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.

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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.

Firefighters watch as water is dropped on the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, in Los Angeles.
| Photo Credit: AP

Five days after an inferno razed Pacific Palisades, Maya Lieberman is desperate to find somewhere to live. But unscrupulous landlords who are jacking up prices are making it hard.

“The price gouging is going haywire, it’s obscene,” the 50-year-old stylist told AFP.

“I can’t find anywhere for us to go.”

Huge fires that have torn through Los Angeles since Tuesday have levelled whole neighborhoods, turning swathes of the city to ash.

More than 150,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes as authorities try to keep down a death toll that has already reached 16.

One blaze devastated Pacific Palisades, an upmarket enclave that was home to celebrities like Billy Crystal and Kate Beckinsale, which — until this week — was some of the most desirable real estate in the United States.

With the area now under a compulsory evacuation order, even those whose homes survived the inferno need to go elsewhere for the forseeable future.

The higher-than-average incomes of people forced to leave homes there appears to have tempted chancers, who see the opportunity to make money from others’ misery.

“We put in an application at a house… that was listed at $17,000 a month, and they told us if we didn’t pay $30,000, we weren’t going to get it,” Lieberman said.

“They told me they have people ready to offer more and pay cash. It’s absolutely insane.”

State of emergency

Similar stories of apparent price gouging abound.

“I have friends who booked a hotel outside Los Angeles, and when they arrived there, they were asked for a higher price,” said TV producer Alex Smith, who has been forced to leave his home.

The sharp practice has drawn the ire of California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta, who warned Saturday there are laws against it.

“Price gouging is illegal. We will not stand for it. We will hold you accountable. We will prosecute,” he told reporters, adding those found guilty could land themselves a year in jail.

Once a state of emergency is declared — as it has been for the out-of-control fires — vendors cannot increase their prices by more than 10%.

That applies to small businesses as well as to mega companies whose automated tools use supply and demand to set the cost of everything from hotel stays to concert tickets.

“If those algorithms lead to prices higher after the declaration of emergency than before, by more than 10%, you’re violating the law,” he said.

“You need to figure out how to adjust your prices consistent with the law. And if that means departing from your algorithm, depart from your algorithm.”

For Brian, a retiree who has been sleeping in his car since the evacuation order was raised, the short term rules protecting against price gouging are almost beside the point.

The 69-year-old, who did not want to give his full name, has been living in a rent-controlled studio apartment in Pacific Palisades for two decades.

That has now gone, along with it the guarantee that his rent cannot rise.

His pension, he fears, will not stretch far in a city where rents have doubled in the last 10 years — a problem likely to be exacerbated by the sudden rush of people needing somewhere new to live.

“I’m back on the market with tens of thousands of people,” he said.

“That doesn’t bode well.”

The California man who won the world’s biggest ever lottery prize of $2.04 billion (Rs 16,590 crore) in February last year had spent $25.5 million on a luxury mansion on Hollywood Hills. But unfortunately Edwin Castro’s multimillion-dollar Malibu getaway has been destroyed in the horrific Palisades Fire, reducing the once-luxurious digs to a pile of ash, according to The New York Post.

After the deadly fire tore through the area, all that remained of Castro’s $3.8 million home was concrete pillars and smouldering wood, photos obtained by The Post show. The destroyed Malibu abode was one of several Castro purchased after he won the historic $2.04 billion prize back in November 2022.

Footage obtained by The US Sun showed waves lapping up against the beach where the yacht remains.All that can be seen is what looks like the foundations and what appears to be planks of wood. In the spot where Castro’s garage once held cars from his impressive collection. The coastal resort looks as if it has been turned into an apocalyptic, barren wasteland.

The property that Edwin Castro once owned featured five bedrooms and six bathrooms and was perched above the iconic Chateau Marmont hotel, according to reports. Mr Castro had been announced as the winner of a record-breaking Powerball jackpot by California Lottery officials at a press conference last year, where it was revealed he had chosen a lump sum payout of $997.6 million.

At its peak, the luxurious property placed Mr Castro among prominent celebrity neighbors, including singer Ariana Grande, actor Dakota Johnson, and comedian Jimmy Kimmel. However, the property was tragically destroyed in a fire, leaving only memories of its former grandeur.

Aerial views of Los Angeles ravaged by fires

| Video Credit:
The Hindu

The massive wildfires in California engulfed whole neighbourhoods in Los Angeles, the second-largest city in USA. At least ten people have been killed, and thousands displaced.

Officials have placed the origin of the wind-whipped blaze behind a home on Piedra Morada Drive, which sits above a densely wooded arroyo. Multi-million dollar mansions have vanished entirely.

The biggest of the multiple blazes has ripped through almost 20,000 acres of the upscale Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, while another fire around Altadena has torched 13,700 acres.

Residents of Altadena who recalled the horrors, likened it to the apocalypse.

Read more: Los Angeles fire deaths at 10 as National Guard called in

Video: AFPTV