Washington, United States:

As fire-wrecked Los Angeles braces for a visit by President Donald Trump, many are worrying the mercurial Republican will yank the federal support the city needs to get back on its feet.

Trump is due in the shell-shocked city for a few hours on Friday afternoon, where he will be able to see for himself the devastation wrought by the deadly fires — damage whose repair will cost billions of dollars.

Former president Joe Biden was quick to pledge whatever was needed to deal with the disaster in the waning days of his administration.

But almost as soon as the fires erupted, Trump began sticking the boot in, lashing out at California Governor Gavin Newsom, and resurrecting an earlier hobbyhorse about water supplies.

“I don’t think we should give California anything until they let the water run down,” Trump said this week, emphasizing his false belief that there is a valve in northern California that can be turned to release billions of gallons (liters) of water in the rain-starved state.

Funding needed

Threats to withhold federal funds are worrisome to some of those who lost everything in the fires.

“I just can’t fathom that the government is going to let so many people (suffer)… that they’re not going to help them,” Sebastian Harrison told AFP.

This 59-year-old former actor lost his Malibu home in the blaze. He was not insured, unable to afford premiums that topped $40,000 a year.

Without government money, getting his life back on track might prove almost impossible, he fears.

In Altadena, a modest city further inland, as in the upscale Pacific Palisades, thousands of ruined buildings need to be cleared.

Federal cash granted by Biden for 180 days is intended to cover this.

But local authorities fret the White House’s new inhabitant might not honor that check.

“Everybody’s rushing to make sure the funds get here before Trump gets in office,” a local official told AFP last week, on condition of anonymity.

But, the person said, the demography of the disaster — which affected some very wealthy people as well as those of more modest means — gives hope that Trump won’t be able to abandon the region.

“Trump may think of Altadena as a bunch of low-life Democrats, but Pacific Palisades is a different story,” the source said.

“That’s the first zip code where he and other Republicans go to when they want to raise money in Los Angeles.”

“Principle of unity”

Pacific Palisades and the parts of Malibu it abuts are considerably less left-leaning than other parts of Los Angeles.

While the area has its share of Hollywood liberals, it also has property developers, businesspeople and other Republicans.

Among those who lost their homes was Mel Gibson, who Trump has just appointed to an ill-defined role as ambassador to Hollywood.

The new president’s visit to Los Angeles looks set to include a meeting with the state’s governor — whom Trump delights in calling Gavin “Newscum.”

There is no love lost between the two men, but Newsom has taken a more conciliatory approach in recent weeks.

“Historically, federal disaster aid has been provided without conditions, recognizing that political calculations or regional divides should not encumber relief efforts,” he wrote in a letter last week to Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson.

“This principle of unity is at the heart of our nation’s resilience.”

But if the federal government cannot be cajoled into stumping up the funds needed for recovery and reconstruction, California says it is prepared to use the courts.

The state’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, said he found it “disheartening” that Trump and his allies were seeking to politicize tragedy.

“We have every expectation that federal action will be taken to support California and the hardworking Californians whose lives and livelihoods are at risk,” he told AFP.

“We have been preparing for the Trump administration for months, and we will not hesitate to act if we believe the president is violating the law.”

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

What remains of Chef Daniel Shemtob’s home destroyed by the Palisades Fire is seen, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California
| Photo Credit: AP

Parched Southern California continued to face dangerous winds but could get some badly needed rain this weekend, forecasters said Tuesday (January 22, 2025), dampening the prospects of another round of killer wildfires though even a small amount of precipitation could could create new challenges like toxic ash runoff.

Also Read:What ignited the deadly California wildfires? Investigators consider an array of possibilities

Los Angeles officials were preparing for that prospect even as a small number of residents were allowed to return to the devastated Pacific Palisades area and firefighters battled small blazes that broke out.

Mayor Karen Bass issued an executive order to expedite cleanup efforts in burn areas and mitigate the environmental impacts of fire-related pollutants. She ordered crews to remove vegetation, shore up hillsides, install barriers and reinforce roads ahead of the possible weekend rain, which could create mud and debris flows.

“This is to prevent additional damage to areas already ravaged by fire and also to protect our watershed, beaches and ocean from toxic runoff,” Bass said during a news conference.

A 60% to 80% chance of a small amount of rain was forecast for Southern California starting Saturday, with most areas likely getting not more than a third of an inch (0.8 cm), according to Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service’s office for Los Angeles. However up to an inch (2.5 centimeters) could fall in localized thunderstorms, which would be a worst-case scenario if enough to trigger debris flows on scorched hillsides.

“But even if the rain doesn’t materialize this time, it could be a good practice run for those communities because this will be a threat that they’ll have to deal with for months or years,” Kittell said.

In 2018, Montecito, a town 80 miles (130 kilometers) up the coast from Los Angeles, was ravaged by mudslides after a downpour hit mountain slopes burned bare by a huge wildfire. Twenty-three people died, and hundreds of homes were damaged.

Winds eased somewhat Tuesday afternoon after peaking at 60 mph (96 kph) in many areas, but gusty conditions were expected to return the next two days. Red flag warnings for critical fire risk were extended through 8 p.m. Thursday in LA and Ventura counties.

“If a fire were to get started, it could grow pretty fast,” Mr. Kittell said.

“Our concern is the next fire, the next spark that causes the next wildfire,” said David Acuna, a spokesman with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. Another worry was that the two major blazes, the Palisades and Eaton fires, could break their containment lines as firefighters continue to keep watch for hot spots.

Fire engines and water-dropping aircraft allowed crews to swiftly douse several small blazes that popped up in LA and San Diego counties, officials said.

One of them, the Friars Fire, broke out near a San Diego mall and prompted evacuation orders as it sent flames up a hillside toward homes.

Meanwhile evacuation orders were lifted in the Bonsall area of San Diego County for the Lilac Fire, which burned through dry brush after threatening some structures, Cal Fire said. Nearby crews fully contained the Pala Fire, another small blaze.

In Los Angeles the previous day, firefighters quickly extinguished a small brush fire near the iconic Griffith Observatory in a sprawling park overlooking the city. A man suspected of starting the fire was taken into custody, police said.

Fire crews also swiftly extinguished a small blaze near Tujunga and another one in the Granada Hills neighborhood that temporarily closed northbound lanes on Interstate 405.

Southern California Edison preemptively shut off power to more than 60,000 customers in five counties to prevent new fires from being sparked by winds toppling electrical equipment; electricity was later restored to some. The utility was considering precautionary shutoffs for an additional 202,000 customers.

Authorities urged residents to review evacuation plans, prepare emergency kits and be on the lookout for fires and report them quickly.

Mr. Bass also warned that winds could carry ash and advised Angelenos to visit the city’s website to learn how to protect themselves from toxic air during the latest Santa Ana wind event.

The low humidity, bone-dry vegetation and strong winds come as firefighters continue battling the Palisades and Eaton fires, which have killed at least 28 people and destroyed more than 14,000 structures since they broke out Jan. 7. Containment of the Palisades Fire reached 61%, and the Eaton Fire was at 87%.

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is investigating the causes of the fires but has not released any findings.

Several lawsuits have been filed by people who lost their homes in the Eaton Fire, alleging Southern California Edison equipment sparked the blaze. On Tuesday a judge overseeing one of the lawsuits ordered the utility to produce data from circuits in the area where the fire started.

President Donald Trump, who criticized the response to the wildfires during his inaugural address Monday, has said he will travel to Los Angeles on Friday.

New Delhi:

Author Amitav Ghosh, who is in the forefront of raising awareness about environmental damage and climate change, termed the California wildfires and particularly the Los Angeles inferno as “completely predictable”. He also pointed at the poorly understood idea of safety amid the climate crisis as “wealth and affluence” alone cannot save people.

In an interview to NDTV, Mr Ghosh drew attention to the “weird thing about climate change”, which is a “global phenomenon that manifests locally”.

Mr Ghosh, a Jnanpith Award recipient and winner of the Erasmus Prize for his writings on the planetary crisis and climate change, told NDTV that the California case was completely predictable as it was in a kind of a geographical zone where it’s bound to have catastrophes. “It has exactly that kind of climate.”

“It’s in a desert. The problem with Los Angeles in particular is all its water comes from very distant sources, and there’s a lot of institutional corruption built into it. A couple of billionaires have diverted a lot of water to their farms,” Mr Ghosh told NDTV.

“What you will see in all these disasters that are playing out across the planet is that climate change is an intensifier. But you can’t understand any of them without understanding the localism of it. Because this is the weird thing about climate change – it’s a global phenomenon that manifests locally,” said the celebrated writer.

He said people have to be able to understand how climate change is interacting with local patterns of settlement, and local patterns of development.

“If you just take the case of Chennai, for example, which has had these rain bomb events, repeatedly, the problem there is they have built over an entire floodplain. Similarly, we have these very unsustainable patterns of urban development around Mumbai. And the same is true of Los Angeles. They should not be building along mountains where it’s known that fires will happen, and they have happened repeatedly over the years,” Mr Ghosh said.

Thousands of firefighters continued their efforts to snuff out hotspots over the 40,000 acres that have been burned — an area almost as big as Washington DC. All over Los Angeles, the acclaim for first responders stood in contrast to the political bickering, which has seen Republicans across the US line up behind President-elect Donald Trump as he bashes California’s Democratic leadership.

Actor Eric Braeden, a mainstay of US daytime soap opera ‘The Young and the Restless,’ on Thursday lashed out at the politicisation of the issue. US tennis great Pam Shriver appealed for the return of trophies stolen with her car after she evacuated her luxury home. Dozens of people have been arrested in the wake of the disaster, with several charged for looting.

Mr Ghosh said the US could pull out of the Paris Agreement again after President-elect Donald Trump takes charge, and cautioned that such a decision would be a wrong one.

“… What is the thinking behind that [pulling out of Paris Agreement]? The thinking is that climate change will mainly affect poor countries, poor people, and that wealthy countries will be okay. But this is a complete fantasy. I mean, what we see today in California, these are some of the richest and most famous people in the world. Wealth or affluence as such is not going to protect them,” Mr Ghosh said.

Referring to the COVID-19 crisis, the author said the pandemic was a forerunner of the planetary crisis.

“The COVID pandemic didn’t play out at all according to affluence or wealth. Two of the countries that were worst-affected were the UK and the US. So wealth is not actually going to protect people from the impacts of the planetary crisis,” Mr Ghosh said.

On Donald Trump, the author said the incoming president is “not entirely a climate [change] denier. In 2009, he actually signed a petition asking the US government to act on climate change because he has properties all around the world, which are now actually threatened by climate impacts,” the author told NDTV. “So at some point, he made a very political decision, to deny climate change. It’s actually become a part of a culture war.”

A firefighter and his wife were overcome with emotion after he found his wedding ring amid the rubble of their home, now destroyed in the Los Angeles wildfires.

Pasadena Fire Engineer Chien Yu, accompanied by CNN’s Erin Burnett, was searching through the rubble when one of his colleagues discovered a silver ring and handed it to him. Upon realising it was his wedding ring, which had been misplaced in the chaos, he showed it to his wife. Overcome with emotion, the couple hugged and cried outside their destroyed home, where they had lived for nearly eight years.

“That’s it-oh my God!” Mr Yu said after fellow firefighters dug through the ruins of his home and found the ring. Asked how he expected his wife would react, Chien Yu said that she had no idea it was missing. Filled with emotion, she said, “What! Oh, my gosh!” and froze for a moment before the two hugged each other.

Speaking to CNN, Mr Yu said when he saw the fire approaching last week, he evacuated his wife and two children before buckling up for a 16-hour shift combating the fire in his neighbourhood. He had no idea his home had been demolished until he got off work that day.

The couple and their two sons have moved, but the kids are having a hard time adjusting. “It’s never going to be the same for the kids,” he said. “They’re doing the best they can, you know?” They frequently ask when they can go back to their house or return to school, which was destroyed in the fire and was located next door, said Mr Yu.

According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Eaton Fire had burned 14,117 acres of land and is 55 per cent contained as of January 16. The Palisades Fire has burned 23,713 acres and is 27 per cent contained.

At least 27 people have died and the death count may climb further, as per the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. Over 30 people are still reported missing.

Los Angeles:

A huge federal probe was under way Tuesday into what caused the deadly Los Angeles wildfires, with millions in the city clamoring for answers.

Social media has exploded with theories about what started blazes that tore through the city of Altadena and the upmarket neighborhood of Pacific Palisades, killing at least 24 people and leaving whole communities in ruins.

Suggestions include downed power lines, deliberate arson, a stray firework and the reignition of an earlier fire.

But Jose Medina of the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), which is leading the inquiry, said it was too early to say.

“We know everyone wants answers, and the community deserves answers. ATF will give you those answers, but it will be once we complete a thorough investigation,” he told reporters.

The ATF is working with local law enforcement, as well as the Forest Service and the US Attorney’s office, in an operation that will involve around 75 people.

Fire investigators, chemists, electrical engineers and sniffer dogs trained to detect accelerant will be doing painstaking fieldwork to find the seats of the two fires, he said.

A team will also be deployed to gather clues from the local community and online, conducting interviews with possible witnesses.

“We are following all the leads and processing all the physical evidence,” Medina said.

“ATF is determined to leverage every available resource to deliver a thorough and transparent investigation.”

Internet users have leapt on a video posted by trail runners that shows them running away from smoke in hills above Pacific Palisades.

But one of the men, Beni Oren, told the Los Angeles Times they had nothing to do with the fire, and had actually been fleeing for their lives in the video.

“It’s definitely kind of infuriating that people are blaming us,” he told the paper.

“Just knowing as a matter of fact… that we didn’t do it but then seeing the amount of people that have different theories is overwhelming.”

Local media reported that a number of homeowners in the Altadena area have launched a lawsuit against power company Southern California Edison after a video appeared to show flames at the base of an electrical transmission tower.

The utility has said it does not believe its equipment was at fault.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

In the week since the fires in the Los Angeles County broke out, which have destroyed thousands of homes, at least 24 lives have been lost and 16 people were reported missing.

The 24 deaths were attributed to the two major fires raging across the county: the Eaton fire, which accounted for 16 of them and the Palisades fire (8). About 1,50,000 people in the county remain under evacuation orders, with more than 700 residents taking refuge in nine shelters.

Also Read: Los Angeles investigates fire blame as curfew enforced

Since January 7, the major fires that broke out are shown in the map below. Out of the six fires shown, three of them, namely the Lydia, Kenneth and Archer fires were fully contained. Hurst fire, which expanded to 799 acres, is almost fully contained as of January 13, according to Cal Fire which is The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in California.

Only 13% of the Palisades fire, which spans over 23,000 acres, is contained; and around 27% of the Eaton fire, which spans over 14,000 acres, is contained, according to Cal Fire.

Charred neighbourhoods

The Palisades and Eaton fires have burnt and destroyed entire residential neighbourhoods, including buildings, businesses, outbuildings and vehicles. Over 12,000 buildings are estimated to have been burnt, with around 11,000 structures being damaged or destroyed by January 9, an analysis by remote sensing experts, which is mentioned below, showed.

The Palisades Fire

From January 7 to January 10, the Palisades fire quickly engulfed over 21,500 acres. And from January 10 until January 12, the fire spread over 5,000 acres more, thereby engulfing a total of 27,713 acres.

An analysis conducted through satellite data on January 9 by Jamon Van Den Hoek of Oregon State University and Corey Scher of the CUNY Graduate Center, accessed by The Hindu, shows the extent of the damage the Palisades and Eaton fires. In the Pacific Palisades, the map below shows entire neighbourhoods being burnt.

Shown in the maps below are small areas within the perimeter of the fires where most structures (residential and others) are present. The buildings or structures marked in red are damaged or destroyed by the fire, while the ones in grey are not likely to be damaged.

Towards the south-western end of the Palisades fire, which is in and around Malibu and the Pacific Coast Highway, several structures along the coast are destroyed, as shown in the map below.

The Eaton Fire

The Eaton fire remains the second largest fire spanning over 14,000 acres. It has led to the death of 16 individuals, and more than 70% of the fire still remains uncontained. The extent and the damage due to the Eaton fire in the Altadena area of the L.A. County is shown in the map below.

According to reports, in parts of Altadena, only a few buildings seem to be spared. The Altadena Community Church was largely consumed by the fire.

The National Weather Service issued a rare warning of a “particularly dangerous situation,” beginning overnight Monday (January 13, 2025) into Tuesday (January 14, 2025). It predicted severe fire conditions through Wednesday (January 15, 2025), with sustained winds of up to 64 kmph and gusts in the mountains reaching 65 mph (105 kph). The most dangerous day will be Tuesday (January 14, 2025), warned fire behaviour analyst Dennis Burns at a community meeting Sunday (January 12, 2025) night, according to reports from AP.

Fierce Santa Ana winds have been largely blamed for turning the wildfires sparked last week into infernos that levelled entire neighbourhoods around the nation’s second-largest city where there has been no significant rainfall in more than eight months. Early estimates suggest these fires could be the nation’s costliest ever, as much as $150 billion according to an AccuWeather estimate.

Additional water tankers and firefighters arrived at the Los Angeles area in California, U.S., on Monday (January 13, 2025) ahead of fierce winds that were forecast to return and threaten the progress made so far on two massive infernos that have killed at least 24 people.

Planes doused homes and hillsides with bright pink fire-retardant chemicals, while crews and fire engines were being placed near particularly vulnerable spots with dry brush. Dozens of water trucks rolled in to replenish supplies after hydrants ran dry last week when the two largest fires erupted.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and other officials — who have faced criticism over their initial response to fires that began last week — expressed confidence Monday that the region was ready to face the new threat with additional firefighters brought in from around the U.S., as well as Canada and Mexico.

“We’re absolutely better prepared,” LA County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said when asked what will be different from a week ago, when hurricane-force winds propelled multiple fires across the parched, brush-filled region that hasn’t seen rain in more than eight months.

Heavy winds predicted

The winds are predicted to pick up late Monday into early Tuesday, but they are not expected to reach hurricane-force like last week. However, they could ground firefighting aircraft, Mr. Marrone said, warning if winds reach 70 mph (112 kph), “it’s going to be very difficult to contain that fire.”

Fire officials advised residents in high-risk areas to just leave home — and not wait for formal evacuation orders — if they sense danger.

In less than a week, four fires around the nation’s second-biggest city have scorched more than 62 square miles (160 square kilometers), roughly three times the size of Manhattan.

The National Weather Service warned the weather will be “particularly dangerous” on Tuesday, when wind gusts could reach 65 mph (105 kph). A large part of Southern California around Los Angeles is under this extreme fire danger warning through Wednesday, including densely populated Thousand Oaks, Northridge and Simi Valley.

The Eaton Fire near Pasadena is roughly one-third contained, while the largest blaze in Pacific Palisades on the coast is far less contained.

Death toll to rise

The death toll is likely to rise, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Monday. At least two dozen were missing, he said.

Mr. Luna said he understands that people are eager to return to their homes and neighborhoods to survey the damage, but he asked for their patience. “We have people literally looking for the remains of your neighbors,” he said.

The slower winds over the weekend allowed some people to return to previously evacuated areas. Many had no idea if their homes or neighborhoods were still standing.

LA city Fire Chief Kristin Crowley urged people to stay away from burned neighborhoods filled with broken gas lines and unstable buildings.

Just under 100,000 in Los Angeles County remained under evacuation orders, half the number from last week.

Firefighters over the weekend fought flames in Mandeville Canyon — home to Arnold Schwarzenegger and other celebrities — after the Palisades Fire spread, prompting new evacuation orders. Crews continued battling there Monday before potentially strong winds could push the flames toward the famous J. Paul Getty Museum and the University of California, Los Angeles.

Beyoncé, Disney and other celebrities and entertainment organizations have pledged millions to help those who have been displaced or lost their homes. Other stars — and ordinary people — have left large donations of clothing and other items along street corners in around the city.

Arrests for looting

Dozens of people have been arrested for looting after the wildfires. Officials are now starting to see price gouging and scams, including with hotels and short-term rentals and medical supplies, said Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman.

The fires that began Tuesday north of downtown LA have burned more than 12,000 homes, cars and other structures.

Authorities haven’t determined an official cause for any of the fires. Southern California Edison has acknowledged agencies are investigating whether its equipment may have started a smaller blaze.

A lawsuit filed Monday claims the utility’s equipment sparked the much bigger Eaton Fire. Edison did not respond to a request for comment and last week said it had not received any suggestions that its equipment ignited that blaze.

AccuWeather’s early estimates suggest the fires could be the nation’s costliest ever, topping $250 billion including what’s to come in the next days. The reconstruction cost for commercial and residential properties inside areas with active fires could be $14.8 billion, according to real estate data tracker CoreLogic.

Amid the ongoing California wildfires, the Oscar nominations are being pushed back almost a week from their original date. File
| Photo Credit: AP

The Oscar nominations are being pushed back almost a week from their original date amid the ongoing California wildfires.

Nominations will now be announced on January 23, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said Monday.

“We are all devastated by the impact of the fires and the profound losses experienced by so many in our community,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang said in a joint statement.

“The Academy has always been a unifying force within the film industry, and we are committed to standing together in the face of hardship.”

With fires still active in the Los Angeles area, the film academy also extended the nominations voting period for its members through Friday. Originally, nominations were to be announced that morning.

The organisation that puts on the Oscars has also made the decision to cancel its annual nominees luncheon, an untelevised event best known for the “class photos” it produces annually. The Scientific and Technical Awards, previously set for February 18, will be rescheduled later.

The 97th Oscars will still happen on March 2, at the Dolby Theatre, with a live television broadcast on ABC beginning at 7 pm ET and a live stream on Hulu.

Oscar nominations were postponed in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ceremony itself was also delayed, which had happened several times before: The ceremony was pushed back a week because of disastrous flooding in Los Angeles in 1938.

In 1968, it was delayed two days following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And in 1981, it was put off for 24 hours after President Ronald Reagan was shot in Washington D.C.

The 1981 decision was made four hours before the broadcast was scheduled to begin.

Donald Trump accused California officials of incompetence over their handling of deadly wildfires raging around Los Angeles.
| Photo Credit: AP

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump accused California officials on Sunday (January 12, 2025) of incompetence over their handling of deadly wildfires raging around Los Angeles.

“The fires are still raging in L.A. The incompetent pols (politicians) have no idea how to put them out,” Mr. Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

“This is one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our Country. They just can’t put out the fires. What’s wrong with them?” he wrote.

The speed and intensity of the blazes ravaging Los Angeles have tested its firefighting infrastructure and given rise to questions and criticism about the state’s preparedness.

Hydrants ran dry in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood as it was ravaged by one of the region’s five separate fires, while water shortages additionally hampered efforts elsewhere.

With just over a week before he returns to the White House, Trump has launched a series of evidence-free broadsides accusing California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom of failings in response to the blazes.

Mr. Newsom has meanwhile invited Mr. Trump to visit Los Angeles and survey the devastation with him.

The fires have so far killed at least 16 people, displaced 1,50,000 more, and destroyed more than 12,000 structures according to state officials.

“Thousands of magnificent houses are gone, and many more will soon be lost. There is death all over the place,” Trump said in his post.

Despite firefighters’ heroic efforts, including precision sorties from aerial crews, the Palisades Fire has continued to push east towards the priceless collections of the Getty Center art museum and north to the densely populated San Fernando Valley.

Californians on Friday (January 10, 2025) demanded to know who is at fault for the vast devastation caused by the raging Los Angeles wildfires, as a strict curfew went into force to prevent looting and lawlessness.

At least 11 people died as flames ripped through neighbourhoods and razed thousands of homes in a disaster that U.S. President Joe Biden likened to a “war scene.”

While Angelenos grapple with the heart-rending ruin, anger has risen over officials’ preparedness and response, particularly for a series of false evacuation alarms and after hydrants ran dry as firefighters battled the initial blazes.

Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday (January 10, 2025) ordered a “full independent review” of the city’s utilities, describing the lack of water supplies during the initial fires as “deeply troubling.”

“We need answers to how that happened,” he wrote in an open letter.

Residents like Nicole Perri, whose home in the upscale Pacific Palisades burnt down, told AFP that officials “completely let us down.”

“I don’t think the officials were prepared at all,” said James Brown, a 65-year-old retired lawyer across the city in Altadena.

A flare-up late Friday (January 10, 2025) prompted new mandatory evacuations from ritzy neighbourhoods along the fire’s eastern flank, which include the famous Getty Centre.

Built at a cost of $1 billion and constructed partly of fire-resistant travertine stone, the acclaimed museum boasts 1,25,000 artworks.

Meanwhile, as fears of looting grow, a sunset-to-sunrise curfew took effect in evacuated areas.

Around two dozen arrests have already been made across Los Angeles, where some residents have organized street patrols and kept armed watch over their own houses.

“If we see you in these areas, you will be subject to arrest,” Los Angeles Police Department chief Jim McDonnell said.

Violators face up to six months in prison or $1,000 fines, he said.

The National Guard has been deployed to bolster law enforcement.

‘Devastating’

Five separate fires have so far burned more than 37,000 acres (15,000 hectares), destroying around 10,000 buildings, California’s fire agency reported.

The Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office confirmed an additional fatality on Friday (January 10, 2025), bringing the overall death toll so far to 11.

“It reminded me of more of a war scene, where you had certain targets that were bombarded,” said Mr. Biden, as he received a briefing on the fires at the White House.

Winds calmed Friday (January 10, 2025), providing a much-needed if fleeting window of opportunity for firefighters battling blazes around the clock for a fourth consecutive day.

At the biggest of the blazes, in Pacific Palisades and Malibu, firefighters said they were starting to get the fire under control, with eight percent of its perimeter contained.

“Braveheart” actor Mel Gibson was the latest celebrity to reveal his Malibu home had burned down, telling NewsNation the loss was “devastating.”

Meanwhile the Eaton Fire in the Altadena area was 3%contained, with fire chief Jason Schillinger reporting “significant progress” in quelling the blaze.

A third fire that exploded Thursday (January 9, 2025) afternoon near the wealthy Hidden Hills enclave, home to celebrities like Kim Kardashian, was 50% surrounded.

But emergency chiefs warned the situation is “still very dangerous” and reprieve from the intense gusts that spread embers will not last.

“The winds have died down today, but… are going to increase again in the coming days,” said Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

‘Demagogues’

Authorities have said it was too early to know the cause of the blazes.

Mr. Biden took a veiled swipe at incoming president Donald Trump, who has spread misinformation over the flames that has then been amplified on social media.

“You’re going to have a lot of demagogues out there trying to take advantage of it,” Mr. Biden said of the fires.

Governor Newsom, who has been blamed for the disaster by the president-elect, invited Mr. Trump to visit Los Angeles and survey the devastation with him.

“In the spirit of this great country, we must not politicize human tragedy or spread disinformation from the sidelines,” said Mr. Newsom.

Wildfires occur naturally, but scientists say human-caused climate change is altering weather and changing the dynamics of the blazes.

Two wet years in southern California have given way to a very dry one, leaving ample fuel on the ground primed to burn.

Emergency managers apologized Friday after false evacuation alerts were erroneously sent to millions of mobile phones, sparking panic.

“I can’t express enough how sorry I am,” said Kevin McGowan, the director of the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management.

Los Angeles fire chief Kristin Crowley blamed recent funding cuts, telling Fox News affiliate KTTV her department was chronically “understaffed” and “under-resourced.”