California wildfires: two people dead and several have ‘significant’ injuries as blazes continue to rage, officials say - latest updates

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A spokesperson for the vice president, Kamala Harris, said her neighborhood in Los Angeles was put under an evacuation order on Tuesday night.

Harris and the second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, were not at home at the time and they are “praying for the safety of their fellow Californians, the heroic first responders, and Secret Service personnel,” Ernie Apreza wrote on X.

“The Vice President and President continue to closely monitor the wildfires, remain in touch with state and local officials, and have offered any federal assistance that is needed to help respond and recover from this terrible disaster.”

Two arrests were made on Wednesday morning for looting amid the wildfires, Los Angeles County sheriff Robert Luna said.

“If you are thinking about coming into any of these areas to steal from our residents, I’m going to tell you something: you’re going to be caught, you’re going to be arrested, and you’re going to be prosecuted,” he said. “Don’t do that.”

The Palisades fire has burned “well over 5,000 acres” and is 0% contained, LA county fire chief Anthony Marrone said. “The fire is growing,” he said.

An estimated 1,000 structures have been destroyed, he said.

There have been no reported fatalities, but a “high number of significant injuries” to residents who did not evacuate, he said.

More than 1,000 personnel have been assigned to the Palisades fire. “The cause of the fire is unknown,” he said.

Here’s an updated map showing the wildfires that have been raging in and around Los Angeles.

Two civilians have died in the Eaton fire, fire officials said in this morning’s news conference. There also have been “a number of significant injuries”.

About 37,000 residents are under Palisades fire evacuation warnings and about 15,000 structures are deemed at risk, said the LA County sheriff, Robert Luna.

As of this morning, the Palisades fire is still burning with evacuations in effect for the city of Calabasas, the city of Malibu, Los Angeles city, Pacific Palisades and unincorporated area of Los Angeles county and Topanga Canyon.

“You need to be prepared,” he said. “Make sure you have your essentials, important paperwork, your medications, things that you can take, your phone charger to survive for at least week.

“But if you are told to evacuate and given an order, there is nothing worth your life.”

LA County sheriff Robert Luna said approximately 32,500 residents are under Eaton fire evacuation orders.

About 13,186 structures are deemed to be at risk and that could grow evacuation warnings, he said.

This is a “very fluid” situation, especially in the Altadena area, he said.

LA unified school district superintendent Alberto Carvalho says the decision was made to shut down a number of schools after air quality deteriorated significantly overnight.

About 100 schools have been closed, accounting for about 10% of the district’s total schools, he said. A decision will be made at 4pm local time today about whether those schools will continue to be closed tomorrow.

“Today is not a typical day,” he said. “We need flexibility, patience and grace, and we shall extend that to our workforce and certainly our parents and students in our community.”

There have been several reported firefighter and civilian injuries, LA city fire chief Kristin Crowley said, and all patients have been treated and transported to local hospitals.

She urged that “we are absolutely not out of danger yet” with strong winds that continue to push through the city and the county.

LA city fire chief Kristin Crowley said the Palisades fire continues to demand a “significant” amount of resources and attention.

A second major brush fire, the Hurst fire, has erupted in the Sylmar area of Los Angeles, she said. Those fires are stretching the capacity of emergency services to their maximum limits, she said.

The Los Angeles city fire department is battling those two major fires, she said.

LA county fire chief Anthony Marrone said the Weather Service has predicted a continued red flag weather event with strong winds and low humidities.

All residents of Los Angeles county are in danger, he said.

Two people have died and a number have 'significant' injuries as Eton fire continues to grow, say officials

Officials in California are holding a news conference on the wildfires.

LA county fire chief Anthony Marrone says the Eaton fire has burned over 2,000 acres and the fire continues to grow with 0% containment.

More than 500 personnel have been assigned to the Eaton fire, he said.

There have been two reported fatalities to civilians as well as a number of “significant” injuries, he said. More than 1,000 structures have been destroyed, he said.

The cause of the fire is unknown and under investigation, he said.

Much of the city of Pasadena is under evacuation orders as firefighters wait for winds to die down so they can get aircraft up to start dousing the flames from overhead.

Until that happens, it’s going to be difficult to get the blaze there under control, Pasadena fire chief Chad Augustin told KABC-TV, according to Associated Press.

Fire departments from across California were sending in firefighters as crews in the Los Angeles area were stretched to their limit, he said.

He said there had been no loss of life and thanked public safety officers for “pulling people out from burning buildings” overnight.

Reporting from Los Angeles:

It’s a strange morning in Los Angeles. My power went out in the middle of the night. Dawn seemed delayed, because a thick layer of smoke was covering up the usual sunshine. My car’s windshield wipers swept away a layer of grime that looked like ash. In some directions now, the sky is glowing orange, not from the sunshine but from the fire.

I spent much of the night periodically waking up and refreshing the map of the Eaton fire in north-east Los Angeles, seeing it move closer to me. I kept mapping the contours of the map to my knowledge of the area. Would the fire jump the highway? Would that hill protect the neighborhood?

I’ve received an evacuation warning, telling me to prepare to leave my neighborhood, though I haven’t been ordered to leave yet.

My neighbors are also assessing, weighing traffic and the risks and benefits of leaving early: when is the fire close enough to go?

The Eaton fire has burned more than 2,200 acres as of Wednesday morning and threatens over 28,000 structures, according to Los Angeles Fire officials.

In an update on Wednesday morning, fire officials reported that the Eaton fire is currently 0% contained. A red flag warning is in effect for the area until 6pm local time on Thursday, along with a high wind watch that is in effect until 6pm local time today.

The fire has resulted in one firefighter injury, as stated in the report.

Multiple evacuation orders and warnings have been issued for the affected areas and over 700 personnel and 79 engines are dedicated to combating the Eaton Fire.

Have you been affected by the recent fires?

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Where the fires stand this morning:

Palisades fire, LA county: 2,921 acres, 0% containment

Eaton fire, LA county: 2,227 acres, 0% containment

Hurst fire, LA county: 505 acres, 0% containment

Woodley fire, LA county: 765 acres, 0% containment

Tyler fire, Riverside county: 15 acres, 100% containment