The death toll in connection with the wildfires sweeping through Southern California has jumped to 16, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner.
Homicide detectives have still been unable to reach thousands of piles of rubble because of recuperated gas lines and debris, Fox Weather reported.
Members of Congress from California on Saturday toured the ruins in Altadena and northern Pasadena caused by the still-raging Eaton Fire.
Rep. Judy Chu, whose congressional district includes the communities most impacted by the Eaton Fire in Los Angeles County, led Members of Congress from California on a tour of destroyed neighborhoods and streets.
The Eaton Fire expanded to more than 14,100 acres with 15% containment, Cal Fire reported Saturday night. About 7,000 structures have been scorched.
“I was so grateful to my colleagues in Congress from California who were able to drop everything and demonstrate to Los Angeles County and the entire nation that we as Californians have each other’s backs,” Chu wrote in a statement released after the tour.
Fox News’ Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
Trump tribute songwriter Jon Kahn told Fox News @ Night on Saturday that when he evacuated from his Pacific Palisades home this week “no part of me believe that when I drove away that my house would be gone.”
He said he has dealt with fires before in Pacific Palisades, but he never had to evacuate.
“For my house to burn the entire city of the Palisades would have to be decimated and unbelievably that’s exactly what happened,” he told Fox News’ Trace Gallagher.
He said he drove to his father’s house, six miles away, which took him two and a half hours to get there in the emergency evacuation situation, and by the time he remotely looked at the footage from his front door’s Ring camera, his fence was on fire.
“I’m so moved by the generosity and the outpouring of love that people have shown,” he told Gallagher. “It’s really a testament to the human spirit. I don’t think a lot of people are really talking about that now due to the magnitude of these fires, but no less than 30 people have said ‘Come stay with me.’”
Kahn wrote the song “Fighter” last summer, about President-elect Trump’s assassination attempt.
Democratic Sen. Ed Markey on Saturday said that the destruction caused by the Southern California wildfires is “what a climate emergency looks like.”
Throwing blame on the president-elect, he wrote on X: “Trump has been bought for $1 billion by Big Oil. Just a payoff to kill the IRA and the Green New Deal. We know what will happen. More fires, more climate disasters, more death. The LA fires are preview of coming atrocities,” Markey declared in a post on X.
Trump will take office on Jan. 20.
In response, incoming White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “In his first term, President Trump advanced conservation and environmental stewardship while promoting economic growth for families across the country.”
Fox News’ Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.
The Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades remains unharmed by the Palisades Fire, Katherine E. Fleming, CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust told Fox News Digital on Saturday.
“It was a watchful but fortunately uneventful night up here at the Getty Center. We’ve been told to anticipate stronger winds later in the day and are closely monitoring the situation,” Fleming said. “Our galleries are safe and protected. Aside from a few hot spots, the Villa remains stable. We continue to be acutely aware of our Getty neighbors and hope for their safety, and that of the whole region. We will keep you updated on the evolving situation.”
The museum, which houses ancient Greek and Roman art, was designed with double walls in the galleries and staff members have consistently been clearing brush as part of their fire mitigation efforts, the museum said.
Employees from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) appeared on “Fox Report” Saturday night to share their experience through the southern California wildfires that impacted their workplace in La Cañada Flintridge.
JPL employee Jason Rhodes told Fox News host Jon Scott that he “didn’t get very much notice at all” about evacuations. He credited his colleague Alina Kiessling for urging him to prepare to evacuate.
“Alina, to her credit, said she really thought that we needed to get a bag ready,” Rhodes recalled. “And I said, okay, let’s get a bag ready. And then our power went out.”
Alina added that JPL employees are working around-the-clock to make sure their facilities are being protected from the fires.
“People have been working very hard at JPL to ensure that that those world-class facilities are protected,” Kiessling said. “And and at this stage, I think that that things are looking okay. But there are hundreds of people, if not more, within JPL who have been displaced and who have also lost their homes, just like us friends and colleagues.”
Despite thousands of people losing their homes in the wildfires this week, actor James Woods was among those whose house was spared in Pacific Palisades.
“A miracle has happened,” Woods wrote on X, alongside a video of the view from his deck. “We managed to get to our property and our home that we were told is gone forever is still standing. In this hellish landscape, ‘standing’ is relative, but smoke and other damage is not like the utter destruction around us.”
He added in another post: “So many beautiful messages from all of you. I’m so happy and grateful, but, honestly, the entire area looks like the dark side of the moon. It’s so fundamentally gut-wrenching and upsetting, it’s almost hard to celebrate the joyous news that our home survived.”
Jennifer Garner, who also lives in Pacific Palisades, returned to the area after evacuating to support her neighbors. He house survived the fires as well.
“My heart bleeds for my friends,” Garner said. “I mean, I can think of 100 families, and there are 5,000 homes lost. I can — without even [thinking] — I could just write out a list of 100 friends who lost their homes.
“I feel almost guilty walking through my house,” she added. “You know, what can I do? How can I help? What can I offer? What do I have to offer with these hands and these walls and the safety that I have?”
The “Alias” alum teared up as she revealed that one of her friends had died in the wildfires.
“I did lose a friend, and for our church, it’s really tender. So, I don’t feel like we should talk about it yet,” Garner said. “I did lose a friend. She didn’t get out in time.”
Fox News’ Ashley Hume contributed to this report.
The Los Angeles County of Parks and Recreation will start providing Care Camps for kids and teens under evacuation or who are significantly impacted by the wildfires.
The camps, which will be located in Duarte, Arcadia and La Crescenta, California, “will provide youth and teens with a supportive space for fun and recreation including music, arts and crafts, sports activities and field trips.”
The campers will visit places like the La Brea Tar Pits, the Natural History Museum, and Dodgers Stadium.
Breakfast, snacks and lunch will be provided daily and the teens will also get dinner.
The camps will start on Monday and through the end of the month.
They are Monday through Friday with youth camps for ages 5 to 12 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and teen camps for 12 to 17-year-olds from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Parents/guardians must register campers.
President Biden received another update on the wildfire situation in Southern California on Saturday, a White House official told Fox News.
The official said the U.S. Department of Defense continues to provide support to the firefighting efforts, including overnight infrared imaging for perimeter maps and the deployment of more than 1,000 California National Guard troops – 250 of which have firefighting capabilities.
The DOD is also opening up area military bases as shelters for people displaced by the fires with more than 1,000 beds.
The March Reserve Base has also been established as an incident response area.
As of Saturday morning, more than 16,000 people have registered for the FEMA assistance made available by the President’s Major Disaster Declaration on Wednesday.
Biden also spoke on the phone with local officials on Saturday, including Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and Ventura County Supervisor Kelly Long, the official said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Saturday that firefighters from Mexico are assisting the first responders battling the wildfires in SoCal.
In a post on X, Newsom shared a video of a plane sporting a Mexican flag on the runway of LAX.
“Firefighters from Mexico just arrived at LAX. They’ll be joining 14,000+ personnel already battling the #PalisadesFire,” the post read.
“California is immensely grateful to our neighbors’ support in the fight against the wildfires in Los Angeles.”
The update came as eight additional U.S. states assist CAL FIRE with battling the wildfires. The states include Washington state, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Colorado and New Mexico, plus Texas and the Canadian province of British Columbia.
“California has expanded its response efforts, welcoming assistance from Texas, Canada, and Mexico to join neighboring states already providing critical support in battling the Southern California wildfires,” CAL FIRE said in an X post Saturday. “These reinforcements are crucial not only for containment efforts but also to provide much-needed relief to the brave firefighters on the frontlines.”
Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., joined “Fox News Live” on Saturday to examine the cost of the ongoing Southern California wildfires.
Speaking to host Arthel Neville, Sherman called the wildfires “the most expensive fire[s] in American history.”
“We’re going to have to to persuade our colleagues to provide the funds necessary so that we can rebuild the community,” the Democrat explained. “And when we rebuild it, we’ve got to make sure that all the build buildings are up to the highest fire safety code, which unfortunately, they weren’t.”
Moderate to locally strong Santa Ana winds in Los Angeles and Ventura counties combined with dry air and vegetation will create periods of elevated and critical fire risk through at least Wednesday, the National Weather Service Los Angeles said in a Friday update.
Firefighters continue to battle several wildfires in the region, which first sparked on Tuesday and has left at least 11 people dead and thousands homeless.
A victim who died in a Malibu home on Pacific Coast Highway as the Palisades Fire closed in has been identified as Randall Miod, Fox News’ Bill Melugin has learned.
While his roommates evacuated, Miod decided to stay behind to defend his home and protect his kitten, but he was overwhelmed by the flames, a close friend said.
Miod had lived in the home for 30 years.
His family has been notified.
The still raging wildfires have destroyed more than 12,300 homes and buildings and left at least 11 dead, a number officials said they expect to rise.
Pope Francis is praying for the victims of the wildfires and for an end to the destruction, the Vatican said on Saturday.
“Saddened by the loss of life and the widespread destruction caused by the fires near Los Angeles, His Holiness Pope Francis assures you and the community affected by this tragedy of his spiritual closeness,” the Archbishop of Los Angeles, Jose H. Gomez, said in a statement shared by the pontiff.
It continued, “Entrusting the souls of the deceased to the loving mercy of Almighty God, His Holiness sends his heartfelt condolences to those who mourn their loss. He likewise prays for the relief efforts of the emergency services personnel, and imparts his blessing to all as a pledge of consolation and strength in the Lord.”
Los Angeles has the largest Catholic archdiocese in the country, with more than five million members, according to the LA Catholics website.
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Saturday that he has activated 1,680 National Guard service members to battle the ongoing wildfires.
The new move “doubles the CalGuard boots on the ground,” according to the governor’s office.
“We are continuing to rush in resources to rapidly respond to the firestorm in Los Angeles fueled by hurricane-force winds,” Newsom said in a statement. “The men and women of the California National Guard are working day and night to help Los Angeles residents during their greatest time of need. We are grateful for their continued bravery and commitment to be of service to others.”
A couple whose daughter attended a preschool in Pacific Palisades that burned to the ground in the wildfires this week said they were emotional when they found an artwork tile that belonged to their daughter and lined the preschool while digging through the rubble.
“When we realized that this wall might be some of the only artwork that any of our friends have we were all of a sudden in a panic because we know this all might get bulldozed at some point,” John Dale told Fox News. “So, we decided to come up here and start digging through.”
John said that the head of the preschool had collected a bunch of the tiles, but he and his wife, Cameron Dale, found “a bunch more.”
He added that he has photos of the wall so he plans to try to figure out which tile belonged to which preschooler.
“This [preschool], in addition to the town itself, this is kind of like one of the most beautiful places. I’m sure most people feel that way about their preschool, but we were just in love with it. We’ve sent all three of our daughters here and so many other people feel the same way that it’s just like – it feels like home and you could literally – any single person in this school you could send your kid with them. You feel comfortable with them.”
“It’s just a piece of us,” he added.
Cameron added that the wall tile is the only piece of their daughters’ artwork they have left because they didn’t grab anything else in the rush to get out.
“Each one you find it’s just like a treasure because we have nothing of their childhood artwork left,” she added.
An evacuee appeared on “Fox News Live” to discuss his experience living through the Southern California wildfires, directing his criticism towards Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
Brian Claypool, who also works as a criminal defense attorney, spoke about how his feelings have shifted from sadness to anger towards lawmakers.
“My thoughts and my feelings have gone from shock and trauma when at 5 a.m. early Wednesday morning, you know, I’m forced to run out of my house with my teenage daughter, a nine-month-old child, a nanny with one pair of clothes for three days and running to a hotel,” Claypool described. “So I was shocked and traumatized. Then I went through a feeling of sadness.”
“Then my feelings moved to outrage. Why? Because I hope Karen Bass gets up when you cover her press conference, and announces her resignation today. She should resign.”
Los Angeles County Supervisor, Kathryn Barger, one of the few elected Republicans in the county, has invited President-elect Trump to California to tour the destruction from the wildfires, Fox News’ Bill Melugin reports.
“By accepting this invitation, Mr. President-Elect, you will join us in supporting our citizenry and thanking our heroic first responders, who have risked their own lives to save others. We would also ask you, as our President, to stand with the people of Los Angeles County as we set our course to rebuild. Your presence would be deeply felt and appreciated.”
Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom already extended an invitation to the incoming president on Friday.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Saturday announced he would be sending firefighters and firefighting resources to California to assist with the ongoing wildfires.
Along with more than 135 firefighters, it will include emergency management and medical personnel, more than 45 fire engines, ambulances, command vehicles, and equipment.
“Our hearts grieve with the entire Los Angeles community as they continue to respond to these destructive wildfires,” Abbott said.
He continued, “Texans know all too well the devastation wildfires can cause to our communities, and our country is stronger when we come together in times of crisis. I directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to deploy firefighters, fire engines, and firefighting equipment to help our fellow Americans battle these wildfires. I thank all the brave firefighters and first responders who are answering the call to help Californians in need as these fires continue to burn. Cecilia and I pray for the victims who lost their lives and their families, the heroic men and women of CAL FIRE, the Los Angeles Fire Department, and the entire state of California during this difficult time.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Los Angeles field division announced Saturday it is leading the investigation into the cause of this week’s raging wildfires which have wrecked havoc on the county.
“ATF will take the lead in determining the origin and cause of the Pacific Palisades fire,” the agency posted on X.”Certified fire investigators have been on scene and will continue to work in conjunction with state and local investigators to determine the cause of this tragic event.”
An official cause into what sparked the flames has yet to be determined. Officials believe that that the ferociously strong Santa Ana which have been blowing all week may have played a part. The Santa Ana winds sweep down from the deserts and across coastal Southern California and out to the Pacific Ocean.
The winds have played a key role in spreading the fires which have engulfed large areas of Los Angeles.
As the Los Angeles area continues to grapple with wildfires, here are some restaurants – both local and national chains – that are offering free meals to firefighters and other first responders.
Be sure to check with each individual restaurant as these offers may vary from location to location.
All promotions were current at the time of writing.
This is an excerpt from an article by Christine Rousselle.
Incoming Chairman of the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., posted a thread on X warning that “impacted homeowners are about to grapple with another crisis looming over the state: California’s home insurance market.”
Flood placed the blame for the issue on California’s policies, saying that insurance providers were “forced out” of the state, leading to what he sees as an issue on the horizon.
The congressman also called out California’s insurance commissioner for “enacting onerous mandates and refusing to allow insurance companies to incorporate the cost of reinsurance or use standard industry practices like catastrophe models to predict future risk.”
Even before this week’s wildfires hit, California was in the midst of an insurance crisis, with many residents unable to obtain homeowners insurance due to several carriers limiting their exposure in the state or pulling out completely in recent years because of heavy losses and the inability to adequately raise premiums or assess risk due to California’s regulations.
This contains an excerpt from an article by Breck Dumas.
Los Angeles County law enforcement said Saturday that 22 individuals have been arrested on charges that include burglary and looting during the ongoing wildfire emergency.
L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna said there were 19 arrests in the Eaton \area and three in the Palisades area.
“All these individuals were in areas they were not supposed to be there, meaning they had no business being there,” Luna said.
Of four people apprehended overnight two were arrested for unauthorized entry of an emergency area.
A curfew is in effect for the emergency areas in Los Angeles County. Police emphasized that those found in violation of the curfew – which is intended to give emergency responders and firefighters space to operate – will be arrested.
“Most of the arrests were made for burglary, looting, including trespassing, possession of narcotics, identity theft, and one suspect was on active parole and charged with the possession of a concealed firearm,” Luna said.
Los Angeles County officials said Saturday that strong winds and dry conditions expected through the weekend and into next week will keep the fire threat high.
Deadly wildfires have raged for five consecutive days, destroying more than 12,300 homes and buildings and leaving at least 11 dead. Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone told reporters his department is prepared for the strong Santa Ana winds that could fan the flames through Wednesday.
“These winds, combined with dry air and dry vegetation, will keep the fire threat in Los Angeles County high,” Marrone said.
The Eaton Fire has burned 14,117 acres and is now 15% contained, with over 7,000 structures damaged or destroyed. Marrone said 2,832 emergency personnel are deployed to fight the fire.
Todd Hopkins, battalion chief for Cal Fire, said the Palisades Fire is now at 21,596 acres and is 11% contained. A total of 5316 structures have been destroyed in the fire, including 426 homes. More than 150,000 residents have been evacuated, he added.
Thousands of Angelenos have been forced to flee their homes as wildfires rage through the area. While some will be able to go home when it’s safe, others have lost everything.
Several major companies, including FOX Corporation, are joining in the relief efforts with cash and service donations.
The Credit Union of Southern California is offering $1.25 million in interest-free loans to help people impacted by the fires. The company is also making a $10,000 donation to CU Aid, which aims to support credit unions, their employees, and their communities during critical times.
On Friday, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced that the company would provide free Starlink terminals to areas of Los Angeles impacted by the wildfires.
In his announcement on X, his social media platform, Musk shared a clip of a Fox 11 reporter praising Starlink, and saying it is “the only reason” viewers were able to see her, as the area has “absolutely no cell service at all.”
Airbnb is offering free temporary housing to those in the LA area impacted by the wildfires. The property rental platform announced its partnership with 211 LA, a longtime Los Angeles area nonprofit, on Wednesday.
The NFL family is pledging $5 million to help communities impacted by the wildfires. The league, which has two LA-based teams, announced the donation, which is being “led by individual contributions from clubs and ownership groups from the Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, Minnesota Vikings, Houston Texans and NFL Foundation.”
Disney is committing $15 million to wildfire relief and rebuilding efforts in Los Angeles. The company said it will be supporting organizations such as the American Red Cross, the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, and the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. Disney is also pledging to help its employees in the Los Angeles area through its Employee Relief Fund.
And many more are stepping up.
This is an excerpt from an article by Rachel Wolf.
The Internal Revenue Service is providing tax relief for individuals and businesses in Southern California impacted by the deadly wildfires raging across Los Angeles County.
The IRS said in a news release it will extend the deadline for individuals and businesses impacted by the wildfires to file tax returns and make tax payments until Oct. 15, 2025. Residents of Los Angeles County qualify for the relief, but any counties later designated a disaster area by FEMA will also be eligible.
Additionally, individuals or businesses within the declared disaster area who suffer uninsured or unreimbursed losses related to the fires can claim those losses on their 2025 tax returns.
Any disaster relief payments victims of the wildfires may receive will also be income tax-free, the IRS said.
And taxpayers who may live outside the disaster area but whose records needed for meeting IRS deadlines were lost in the fires are also eligible for relief.
Despite losing everything in the devastating and still raging Los Angeles County wildfires this week, Deisy-Suarez Giles’ family returned to survey the wreckage of their burned-down home, where her two young boys were happy to find a couple of their toys in the rubble.
Suarez-Giles, a three-time business owner, said they ironically moved into their Altadena, California, home because during the COVID pandemic they lived above a pharmacy, where, in the middle of the night, someone tried to burn the building to the ground.
“Right after COVID, we left downtown LA, when a lot of protests and also the riots were happening. We left because the building we were staying in had a Rite Aid downstairs, and the people, you know, they tried to burn the Rite Aid. So we ran downstairs and put out the fire with a fire extinguisher because they were trying to burn the building,” Suarez-Giles said. “And I had my youngest, Lucas, who was only six months old, and I was like, ‘they gonna burn us here alive,’ so we had to get out.
“I told my husband, ‘we needed to find a way to find money and get a new home because we just cannot stay here; they are going to burn us here with our kids.’ And we ran from that to be here, and then we get burned out of our home,” she added, fighting through tears.
This is an excerpt from an article by Christina Shaw.
FOX 11 Los Angeles captured a rare weather event on camera during live coverage of the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles.
Stunning footage shows a small fire tornado, or “firenado” forming when gusts of wind that created a vortex that sucked the flames upwards.
Fire tornados, also known as fire vortices or fire whirls, are not tornadoes in the true sense.
They occur when a gust of extremely hot air blows through the fire at a certain angle, producing a spinning momentum that then sucks up embers and debris.
In August 2020, a wildfire in Northern California spawned a fire tornado that prompted the National Weather Service (NWS) to issue a tornado warning.
Wendell Hohmann, the NWS meteorologist who wrote the tornado warning, told the Sacramento Bee it was the first time to his knowledge of a tornado warning of this nature.
“It’s probably the first time it’s been issued outside of a thunderstorm environment,” Hohmann said.
Weather service officials said the Loyalton Fire was showing extreme behavior, such as gusty winds and blowing smoke, similar to a deadly Northern California fire that destroyed more than 1,000 homes and killed 8 people.
The 2025 fires wreaking havoc in California have burned more than 35,000 acres and killed at least 11 people.
Travis Fedschun contributed to this update.
Mark Wahlberg’s wife, Rhea Durham, called out California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s laid-back demeanor amid Los Angeles’ devastating wildfires.
On Friday, the model shared a since-deleted post on Instagram in which she uploaded a photo of Newsom, who was standing with his hands in his pockets and sharing a laugh with a group of people at the Palisades Fire base camp in Malibu.
“Why is the Governor of C.A standing around laughing like hes at a tailgate???” Durham wrote in the caption of her post.
Reps for Wahlberg and Durham had no comment when reached by Fox News Digital.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Newsom’s director of communications, Izzy Gardon said, “Anyone who’s been through a tragedy knows there are lighthearted moments and moments of sorrow, as the governor has witnessed himself on the ground in Los Angeles over the past three days, meeting countless firefighters, first responders and victims of this tragedy.”
This is an excerpt from an article by Tracy Wright, Ashley Hume and Larry Fink.
Filmmaker and former “Family Ties” star Justine Bateman ripped Los Angeles County officials for their apparent mismanagement and lack of preparedness for the wildfires still ripping through parts of the city.
“I’m pretty pissed, and I think a lot of people in Los Angeles are pissed,” Bateman told “Jesse Watters Primetime” Thursday, insisting that city leaders should be better at handling these types of situations.
The Palisades Fire, Eaton Fire, Hurst Fire, Lidia Fire and the Sunset Fire have ravaged LA County. As of Friday, officials had reported that the death toll was at least 11 and the fires had burned more than 36,000 acres and destroyed over 10,000 structures.
“If you are going to run a city or run a state, you have to take care of the basics, and that’s to make sure that your fire and your police department are well-funded,” the filmmaker said, stressing the importance of having “rehearsed” planning in place to hopefully minimize the consequences of natural disasters. For California, that includes wildfires, earthquakes, heavy rain and consequent mudslides.
Bateman argued California’s elected officials are ‘’incapable” of planning for these major events, saying they are “useless” if they are not doing everything in their power to tackle disasters before they occur.
“If you can’t cover the basics, get out of our city. You are useless to us. You are a liability and you have destroyed people’s lives because you didn’t do your job,” she said. “You didn’t do what you were hired for. You didn’t do what we pay you for.” Bateman added officials should “resign out of shame and responsibility for the people whose lives you’ve destroyed right now.”
This is an excerpt from an article by Kira Mautone.
As Los Angeles battles the worst wildfires in the city’s history, thousands of people have been displaced or have seen their homes burn to the ground.
Around 130,000 people were ordered to evacuate and some 10,000 structures were destroyed, according to the Associated Press. At least 10 people have died as a result of the blazes.
The devastation of the fires has undoubtedly taken a grave toll on the psyches of those affected, experts agree.
Fox News Digital spoke with celebrities, mental health experts and others, who offered the following guidance for all those impacted.
For those who have experienced a loss from the fires, common reactions include shock, disbelief and confusion, according to David Kessler, a grief counselor in Los Angeles and founder of Grief.com.
“I call it grief brain,” he told Fox News Digital.
“Your mind is trying to comprehend what happened, and it’s a hard thing for it to do, because this is unimaginable that your house, your safety, is suddenly gone.”
Not all grief is related to death, Kessler noted, as there are many different types of losses.
“I always say grief is a change you didn’t want — and certainly a fire is a change we didn’t want,” he added.
It’s important to “self-validate” the reality of the loss, he said.
“People might give you toxic positivity of, ‘Well, at least no one died,’” he said. “And while that’s true, the reality is you still have lost your home. Don’t let anyone minimize that.”
“The loss of a home is devastating, and it can take years to recover.”
This is an excerpt from an article by Melissa Rudy.
A review of last year’s California state budget shows California Gov. Gavin Newsom cut funding for wildfire and forest resilience by more than $100 million.
The budget, signed in June and covering the 2024-25 fiscal year, eliminated $101 million from seven “wildfire and forest resilience” programs, according to a report from Newsweek.
The California fires, responsible for destroying more than 10,000 buildings in the Los Angeles area, are still not contained.
Cal Fire had a $5 million reduction in spending on fuel reduction teams, including funds used to pay for vegetation management work by the California National Guard, the report noted.
Newsom’s director of communications, Izzy Gardon, called the budget cuts a “ridiculous lie,” in a statement to Fox News Digital Friday night.
“The governor has doubled the size of our firefighting army, built the world’s largest aerial firefighting fleet and the state has increased the forest management ten-fold since he took office,” she wrote. “Facts matter.”
His office attached statistics that refer to the overall increase in spending and personnel over a number of years since he took office in 2019, as opposed to commenting on the most recent cuts.
This is an excerpt from an article by Alexandra Koch.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom demanded an independent investigation into the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) after firefighters faced a nightmare situation: fire hydrants that had run out of water.
“From the moment firestorms erupted in Los Angeles County on Tuesday, January 7, it was clear our public infrastructure would be put under tremendous strain,” he said in a Friday letter to the LADWP.
Calling the discovery “deeply troubling,” Newsom said that losing power to hydrants as the fire seized Los Angeles’ homes “likely impaired” recovery efforts.
“The ongoing reports of the loss of water pressure to some local fire hydrants during the fires and the reported unavailability of water supplies from the Santa Ynez Reservoir are deeply troubling to me and to the community,” he said. “While water supplies from local fire hydrants are not designed to extinguish wildfires over large areas, losing supplies from fire hydrants likely impaired the effort to protect some homes and evacuation corridors.”
The California governor said that “we need answers” and that he has directed officials to prepare for an independent after-incident report focused on determining the causes of lost water supply and water pressure.
“We need answers to how that happened. Therefore, I have directed state water and firefighting officials to prepare an independent after-incident report examining the causes of lost water supply and water pressure in municipal water systems during the fire events, and to identify measures that local governments can implement to provide adequate water supply for emergency response during future catastrophic events,” he said.
“I request that LADWP and Los Angeles County officials swiftly prepare a comprehensive review examining their local preparation and response procedures to ensure available water supply for emergencies, and document any causes of the loss of water pressure and unavailability of water supplies.”
This is an excerpt from an article by Sarah Rumpf-Whitten.
A company that monitors electrical activity says faults along the Los Angeles power grid skyrocketed in the same areas where three of this week’s major wildfires are currently raging.
Bob Marshall, the chief executive of Whisker Labs, told Fox News Digital that the company recorded sharp increases in faults in the hours prior to the Eaton, Palisades and Hurst Fires.
Marshall said that his company has a network of around 14,000 sensors known as “ting” sensors across Los Angeles that can pinpoint and identify faults generated by electrical arcs. Through its network of sensors in homes, Whisker Labs is able to monitor the electric utility grid with “extraordinary precision and accuracy.”
“Faults are caused by tree limbs touching wires or wires blowing in the wind and touching. That creates a spark in a fault, and we detect all of those things,” Marshall explained.
Other causes include faulty electric equipment igniting, a sudden surge in demand or earthquake tremors. At the time the fires ignited, intense Santa Ana winds were blowing across Los Angeles.
The company’s data, which was shared with Fox News Digital, is startling.
In the Palisades area, the largest of the fires currently raging, there were 63 faults in the two to three hours prior to the ignition of the fire, Marshall said. There were 18 faults registered in the hour it began on Tuesday.
The blaze has so far torched 12,300 homes and buildings across the area. Across the county, the death toll has risen to 11 people, and authorities anticipate that number rising.
“In the case of the Eaton Fire near Altadena, there’s 317 grid faults that occurred in the hours preceding the ignition,” Marshall said. “And then in the Hurst Fire, there’s about 230 faults that occurred that we measured on the sensor network.”
This is an excerpt from an article by Michael Dorgan.
Dean Cain, who grew up in Malibu, California, told Fox News Digital that all of the homes he once lived in there, and in nearby Pacific Palisades, have been destroyed during this week’s Los Angeles-area wildfires.
“I ended up having three different houses in Pacific Palisades, one that I owned, two that I rented and lived in,” Cain said. “The three of those Pacific Palisades’ [homes], all of those burned, gone. Pacific Palisades looks like someone dropped a nuclear weapon on top of it and just flattened everything. I’ve never seen anything like that. Also, three of the houses that I lived in in Malibu are gone.”
The “Lois & Clark” star called the devastation “shocking and horrific, but not unexpected. It’s part of the reason I left California was this perfect storm of mismanagement and a failure of leadership.”
Cain placed the blame squarely on Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“You screwed up, Gavin Newsom. You screwed up,” he said. “There was plenty of water. Last year was record rainfall or the year before, record rainfall. Snowmelt, reservoir the water.”
This is an excerpt from an article by Larry Fink and Brie Stimson.
Rich and famous residents of Los Angeles’ fire-stricken Pacific Palisades community are frequent users of private security – but Los Angeles’ infamous red tape is keeping some of their guards away from their clientele, according to private security experts.
At least 20 people have been arrested on looting-related charges, and authorities, while warning residents and copycats alike, said the numbers could rise.
Craig Paul, the CEO of ASC Private Security in Los Angeles, said he’s got bodies on the ground willing to work, but he can’t get authorization to send them inside restricted areas where his clients need them.
“I sat on hold for 45 minutes with the LAPD, with nobody ever picking up,” he told Fox News Digital. “So I finally gave up on that, pretty much knowing that even if they answer the phone, they’re going to blow me off.”
He said one of his customers snuck in behind police lines and hiked up a mountain to check on his property because he was so worried – then asked if his agents could do that, too. That’s not an option, he said, but he’s hopeful that police will let his teams in.
The Pacific Palisades community in particular, at the heart of one of the largest active wildfires, is a high-income community that already faces frequent threats of burglary and home invasion.
“These are $30-, $40-, $50 million homes with individuals that deserve to have that level of property properly protected,” he said.
“Crime is awful,” he added. “Regardless of what we sometimes hear in the news, if you really pay attention, there are burglaries every single night. Pacific Palisades happens to be one of the worst neighborhoods for crime right now. It’s daily. There’s home invasions and burglaries happening, so the homeowners are rightly so and needing and wanting their security to be able to gain access to their homes at a time like this.”
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz.
The devastating wildfires that have left 10 dead and more than 10,000 homes and businesses destroyed are still plaguing Los Angeles-area residents. In times of emergency, it is crucial to make sure you have public service numbers.
If you are in the Los Angeles area, these numbers could come in handy. You can also call 911 in case of an emergency.
LAFD’s General Public Info line: 213-978-3800
LAPD’s non-emergency line: 1-877-275-5273
City Services: 311
Animal services: 888-452-7381
Emergency Management Department: 213-484-4800
As firefighters work to contain the flames, there are ways that everyday people across the country can help those impacted by the fires. Join FOX Corporation, which has donated $1 million, in giving to the American Red Cross’ California Wildfire relief efforts to help those in need.
FOX Corporation’s donation will help the agency provide safe shelter, hot meals, emotional support, and resources to aid in recovery in the region.
To donate, visit GO.FOX/REDCROSS.
Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf and Yael Halon contributed to this update.
A flare-up in Southern California has led to more mandatory evacuation orders as the Palisades Fire moved northeast, according to the Los Angeles mayor’s office.
The latest order is in effect from Sunset Boulevard north to Encino Reservoir and from the 405 Freeway west to Mandeville Canyon. Brentwood has also been threatened.
The Getty Center Dr. and Skirball Center Dr. off-ramps are now closed on both I-405 northbound and I-405 southbound.
“The Palisades Fire has got a new significant flare-up on the eastern portion and continues to move northeast,” Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Erik Scott told KTLA.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office said a curfew is now in effect from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. in all mandatory evacuation areas impacted by the Palisades and Eaton wildfires. The sheriff’s office urged residents to avoid these areas for their own protection and to allow first responders to work effectively.
The curfew will be strictly enforced and violators may face serious consequences, including fines of up to $1,000 or possible imprisonment, the sheriff’s office said.
Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion contributed to this update.
