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What we know about the California wildfires
- Two devastating wind-fed fires have killed at least 16 people and swept through 37,000 acres in the greater Los Angeles area, destroying entire communities and more than 12,000 structures. Crews are also making progress on containing two smaller fires in the region.
- At least 13 people are missing, L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna said today. It's unclear if the missing persons reports are related to the fires, he said.
- Evacuation orders for the largest blaze, the Palisades Fire, have expanded as it sweeps east and threatens Brentwood and Encino. It is 11% contained.
- At least 153,000 L.A. residents were under evacuation orders overnight. A map of the evacuation zone is here.
- Gov. Gavin Newsom called for an independent investigation into the loss of water pressure to local fire hydrants and the reported unavailability of water supplies from the Santa Ynez Reservoir.
- Los Angeles County declared a public health emergency, warning that smoke and particulate matter could pose immediate and long-term threats. The full warning and list of recommendations can be found here.
- Watch live coverage from NBC Los Angeles here.
Almost 35,000 still without power in L.A.
Almost 35,000 homes and businesses in Los Angeles are currently without electricity, according to Poweroutage.us, a website which monitors outages.
The latest data shows around 18,400 Southern California Edison customers remain without power, as well as about 16,100 Los Angeles Department of Water & Power customers, and about 100 with Pasadena Water and Power.
Containment remains low on two of L.A.’s largest wildfires
The two largest wildfires blazing in Los Angeles, the Eaton and Palisades fires, have not been further contained over the past 24 hours.
Cal Fire is showing the Palisades Fire, which has burned across 23,654 acres, is still 11% contained, the same as Saturday morning.
Elsewhere, the Eaton Fire in the Pasadena area also remains at 15% containment. It has burned across 14,117 acres, according to Cal Fire.
But the smaller Kenneth Fire, which started Thursday evening and burned through 1,052 acres in the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles, near the Calabasas neighborhood, is now 80% contained and the Hurst Fire, which started as a brush fire but has so far covered 799 acres, is at 76% containment.
Red Flag Warnings in effect until Wednesday, NWS says
A Red Flag Warning has been issued for parts of Southern California until Wednesday by the National Weather Service.
Strong gusty northeast winds up to 45 mph are forecast for the Inland Empire, San Bernardino County mountains, Santa Ana mountains and inland Orange County, as well as isolated gusts up to 55mph on coastal slopes and canyons.
A red flag warning kicks in when meteorologists and forecasters believe conditions could lead to extreme fire within 24 hours. “If fire ignition occurs, conditions are favorable for very rapid fire spread and extreme fire behavior,” according to the agency.
The most crucial periods will be Saturday night into Sunday morning and then late Monday going into early Tuesday, National Weather Service meteorologist Rose Schoenfield told reporters.
Fire Weather Watch Warnings, the stage before a Red Flag Warning, are also in place from Monday through to Wednesday in the Riverside County Mountains, The San Diego County Mountains, and the San Diego County Valleys.
Photo: Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon
Firefighters fend off Palisades Fire's threat to Mandeville Canyon, Encino
As flames threatened the upscale Mandeville Canyon and Encino areas of Los Angeles, firefighters took advantage of better weather to stop flames from expanding the Palisades Fire's northern footprint today.
Cooler Pacific winds in the area earlier today blew inland from the south-southwest, giving firefighters temporary respite from warm, dry, offshore winds that move from north to south and heat up air molecules under pressure as the gusts descend mountains toward the sea.
"Winds are in our favor in that area, so it looks really good," said California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Operations Chief Christian Litz.
He explained that some of the northeastern contours of the fire near Mandeville Canyon were fortified with dozer lines amid the fire's northern pause. "We watched as it was backing down," Litz said during a community meeting streamed for public viewing tonight.
The area has been the subject of concern after evacuation warnings spread across the 405 freeway into parts of Bel Air and abutting the campus of UCLA in Westwood. The fire didn't jump the freeway.
"That topside looks really good," Litz said.
Tomorrow represents the possibility of another difficult day as the kind of Santa Ana winds that helped fuel Southern California's devastating fires during the week were expected to return overnight.
National Weather Service data tracked the winds as they turned around and returned to the dreaded offshore direction from the north-northeast tonight. Red flag warnings were in effect for much of L.A. and Ventura counties tonight, with gusts of 50 to 75 mph possible tonight into tomorrow morning and again tomorrow night into Monday morning, federal forecasters said.
Federal forecasters have "high confidence in long duration critical fire weather conditions," the weather service's Oxnard, California, office said in its red flag warning message.
Red flag warnings alert residents to dangerous fire weather as measured by winds of at least 20 mph and relative humidity of 25% or less, according to the weather service.
MSNBC’s Alex Witt, who grew up near where the Eaton Fire is burning and spent much of her childhood near the area scorched by the Palisades Fire, shared that her family lives somewhere between the two blazes and expressed gratitude for their safety.
Despite living and reporting in New York, Witt said she has always considered Los Angeles her home. Fighting back tears, she shared the deep anxiety and heartache of feeling helpless as her hometown burns.
Gov. Newsom offers tax deadline reprieve
Gov. Gavin Newsom today announced a tax deadline reprieve for residents and businesses in fire-affected Los Angeles County, a move that pushes back the state's tax filing deadline for 2024 income to Oct. 15, 2025.
This applies to individuals and businesses with an April 15 deadline, as well as to filings and payments due Jan. 7 through Oct. 15, Newsom's office said.
The governor's move shadows an Internal Revenue Service announcement with the same extension for federal returns and payments.
"You are not alone," State Controller and Franchise Tax Board Chair Malia M. Cohen said in the governor's statement. "I am committed to ensuring that Californians have the help they need during this incredibly difficult time through disaster relief resources that are available through FTB.”
Malibu has lost about 1/3 of its eastern edge, mayor says
The city of Malibu has lost about 1/3 of its eastern edge to the Palisades Fire, Mayor Doug Stewart said.
"The beautiful homes that were along the area ... they're gone. For the most part, they're gone," Stewart said at a community meeting tonight.
Stewart said a number of homes along Pacific Coast Highway and the community of Big Rock are gone, and more homes from Big Rock to Carbon Mesa Road are “severely damaged or gone.”
The Palisades Fire began in the Pacific Palisades on Tuesday and has burned 23,654 acres in the area, with 11% containment.
It's the most destructive fire in Los Angeles history and has wreaked havoc in the Pacific Palisades and Malibu, claiming more than 5,000 structures, according to a Los Angeles Fire Department update this morning.
Eaton Fire's devastation seen on block after block in Altadena
The devastating impact of the Eaton Fire was visible driving through the streets of Altadena, a community about 14 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
On one side of the street, piles of singed rubble represented where home after home had existed. At least one car in a driveway was charred. Only a few wrought iron fences and chimneys remained standing.
The front facade on one house was upright; everything behind it had been burned down.
Many residents are irritated that only the media, utility companies and relief agencies have been allowed in beyond National Guard roadblocks.
More than 7,000 structures are estimated to have been destroyed in the Eaton Fire, which has burned through more than 14,000 acres, according to Cal Fire.
Premier music studio Mix This! lost to Palisades Fire
The renowned recording and mixing studio Mix This!, which was part of the home of record producer, engineer and mixer Bob Clearmountain, was lost in the Palisades Fire, he said on Instagram today.
The studio was state-of-the-art, with Clearmountain, a two-time Grammy Award winner, creating some of its tools by hand, while other studio tools were adorned with the brands of top studio suppliers and stacked neatly in its caverns.
"This is what's left of Mix This!" Clearmountain, 71, said on Instagram, in comments accompanying a photo of his burned-down home. "I want to thank everyone who have sent all the incredible notes of love and support we've gotten since this terrible thing happened."
The studio provided production, editing and mixing tools for a number of elemental rock and pop recordings, according to its discography. They include records by Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Lori Anderson, Dire Straits, Bad Religion, Roxy Music, Sheryl Crow, Howard Jones, Journey, Kelly Clarkson and dozens more.
According to the Audio Engineering Society, Clearmountain founded the private studio in 1994.
Clearmountain told the Los Angeles Times that as the fire approached his property — he watched via doorbell camera — he was safe in neighboring Santa Monica at Apogee Studios with his wife, Apogee's founder.
He told the publication the loss might inspire him to start anew and "do it differently ... maybe better."
