What to know about the devastation from the Los Angeles-area fires
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Fires burning homes and businesses in Los Angeles for a week have killed at least 25 people, displaced thousands of others and destroyed more than 12,000 buildings in what might be the most expensive set of conflagrations in the nation's history.
The blazes started Jan. 7, fueled by fierce Santa Ana winds that have posed problems for the large forces of firefighters deployed across several areas of the sprawling city. Cal Fire reported that the Palisades, Eaton, Kenneth and Hurst fires have consumed a total area of about 63 square miles (163 square kilometers). Cal Fire reported containment of the Palisades Fire at 19% and the Eaton Fire at 45% on Wednesday.
The Palisades Fire, along the coast, has been blamed for eight deaths, while the Eaton Fire farther inland has been blamed for 17 others, the LA County medical examiner's office said. Nearly 30 people were missing.
Investigators are still trying to determine what sparked the fires. They could be the nation's costliest ever. Government agencies haven't provided preliminary damage estimates yet, but AccuWeather, a company that provides data on weather and its impact, puts the damage and economic losses at $250 billion to $275 billion.
Fire danger remains high in parts of Los Angeles that have been ablaze for days, but there is hope that better weather over the weekend will give firefighters battling the flames some much-needed relief.
Here's a closer look at what to know about the fires.
Winds gusted up to 35 mph (56 kph) before dawn Wednesday along the coast and in the valleys, and up to 55 mph (89 kph) in the mountains around LA, said National Weather Service meteorologist Todd Hall.
A red-flag warning, which notes the increased risk of fire danger, was already in effect, but the weather service issued a rare warning about a “particularly dangerous situation” related to severe fire conditions.
The Santa Ana winds have turned seasonal wildfires into infernos that have leveled neighborhoods in and around Los Angeles, where there has been no significant rainfall in more than eight months.
Southern California’s winds typically flow onshore from the Pacific, carrying moist air onto land. The Santa Ana winds are warm currents that move in the opposite direction. They usually occur from September through May.
The wind is expected to switch directions on Friday and blow from the coast to the desert, which would bring more moisture off the Pacific Ocean, Hall said.
Firefighters have also faced the potential threat of fire tornadoes — a rare but dangerous phenomenon in which wildfires create their own weather. They are known by various other names, including fire whirls, fire devils and even firenadoes.
Wildfires with turbulent plumes can produce clouds that in turn can produce lightning or a vortex of ash, smoke and flames, said Leila Carvalho, professor of meteorology and climatology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
“There is a rotation caused by very strong wind shear and a very hot, localized low-pressure system,” she said. Fire tornadoes can make fires stronger by sucking up air.
About 40,000 people have applied for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has already disbursed more than $8 million for immediate needs such as water, food, baby formula and gas. The initial money goes directly into bank accounts, regional FEMA administrator Robert J. Fenton, Jr. said Tuesday, denying misinformation about vouchers.
President Joe Biden said the federal government would pay all of the firefighting and recovery costs in the first 180 days. But that doesn’t mean FEMA will cover 100% of individual families’ costs — the maximum amount FEMA can provide is $43,600, Fenton said.
Representatives from FEMA, the Small Business Administration, the state and several charities gathered to explain the process at a disaster recovery center at UCLA Research Park West and Pasadena City College Community Education Center.
FEMA offers up to $770 to help cover the evacuees' immediate needs, but its larger grants generally aren’t available until after insurance companies pay out. Someone who receives a maximum grant from FEMA might be eligible for another $10,000 grant from the state.
For other needs beyond what insurance and FEMA covers, the Small Business Administration offers low-interest loans: Businesses can borrow up to $2 million, while homeowners can borrow up to $500,000 for rebuilding and another $100,000 for personal property.
Sewer, water and power infrastructure across the region has been significantly damaged, and several utilities have declared their drinking water unsafe until extensive testing can prove otherwise.
Toxic chemicals from the fires can get into damaged drinking water systems. Experts say filtering or boiling won’t help.
Los Angeles County has more than 200 water service providers, but so far only a handful believe that damage or loss of pressure may have resulted in chemical contamination and have issued “Do Not Drink” notices.
Utilities are focused on ensuring there’s enough water for fighting fires, though some are beginning to test for contaminants. It can take weeks to months of testing before water can be declared safe for drinking.
More than 82,000 people from highly populated neighborhoods including Pacific Palisades, Altadena and others remained under evacuation orders Wednesday. Another 90,400 people have been warned that they might have to evacuate.
Officials caution that even where evacuation orders have been lifted, hazards like downed power lines and broken gas lines are adding to safety concerns.
An overnight curfew remains in effect for evacuated areas, and violators have been arrested, authorities said.
Around 850 patients and residents of nursing homes, assisted living facilities and group homes were evacuated after the blazes last week, according to the California Department of Public Health.
Many schools in the area have been closed since the fires began, but some students are now beginning to return to class. In areas where schools have been damaged or destroyed, officials are looking to relocate students into temporary classrooms.
Palisades Charter High School, for example, asked the community for help finding temporary classrooms for its roughly 3,000 students to "maintain a sense of normalcy and stability in their lives,” the school said in a press release.
More than 96,000 customers, more than half in Los Angeles County, were without power across California on Wednesday, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide.
Investigators haven't determined the cause. But a person whose home was destroyed in the Eaton blaze claims in a lawsuit filed Monday that Southern California Edison’s equipment sparked it. Gabriela Ornelas, an Edison spokesperson, said the utility is aware that a lawsuit has been filed, but has not yet reviewed it.
Lightning is the most common source of fires in the U.S., according to the National Fire Protection Association, but investigators quickly ruled that out.
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