Los Angeles wildfires live: City braces for more destruction as blazes continue to burn in neighborhoods
Death toll continues to climb as more than 7,500 firefighting personnel are deployed across California, with two of the most ferocious fires at zero percent containment
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Your support makes all the difference.At least five people have been killed and many others severely injured as several fast-moving wildfires have torn across the Los Angeles County area, leaving thousands of firefighters attempting to extinguish the blaze.
Officials said Thursday that while progress had been made on the Sunset, Woodley, Hurst, and Sunswept Fires, more “extreme fire behavior” and wind gusts up to 60mph are continuing to challenge firefighting efforts.
“Significant fire growth remains likely with ongoing or new fires,” forecasters warned.
The Palisades Fire, one of the most destructive natural disasters the city has seen, is still not contained. The fire has burned more than 17,200 acres, while the Altadena and Pasadena-based Eaton fire has scorched some 10,600 acres.
The causes of all of the wildfires are under active investigation, but thousands of buildings and businesses have been destroyed.
Nearly 180,000 residents of the cunty are under evacuation orders and nearly 200,000 are under evacuation warnings.
Even more California customers were left without power on Thursday, with nearly 420,000 outages reported by tracker PowerOutage.us.
Sheriff Robert Luna said that deputies were touring the affected areas.”
“Some of ‘em looked like a bomb was dropped in ‘em,” he said.
Is the Hollywood sign on fire?
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Watch live: Wildfires rage through Altadena in Southern California as five killed in firestorm
Watch: Wildfires rage through Altadena in California as five killed in firestorm
WARNING: Following livestream may contain distressing content.
Mapped: Charting the path of the devstating fires sweeping LA area
The Los Angeles wildfires continued to grow rapidly Thursday, engulfing homes in the Pacific Palisades and other neighborhoods, including star-studded Studio City, Calabasas and Altadena.
In under 48 hours, the fires spread across more than 28,000 acres. Flames have been fanned by a fierce windstorm known as the Santa Ana winds, and officials are warning the situation could get worse as three of the four main blazes stand at zero percent containment.
The Independent has produced a suite of maps tracking the wildfires.
LA wildfires mapped: Palisades and Eaton blazes now cover more than 27,000 acres
Death toll has risen to five, while 2,000 structures have been burned down and more than 150,000 locals are under evacuation orders
Firefighters again work through the night in efforts to extinguish wildfires
Watch: LA Mayor Karen Bass refuses to respond to wildfire criticism during live interview
LA mayor speechless as she refuses to respond to wildfire criticism in live interview
LA mayor Karen Bass was left speechless as she refused to respond to criticism over her handling of the devastating wildfires. Ms Bass was returning from her trip to Ghana when she was approached by Sky News correspondent David Blevins, who asked her if she felt she owed an apology to citizens for being absent during the fire outbreaks. Ms Bass remained silent as she stood in front of the microphone. She also stood their speechless when asked if she regretted cutting the fire department by millions.
Where are the four main brush fires loctaed?
The Palisades Fire has spread across more than 17,000 acres; the Eaton Fire 10,600 acres; the Hurst Fire 855 acres; and the Sunset Fire engulfing 43 acres.
Debunked: Is the Hollywood sign on fire?
As deadly wildfires continue to devastate Los Angeles County, the outbreak of a new inferno in the Hollywood Hills on Wednesday afternoon led to the spread of fake pictures and video across social media claiming that the iconic Hollywood sign is ablaze.
Those images are fake and, at the time of writing, the legendary landmark is safe from the flames as the fire woud have to cross over a freeway in order to impact the sign. The fire has however impacted the lights that illuminate the sign, affecting its visibility.
At least five people have been killed by the out-of-control fires so far, with more than 1,000 structures destroyed and at least 150,000 residents forced to flee their homes.
Joe Sommerlad has the story.
Musk to deploy free Starlink terminals this morning
Elon Musk said that he is set to provide free Starlink terminals to areas in Los Angeles battling the fast-moving wildfires
“SpaceX will provide free Starlink terminals to affected areas in LA tomorrow morning,” the Silicon Valley stalwart said late on Wednesday.
A division of Musk’s SpaceX, Starlink currently has about 7,000 satellites in low-Earth orbit, constituting nearly two-thirds of the world’s active satellites.
The satellite systems will likely aid firefighting personnel and evacuees with communications. Starlink proved useful for weathering the devastating Hurricane Helene in Southeastern US in October.
Unsafe water alert issued to Pasadena residents
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has issued an unsafe water alert for Pasadena residents.
Residents in Eaton Fire evacuation or warning areas have been advised to stop drinking tap water in lieu of bottled water, deputies said.
Failure to comply with advice could result in illness, the LASD said.
Oscars 2025: Academy pushes back nominations and extends voting period
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has extended the deadline for Oscar nomination voting by two days in view of the raging wildfires around Los Angeles.
A series of wildfires has killed at least five people and left nearly 1,000 structures in ruin in southern California. The Palisades fire is now the most destructive in the history of Los Angeles.
Voting for the members opened on 8 January and was scheduled to end on 12 January. However, with the extension, the deadline is now 14 January. The nominations announcement, which was originally set for 17 January, has been moved to 19 January.
Shahana Yasmin has the story.
Academy pushes 2025 Oscars nominations back amid Los Angeles wildfires
Fires have killed at least five people and burned nearly 1,000 homes
What are the Santa Ana winds that are fueling devastating fires across Southern California?
The fast-moving wildfires ripping through Southern California are being fueled by the state’s fierce Santa Ana winds.
The Los Angeles Fire Department is bracing itself for the bruising winds to reach gusts of up to 60 mph through Thursday. In some parts, the Santa Anas could reach speeds of up to 100 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
Continue reading:
What are the Santa Ana winds that are fueling fires across Southern California?
The National Weather Service has issued an extreme weather warning of a life-threatening and destructive windstorm
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