A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire as it burns during a windstorm on the west side of Los Angeles, California, US Jan 7, 2025. [Photo/Agencies]
Devastating wildfires fueled by high winds and dry conditions that swept through Los Angeles County starting on Tuesday continued to rage on Wednesday, with five people reported dead and more than 1,100 structures destroyed.
More than 100,000 people have been evacuated, and the fires still were not controlled as of 5 pm Pacific time.
There were three main fires, but smaller ones also have broken out.
The Palisades fire, west of Los Angeles, had burned about 18 square miles (29 square kilometers) as of Wednesday afternoon. The Eaton fire, north of Pasadena, had burned about 16.6 square miles, and the Hurst fire, in the San Fernando Valley, burned about 0.8 square miles.
The five deaths all occurred in and around Altadena and Pasadena, where the Eaton Fire hit Tuesday night, giving residents little time to evacuate, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The powerful Santa Ana winds, which reached speeds of 70 mph (112 kph), have made fighting the fires difficult both on the ground and from the air.
The coastal neighborhood of Pacific Palisades, which sits above the storied Pacific Coast Highway, was particularly hard hit.
Numerous fire hydrants in Pacific Palisades had little to no water flowing out, the Los Angeles Times reported. "The hydrants are down," said one firefighter in radio communications.
By 3 am Pacific time Wednesday, all water storage tanks in the Palisades area "went dry", disrupting the flow of water from hydrants in higher elevations, said Janisse Quiñones, chief executive and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the Times reported.
The Palisades fire destroyed the historic ranch house that belonged to Hollywood legend Will Rogers. California State Parks said in a statement that Rogers' house was among multiple structures destroyed by the fire at both Will Rogers State Historic Park and Topanga State Park. The Topanga Ranch Motel, built by William Randolph Hearst in 1929, also burned down.
Rogers' ranch, built on land he bought in the 1920s, occupied some 359 acres in what is now Pacific Palisades. It included a 31-room ranch house, a stable, golf course and riding trails. His wife donated it to California State Parks in 1944.
"I just left the hellscape formerly known as Pacific Palisades, where I've lived for 26 years," entrepreneur Wes Nichols wrote on X.com. "I'm mad at what I saw. Our politicians have failed us. Unprepared, unimaginative, understaffed, now overwhelmed. Heads must roll for this disaster. I personally saw 100+ homes fully engulfed."
The Pentagon will send 10 Navy helicopters to help fight the fires, said Sabrina Singh, spokesperson for the department. The order has yet to be finalized, but officials expect it will be an active-duty unit with Navy Sea Hawks based in Southern California that can be equipped to carry water.
Singh also said that the military is prepared to make four additional modular air firefighting systems available to the California National Guard. Those would likely come from other National Guard units in the country.
The Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles issued an emergency alert, urging Chinese citizens to be on high alert and pay attention to personal and property safety.
A California resident living in a wildfire-prone area described the situation to China Daily as a man-made disaster. "If the dead trees in the forests were cleared regularly each year, there would be no wildfires," the resident told China Daily. "However, a group of environmental activists opposes these cleanups. The forests in Nevada and California are connected, so why don't we see wildfires in Nevada every year? This is a man-made disaster," the resident said.
Many of the evacuation orders were in Pacific Palisades, but others were in parts of Santa Monica and Altadena. The evacuation orders were issued for some densely populated Santa Monica neighborhoods just north of the city's famous pier.
More than 320,000 customers were without power in the area Wednesday, according to the tracking site poweroutage.us.
President Joe Biden was in the Los Angeles area for an event Tuesday that the White House later postponed because of the fires. He issued a major emergency disaster proclamation for the area before flying back to Washington on Wednesday.
Governor Gavin Newsom, who appeared with Biden on Wednesday at a firehouse in Santa Monica said: "The situation in Los Angeles is highly dangerous and rapidly evolving. President Biden's swift action is a huge lift for California — as we throw everything we can into protecting residents with substantial state, local and federal resources. To all those in Southern California, please continue to listen to local authorities and don't wait, evacuate if asked."
The fires also prompted some anger and political backbiting on social media.
"The fires in Los Angeles may go down, in dollar amount, as the worst in the History of our Country. In many circles, they're doubting whether insurance companies will even have enough money to pay for this catastrophe," President-elect Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social." He concluded by saying Biden and California Governor Gavin Newsom mismanaged the situation.
"California has been prone to fires. And yes I believe … changes to our environment play a part — but the gross mismanagement of forestry and water in California has greatly exacerbated this issue," wrote fitness expert Jillian Michaels to her 1.5 million followers on X. "1. New reservoirs weren't completed. 2. A large portion of the state's water is routed to big ag for almonds — thanks to hefty campaign contributions. 3. Millions of gallons of freshwater are dumped into the Pacific to protect smelt fish instead of prioritizing humans. Enough of this madness."
Peter Gleick, a hydroclimatologist and senior fellow of the Oakland-based Pacific Institute, told the LA Times: "There is no water shortage in Southern California — the state's reservoirs are all at, or above, levels normally expected for this time of year. The problem with water supply for the fires is entirely the result of the massive immediate demands for firefighting water, broken or damaged pipes and pumps, and homeowners leaving hoses and sprinklers running in hopes of saving property."
Bill Essayli, a Republican state assemblyman representing a district southeast of Los Angeles, wrote on X linking the lack of clearance of dead trees to the fires.
"California's forests, which cover a third of the state, are now choked with nearly 163 million dead trees," he posted. "California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and other regulatory policies limit the ability of local government and fire management services to clear dead trees and vegetation. (This is a big deal and prevents much of the controlled burns we desperately need.)."
Forecaster AccuWeather said damage and economic loss from Los Angeles wildfires are estimated at $52 billion to $57 billion on a preliminary basis.
"Should a large number of additional structures be burned in the coming days, it may become the worst wildfire in modern California history based on the number of structures burned and economic loss," AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said.
J.P. Morgan said in a note that insured losses originating from the wildfire could be around $10 billion.
Rena Li in Las Vegas and agencies contributed to this story.
