At least 24 people have died in a set of devasting Southern California wildfires, as crews have begun to make some progress in containing the blazes in Los Angeles County -- though strong winds forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday could extend the risk into next week.
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The Palisades Fire began Tuesday and burned 23,713 acres as of Sunday afternoon, with about 11% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, which issued evacuation orders for parts of the Palisades, Brentwood and Encino neighborhoods and for those living along a long stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway. Los Angeles Fire Department chief Kristin M. Crowley said Thursday "it is safe to say that the Palisades fire is one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history of Los Angeles," noting preliminary reports estimate thousands of structures have been damaged or destroyed, The New York Times reported.
The second blaze, called the Eaton Fire, began Tuesday evening in Eaton Canyon near the San Gabriel Mountains and grew rapidly, covering 14,117 acres with 27% contained as of Sunday. The Eaton Fire also triggered a round of mandatory evacuations in the nearby areas of Altadena, Pasadena and Sierra Madre.
The Hurst Fire was reported later Tuesday night after it broke out near the Los Angeles-area suburban neighborhood of Sylmar, north of the rest of the city. Shortly after it was reported, the Los Angeles Fire Department issued evacuation orders in the area, warning of a "rapid rate of spread." As of Sunday morning, the Hurst Fire covered 799 acres -- virtually unchanged in recent days -- as authorities contained 89% of the blaze.
Preliminary data from Cal Fire indicates the Palisades and Eaton fires rank among California's most destructive wildfires in state history:
As the Santa Ana winds continue to hit the region, the NWS issued a red flag warning -- tied to a risk of wildfires -- until Wednesday for much of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, with strong wind and dry weather expected to bring "critical fire weather conditions" for several days. Some parts of those two counties -- including the western Santa Monica Mountains and the northern San Fernando Valley -- face a "particularly dangerous situation" between 4 a.m. Tuesday and noon Wednesday. In those areas, gusts of up to 55-70 miles per hour could bring "a high risk for large fires with very rapid fire spread," according to federal forecasters. The NWS said conditions over the next few days will not be as damaging as last week's heavy wind.
JPMorgan analysts led by Jimmy Bhullar estimated in a note Thursday there could be $50 billion in total damages, including $20 billion in insured losses, though they noted "estimates of potential economic and insured losses are likely to increase." Those estimates would place the fires as the costliest in U.S. history. Jasper Cooper, vice president-senior credit officer at Moody's Ratings, said the credit rating business expects "insured losses to run in the billions of dollars given the high value of homes and businesses in the impacted areas," adding "commercial property losses could be significant."
A mix of extremely gusty winds, drought conditions and low humidity created conditions conducive for fires to quickly spread. The appearance of weather conditions suggestive of La Niña, a climate phenomenon linked to drier conditions and drought in southern parts of the U.S., likely played a large part in priming southern California for extreme fire conditions. Los Angeles in particular has seen an underwhelming amount of rain in the last eight months alongside a dry winter. The last time the city recorded over a tenth of an inch of rainfall was last May, according to the Los Angeles Times, contributing to drought. The dry conditions paired with historically strong winds gave way to this week's fires. Wind gusts of up to 99 mph were reported near Altadena and other nearby areas early Wednesday. The National Weather service forecast wind gusts of 50 to 80 mph in parts of southern California and up to 100 mph gusts in mountains and foothills last week. The conditions are the result of a wind pattern called the Santa Ana winds or "devil winds," which are often fast-moving, dry and warm winds that originate inland, around Nevada and Utah, and blow toward the coastal regions of Southern California. Cal Fire is still investigating the specific causes for each of the fires blazing in Los Angeles County.
The Los Angeles County medical examiner confirmed 24 people had died as of Sunday, with that number expected to climb. At least 16 others were reported missing to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office, but that number could also climb. The majority of the deaths were in Altadena and Pasadena, where the Eaton fire has burned since Tuesday. Not all of the victims have been identified, but those that have include 83-year-old grandfather Rodney Nickerson, 66-year-old Victor Shaw, grandmother Erliene Kelly and father and son Anthony and Justin Mitchell.
See a full list here. Paris Hilton, who wrote she had evacuated her home, reportedly lost her Malibu home to the fire. Billy Crystal and his wife Janice said they lost their Pacific Palisades home to the fire, after first moving to the location in 1979. Jamie Lee Curtis, who appeared on "The Tonight Show," said she likely lost her home to the fire and wrote on Instagram calling for people to "reach out to anyone who lives in Los Angeles" to offer assistance. Eugene Levy, the Pacific Palisades' honorary mayor, told the Los Angeles Times he fled his home and said the "smoke looked pretty black and intense over Temescal Canyon." Meanwhile, actor Mark Hamill wrote on Instagram he evacuated his Malibu home, while Vice President Kamala Harris' home in Los Angeles was put under an evacuation order, though no one was in the home at the time the order was placed, spokesperson Ernesto Apreza said.
Curtis, who advocated in a "Tonight Show" appearance for people to donate to relief efforts, said she was donating $1 million to start a support fund for the city and people impacted by the fire. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have reportedly made monetary donations to relief efforts, and donated clothing, children's items and other supplies. Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, the third-wealthiest person in the world, said he and his wife Priscilla are personally donating to relief efforts, and Jared Isaacman, the billionaire businessman tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as the next administrator of NASA, has said he will match the first $1 million donated to his company's relief campaign. The NFL is donating $5 million to relief efforts.
No -- despite social media rumors and AI-generated images. Read more here.
Most Los Angeles Unified Schools will reopen on Monday after being shut down on Thursday and Friday, though some schools in the Pacific Palisades that sustained heavy damage will reopen later in the week in other locations, the Los Angeles Times reported. Meanwhile, school districts covering Pasadena and La Cañada -- near the Eaton Fire -- will be closed on Monday, though a few other nearby districts are set to reopen. Pepperdine University announced its undergraduate classes and the "vast majority" of its graduate classes on the Malibu campus will take place online through Jan. 19. The university's Calabasas campus closed Wednesday, with administrators noting students with classes scheduled for Calabasas, West Los Angeles or the Irvine campuses "will receive further guidance from their deans and/or supervisors."
The Critics Choice Awards -- slated for Sunday -- were postponed due to the fires. Several other TV shows -- from "Jimmy Kimmel Live" to "NCIS" -- paused production (see here for a list). The Screen Actors Guild canceled it in-person awards nomination ceremony on Wednesday because of the wildfires "in an abundance of caution." The nominations were announced on the SAG Awards website. Universal Studios temporarily closed but had reopened as of Friday. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences extended its voting deadline for the 97th Academy Awards by two days, according to multiple outlets. The voting period, which is now open, is set to conclude Tuesday due to the delay. The announcement of this year's Oscar nominees will also be pushed back two days, and is now scheduled for Jan. 19.
A Monday night NFL wild card playoff game between the Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings will take place in Arizona instead of SoFi Stadium in the Los Angeles area. The Rams secured 750 spots on 15 buses to take fans from Los Angeles to Phoenix and back. Similarly, a Thursday matchup between the Lakers and Hornets was postponed with no indication of a make-up date. A Wednesday night NHL game between the Los Angeles Kings and Calgary Flames at Crypto.com Arena was also postponed, along with a women's college basketball game featuring Pepperdine University and the University of Portland scheduled for Thursday.
Los Angeles International Airport, located about 19 miles south of the Pacific Palisades, has not experienced significant flight cancellations, according to FlightAware.
President-elect Donald Trump and one of his key advisers, Elon Musk, have been critical of the local government's response to the fire since they broke out. In a Thursday post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Musk claimed "the immense loss of homes in LA is primarily due to" bad governance leading to a shortage of water and "nonsensical overregulation that prevented creating fire breaks and doing brush clearing." Trump has also taken aim at Bass and Newsom, saying on Truth Social Thursday "nobody has ever seen such failed numbers before!" (referring to the Palisades Fire's zero containment at the time) and blamed it on "gross incompetence" by Newsom and Bass.