County would 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.
Los 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.
FEMA 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.
The 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.”
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.
The Hurst Fire, the smallest of the active fires which covers 799 acres, is now 95% contained and has no active evacuation orders or warnings linked to it.
The 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.
Authorities 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.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell 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.”
All 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.
Newsom 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.
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.
Bass 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.
Kevin 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.”
Satellite images released by Maxar on Jan. 9 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.
Biden 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.”
The Kenneth Fire grew in size to cover nearly 1,000 acres, according to Cal Fire’s latest update, but firefighters have managed to contain 35% of the blaze.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department said a fire fighting plane struck by a civilian drone over the Palisades Fire was the SuperScooper—an amphibious plane which can scoop up water from a river or lake and aerially dump it on a fire—and has been grounded, though it managed to land safely.
The death toll from all the fires rose to 10, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office announced.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said his department has requested support from the California National Guard and is trying to implement a curfew between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. in the areas affected by the Palisades and Eaton fires to prevent looting and other crimes.
The Ventura County Fire Department said, “forward progress of the Kenneth fire has been stopped,” and the fire continues to hold at 960 acres with 0% containment.
The LAPD told local outlets they received a call informing them that a “suspect was ‘attempting to light a fire’ in the area of the Kenneth Fire,” and while the suspect is now in custody the department added: “We are continuing our investigation and we CANNOT confirm any connection to any fire.”
Los Angeles Police have arrested a man suspected of arson in the Woodland Hills area, and the department told NewsNation they are now investigating if the Kenneth Fire was intentionally set.
Newsom approved a request from Los Angeles County to deploy 8,000 National Guard members to the region to help combat fires and prevent looting (the sheriff’s department arrested 20 people for looting as of Jan. 9).
The NFL announced the Jan. 13 wild card playoff matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings will be moved from SoFi Stadium in the Los Angeles area to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, citing concerns for public safety.
The Kenneth Fire began in the neighborhood of West Hills and spread to 50 acres, triggering evacuation orders for some residents in the Hidden Hills community.
The death toll from the fires reached six, according to multiple outlets, with the city of Malibu reporting its first death of a resident killed in the Palisades fire.
Biden said the federal government will pay the full cost of the disaster response for 180 days, covering the costs of things like “debris and hazard removal, temporary shelters, first responders’ salaries and all necessary measures to protect life and property” (the federal funding initially covered 75% of eligible firefighting costs).
Bass said the Sunset fire in the Hollywood Hills was “fully contained” after the fire began Wednesday evening and spread to 43 acres.
Los Angeles Unified School District announced its schools and offices will remain closed through Friday, adding students will continue to have access to digital academic resources, meal distribution and mental health support services.
Pasadena urged residents in a portion of the city to not use tap water for drinking or cooking “until further notice,” citing the Eaton Fire’s damage to reservoirs and pump stations that potentially impacted water quality in certain areas.
The wildfires severely impacted the air quality in the Los Angeles area with levels of PM 2.5 pollutants—airborne particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter—hitting 165, which is labeled “unhealthy” by the EPA’s AirNow tracker and 11 times above the World Health Organization’s recommended safe limit of 15.
At least 2,000 homes, businesses and other buildings have been destroyed by the fires so far, and more than 130,000 people have been forced to evacuate—some even multiple times as the fires spread to other parts of Los Angeles county.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said “the majority of the Evacuation Zone for the Sunset Fire is LIFTED” in an update shortly after midnight as Cal Fire’s tracker showed the size of the blaze in the Hollywood Hills shrinking from its previous size of 60 acres to 43 acres at 12:17 a.m. PST.
The city of Santa Monica instituted a mandatory curfew from sunset to sunrise on Wednesday night “to support law enforcement efforts in these zones, and other measures to facilitate an effective response,” the Palisades Fire.
Another fire, called the Sunset Fire, broke out around 6 p.m. PST in the Hollywood Hills which has rapidly grown in recent hours to engulf more than 50 acres or area, prompting mandatory evacuations.
Biden canceled the final overseas trip of his presidency on Wednesday—shortly before he was set to travel to Italy and the Vatican—to stay in Washington D.C. and monitor the emergency in California.
Biden approves a Major Disaster Declaration for California, making federal funding available to those impacted by the fires in Los Angeles County.
Nearly 1 million customers of electricity providers in Los Angeles County were without power, PowerOutage.us reported before it said the outage management system of Southern California Edison—the main electricity provider in the county—went offline.
The Palisades Fire in Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades—an affluent coastal neighborhood—exploded to 15,832 acres, according to Cal Fire, making it the largest fire of the four burning in Los Angeles County as of Wednesday afternoon.
The Eaton Fire in Altadena, a small city directly north of Pasadena, grew to 10,600 acres with 0% containment, according to the Cal Fire.
Bass announced Los Angeles Fire Department air operations resumed after a lengthy suspension of air support began Tuesday due to high winds.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said FEMA is “closely monitoring” the wildfires and has authorized additional assistance from the agency to support firefighting efforts.
The Woodley Fire began in the Sepulveda Basin neighborhood, expanding to 30 acres before being brought under control, according to The New York Times.
The Hurst Fire ignited in the suburban area of Sylmar.
Newsom declared a state of emergency, urging residents to heed evacuation orders and saying, “This is a highly dangerous windstorm creating extreme fire risk, and we’re not out of the woods.”
The Palisades Fire started in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood and resulted in about 30,000 people receiving evacuation orders as it initially spread to about 2,000 acres.
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The Palisades Fire began Jan. 7 and burned 23,448 acres as of Sunday, with about 87% of the fire’s perimeter contained, according to Cal Fire. Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley said Jan. 9 “it is safe to say that the Palisades Fire is one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history of Los Angeles.”
The second blaze, called the Eaton Fire, began in the evening on Jan. 7 in Eaton Canyon near the San Gabriel Mountains and grew rapidly, covering 14,021 acres with 95% contained as of Sunday. The fire triggered a round of mandatory evacuations in the nearby areas of Altadena, Pasadena and Sierra Madre.
The Hughes Fire, which broke out Wednesday north of Santa Clarita, has burned about 10,425 acres and is 92% contained as of Friday. At least 31,000 people in the area were under evacuation orders the day the fire broke out.
The Sepulveda Fire started Thursday and covered about 45 acres, eventually reaching 60% containment as of Friday. The fire broke out near the Bel-Air neighborhood, east of the Palisades Fire.
Preliminary data from Cal Fire indicates the Palisades and Eaton fires rank among California’s most destructive wildfires in state history:
JPMorgan analysts led by Jimmy Bhullar estimated in a note Jan. 9 there could be $50 billion in total damages, including $20 billion in insured losses, though they noted “estimates of potential economic and insured losses are likely to increase.” Those estimates would place the fires as the costliest in U.S. history. Jasper Cooper, vice president-senior credit officer at Moody’s Ratings, said the credit rating business expects “insured losses to run in the billions of dollars given the high value of homes and businesses in the impacted areas,” adding “commercial property losses could be significant.”
A mix of extremely gusty winds, drought conditions and low humidity created conditions conducive for fires to quickly spread. The appearance of weather conditions suggestive of La Niña, a climate phenomenon linked to drier conditions and drought in southern parts of the U.S., likely played a large part in priming southern California for extreme fire conditions. Los Angeles in particular has seen an underwhelming amount of rain in the last eight months alongside a dry winter. The last time the city recorded over a tenth of an inch of rainfall was last May, according to the Los Angeles Times, contributing to drought. The dry conditions paired with historically strong winds gave way to this week’s fires. Wind gusts of up to 99 mph were reported near Altadena and other nearby areas early Wednesday. The National Weather Service forecast wind gusts of 50 to 80 mph in parts of southern California and up to 100 mph gusts in mountains and foothills last week. The conditions are the result of a wind pattern called the Santa Ana winds or “devil winds,” which are often fast-moving, dry and warm winds that originate inland, around Nevada and Utah, and blow toward the coastal regions of Southern California. Cal Fire is still investigating the specific causes for each of the fires blazing in Los Angeles County.
The Los Angeles County medical examiner confirmed 27 people had died as of Friday, including 17 from the Eaton Fire and 10 from the Palisades Fire, though the number could climb. At least 16 others were reported missing to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office, but that number could also climb.
See a full list here. Paris Hilton, who wrote she had evacuated her home, reportedly lost her Malibu home to the fire. Billy Crystal and his wife Janice said they lost their Pacific Palisades home to the fire, after first moving to the location in 1979. Jamie Lee Curtis said she likely lost her home to the fire and wrote on Instagram calling for people to “reach out to anyone who lives in Los Angeles” to offer assistance. Eugene Levy, the Pacific Palisades’ honorary mayor, told the Los Angeles Times he fled his home and said the “smoke looked pretty black and intense over Temescal Canyon.” Meanwhile, actor Mark Hamill wrote on Instagram he evacuated his Malibu home, while Vice President Kamala Harris’ home in Los Angeles was put under an evacuation order, though no one was in the home at the time the order was placed, spokesperson Ernesto Apreza said.
Curtis, who advocated in a “Tonight Show” appearance for people to donate to relief efforts, said she was donating $1 million to start a support fund for the city and people impacted by the fire. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have reportedly made monetary donations to relief efforts, and donated clothing, children’s items and other supplies. Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, the third-wealthiest person in the world, said he and his wife Priscilla are personally donating to relief efforts, and Jared Isaacman, the billionaire businessman tapped by Trump to serve as the next administrator of NASA, has said he will match the first $1 million donated to his company’s relief campaign. The NFL is donating $5 million to relief efforts.
Most Los Angeles Unified Schools were reopened Jan. 13 after being shut down on Jan. 9 and Jan. 10. Schools in areas most impacted by the fires or accompanying evacuation orders were temporarily moved to alternate sites (list here). Pepperdine University announced its Malibu campus will resume in-person classes on Jan. 21.
The voting deadline for the Academy Awards was pushed back to Jan. 19, with the announcement of this year’s Oscar nominees also delayed to Jan. 23 at 5:30 a.m. PST. The award show is set to take place in early March. The Grammys are reportedly still scheduled for the first weekend of February, though organizers say this year’s show will focus on fundraising for relief efforts. The Critics Choice Awards—slated for Sunday—were postponed due to the fires, while the Screen Actors Guild cancelled its in-person awards nomination ceremony last week. Several TV shows—from “Jimmy Kimmel Live” to “NCIS”—paused production last week but reportedly plan to resume this week (see here for a list).
An NFL wild card playoff game between the Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings took place in Arizona instead of SoFi Stadium in the Los Angeles area. The Rams secured 750 spots on 15 buses to take fans from Los Angeles to Phoenix and back. Several other sporting events in the L.A. area were postponed, including an NHL game between the Los Angeles Kings and Calgary Flames, an NBA matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and Charlotte Hornets and a women’s college basketball game featuring Pepperdine University and the University of Portland.
Los Angeles International Airport, located about 19 miles south of the Pacific Palisades, has not experienced significant flight cancellations, according to FlightAware.
Trump and one of his key advisers, Elon Musk, have been critical of the local government’s response to the fire since they broke out. In a Jan. 9 post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Musk claimed “the immense loss of homes in LA is primarily due to” bad governance leading to a shortage of water and “nonsensical overregulation that prevented creating fire breaks and doing brush clearing.” Trump has also taken aim at Bass and Newsom, saying on Truth Social Jan. 9 “nobody has ever seen such failed numbers before!” (referring to the Palisades Fire’s zero containment at the time) and blamed it on “gross incompetence” by Newsom and Bass.
California
Rain in California helps firefighters respond to wildfires but presents risk of toxic ash runoff
Rain has fallen in Southern California after weeks of windy and dry weather, which is expected to help firefighters responding to multiple wildfires, but potentially heavy rain on burned hillsides could cause toxic ash runoff.
Los Angeles County crews spent the past week removing vegetation, shoring up slopes and reinforcing roads in areas devastated by the Palisades and Eaton fires earlier this month.
Most of the region was forecast to receive around an inch of precipitation over several days, but the National Weather Service said “the threat is high enough to prepare for the worst-case scenario” of localized cloudbursts leading to mud and debris sliding down hills.
“So the problem would be if one of those showers happens to park itself over a burn area,” weather service meteorologist Carol Smith said. “That could be enough to create debris flows.”
TRUMP MEETS WITH CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS, FIRE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS TO SEE LA WILDFIRE DAMAGE FIRST HAND
Workers secure a net to prevent mudslides over the burned side of a mansion in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP)
Rainfall began late Saturday and was expected to increase Sunday and potentially last into early Tuesday, according to forecasters. Flood watches were issued for some burn areas, while the mountains were expected to receive snow.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, issued an executive order last week to expedite cleanup efforts and reduce the environmental impacts of fire-related pollutants. Los Angeles County supervisors also approved an emergency motion to put into place flood-control infrastructure and expedite and remove sediment in areas impacted by the fires.
Firefighters put out hot spots, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025 in Camarillo, California, where the Laguna Fire broke out. (AP)
Officials said ash in recent burn zones was a toxic mix of incinerated cars, electronics, batteries, building materials, paints, furniture and other household items. The ash contains pesticides, asbestos, plastics and lead. Officials urged residents to wear protective gear when they clean up.
Concerns over potential debris flows after a fire have been particularly high since 2018, when the town of Montecito faced mudslides after a downpour hit mountain slopes that were burned bare. A total of 23 people died and hundreds of homes were damaged.
COMPTON COWBOYS STEP UP DURING LOS ANGELES WILDFIRES TO RESCUE ENDANGERED HORSES
Firefighters put out hot spots, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025 in Camarillo, California, where the Laguna Fire broke out. (AP)
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The weekend’s wet weather in Southern California ended weeks of dangerous winds and reduced humidity, but several wildfires were still burning in the area on Saturday, including the Palisades and Eaton fires, which killed at least 28 people and destroyed more than 14,000 structures. The Palisades Fire was 81% contained on Saturday and the Eaton Fire was 95% contained.
Meanwhile, in northern Los Angeles County, firefighters made significant progress against the Hughes Fire, which forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate when it erupted on Wednesday in mountains near Lake Castaic.
There was little containment of the Border 2 Fire in San Diego County as it burned through a remote area of the Otay Mountain Wilderness near the U.S.-Mexico border.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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