LA fire department issues new immediate evacuation
The LA fire department issued a new immediate evacuation order at 7pm local time on Friday for the Palisades fire. It affects the following areas:
It covers Sunset Boulevard north to Encino Reservoir and from the 405 Freeway west to Mandeville Canyon.
The area was previously under an evacuation warning, but it is now an immediate evacuation order.
Earlier, US officials declared a public health emergency due to the the California fires.
The LA department of public health said it had declared a local health emergency and issued a public health officer order in response “to the widespread impacts of the ongoing multiple critical fire events and windstorm conditions”. The order applies to all areas of Los Angeles county.
In a statement, the department said:
The fires, coupled with strong winds, have severely degraded air quality by releasing hazardous smoke and particulate matter, posing immediate and long-term risks to public health.
It advises anyone who must go outside for long periods of time in areas with heavy smoke or where ash is present to wear an N95 or P100 mask.
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A longtime Malibu resident, artist and surfer Randall Miod, who was known among friends as “Crawdaddy” or “Craw”, has been identified as a victim of the Palisades fire.
Miod, 55, had lived in a house he nicknamed the Crab Shack which he shared with his cat The Bu, since 1993.
“He loved Malibu. That was his life,” friend Corina Cline told the Washington Post. “He wasn’t rich. He lived in that little red shack that was kind of run-down.”
“(His home) was his prized possession. That’s the one and only house he ever owned,” his mother, Carol Smith, told CNN. “He just felt so blessed to be able to live in Malibu. That was his dream come true because he’d been surfing since he was a teenager.”
His determination to protect the home led him to stay even after the fires began, Smith said. She added that detectives found human remains in the home as they inspected the burn zone.
At least 11 people have died in the wildfires surging across the Los Angeles area. As local law enforcement scramble to identify victims and inform their families, details are emerging about seven of the Los Angeles residents killed in some of the worst wildfires to hit the western city in its history.
The Guardian’s Marina Dunbar, Cecilia Nowell, Michael Sainato and agencies report:
On Friday, officials attributed five deaths to the Palisades fire and six to the Eaton fire, while the family of a 12th victim came forward about the loss of their loved one in the Palisades fire.
Rory Sykes, 32
Australian former child actor Rory Sykes, 32, died after his mother was unable to evacuate him. Sykes, who was born blind and had cerebral palsy, was living in a cottage on his family’s Malibu estate. His mother, Shelley Sykes, who was recovering from a broken arm, said she couldn’t move him.
Annette Rossilli, 85
Annette Rossilli, 85, died in the Palisades fire, the home health company caring for her told CNN.
Victor Shaw, 66
Victor Shaw, 66, was the first of the fatalities to be named, after he died in the Eaton fire raging to the north-east of LA while attempting to extinguish flames at his home of 55 years in Altadena.
Anthony Mitchell, 67, and Justin Mitchell, early 20s
Anthony Mitchell, 67, who was an amputee, and his son Justin, who had cerebral palsy, were identified as two of the wildfire victims in Altadena. They died as they were waiting for an ambulance, according to Mitchell’s daughter, Hajime White.
Rodney Nickerson, 82
Rodney Nickerson, 82, also of Altadena, died in his home, according to his daughter, Kimiko Nickerson, who said he thought he would be OK waiting the fire out in his house after living through several fires in his 57 years in the home.
Erliene Kelley
Erliene Kelley, a retired pharmacy technician in Altadena who lived very close to Shaw and Nickerson, also died at home in the Eaton fire, the New York Times reported, citing relatives.
For the full story, click here:
Residents have organized a donation center including free food at a gas station on the Altadena-Pasadena border.
In an interview with CalMatters, one of the residents who identified himself as George said he had set up the center to receive donations and to donate to people:
We have all kinds of supplies, clothes, hygiene, pet food, water. We have a little bit of everything.
Describing his idea to set up the center, George said:
It was a random idea between me and a friend early this morning … At the beginning it was just water, then it became all of this. It was unplanned.”
Last night I met George who set up an impromptu donation center at a gas station at the border of Altadena / Pasadena.
He kept it going past curfew, even as national guard closed this area off.
People all around the neighborhood were stopping by hot meals, clothes, supplies. pic.twitter.com/n64rBTdWaE
Newsom doubles national guard deployment to Los Angeles
California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, has doubled the deployment of the state’s national guard to Los Angeles amid the wildfires there.
In a statement on Saturday, Newsom announced that he had increased the state’s national guard personnel to 1,680, doubling the number of guards on the ground.
Newsom said:
We are continuing to rush in resources to rapidly respond to the firestorm in Los Angeles fueled by hurricane-force winds. 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.”
So far, California has mobilized more than 12,000 personnel including firefighters, guard service members, highway patrol officers and transportation teams to help fight the fires.
Moreover, the response efforts include more than 1,660 pieces of firefighting apparatus, including more than 1,150 engines, more than 60 aircraft, dozers and more than 100 water tenders to aid in putting out the fires.
Both Canada and Mexico have sent firefighters to help Los Angeles fight the blazes.
In a post on X, Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said of the volunteer group: “We are a country of generosity and solidarity.”
Meanwhile, the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, sent crews, aircraft and equipment from Canada to southern California to help battle the fires.
Cecilia Nowell
With help from personnel deployed from across the United States and neighboring countries, California firefighters are starting to make progress containing the devastating blazes that have wrecked the Los Angeles area.
Here’s a selection of photographs capturing their work in recent days:
About a fifth of fire hydrants in the Pacific Palisades ran dry on Tuesday night due to “extreme water demand”, according to LA’s department of public works. But all hydrants were fully operational ahead of the fire, the agency said in a statement “correcting misinformation” about the water system.
“Any assertion that fire hydrants in the Pacific Palisades were broken before the Palisades fire is misleading and false,” the statement reads. “LADWP’s fire hydrant repair list was current and updated, and all reported fire hydrants were fully operational in the Pacific Palisades and in LA’s Westside communities prior to the fire.”
“Water pressure in the system was lost due to unprecedented and extreme water demand to fight the wildfire without aerial support,” the statement added.
It also addressed the Santa Ynez reservoir, which was empty at the time of the fire – a fact that LA’s fire chief, Kristin Crowley, told reporters Friday she was not alerted to.
The department of public works “was required to take the Santa Ynez Reservoir out of service to meet safe drinking water regulations. To commission the support and resources to implement repairs to Santa Ynez, LADWP is subject to the city charter’s competitive bidding process which requires time,” the statement read.
The New York Post published aerial images taken by paparazzi the same day that a drone grounded a firefighting Super Scooper aircraft.
Photographs of Tom Hanks’ Pacific Palisades home, which narrowly avoided destruction in the historic blaze, appeared in the Post on 9 January. The images were captured by London Entertainment, a Los Angeles-based celebrity photography company founded by London-trained paparazzo Giles Harrison.
The same day, an aircraft fighting the Palisades fire was hit by a drone, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The Los Angeles fire department confirmed that a Super Scooper – which can “scoop” water from nearby lakes and oceans to fight fires – was damaged, although the plane landed safely.
“It’s a federal crime, punishable by up to 12 months in prison, to interfere with firefighting efforts on public lands,” the FAA said in a statement. “Additionally, the FAA can impose a civil penalty of up to $75,000 against any drone pilot who interferes with wildfire suppression, law enforcement or emergency response operations” during a temporary flight restriction.
Texas will deploy firefighters and first responders to aid in the California wildfires, Governor Greg Abbott announced on Saturday. The state will send more than 135 firefighters, emergency management and medical personnel, as well as 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,” said Abbott. “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.”
The announcement comes at a heightened moment of tension between Democrats and Republicans, as Democratic leaders in California appeal to Republican president-elect Donald Trump to visit the state and be prepared to continue offering disaster relief once he assumes office later this month.
Details are emerging about another victim killed in the Palisades fire.
Former Australian child actor Rory Sykes, 32, died after his mother was unable to evacuate him. Sykes, who was born blind and had cerebral palsy, was living in a cottage on his family’s Malibu estate. His mother, Shelley Sykes, who was recovering from a broken arm, said she couldn’t move him.
“He said, ‘Mom, leave me.’ And no mom could leave their kid,” she told Australian news outlet 10 News First.
She said she called 911 for help, but the phone lines were down – so she drove to the local fire station for help. But they told her “we’ve got no water.”
“When the fire department brought me back, his cottage was burnt to the ground.”
Sykes is not yet part of the official death toll – as officials have been unable to formally identify his remains. Currently, officials have confirmed 11 fatalities in the Los Angeles wildfires: five in the Palisades fire and six in the Eaton fire.
Jennifer Garner has revealed that one of her friends died in the Los Angeles wildfires.
Speaking to NBC in the Pacific Palisades, the actress said:
I’m looking at the chimney of somebody that I loved who died there … It’s too awful to talk about.
Garner, who stood alongside World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés amid a backdrop of burned homes, added:
I did lose a friend and for our church it’s really tender so I don’t feel like I should talk about it yet … But I did lose a friend who did not get out in time.
The death toll of the wildfires has risen to 11 as the flames continue to rage across southern California.
In a new interview on Pod Save America, California governor Gavin Newsom hit back at Donald Trump over his false claims that the state’s water shortage is due to Newsom’s alleged refusal to sign a declaration that would allow water from the north to flow throughout the rest of the state.
Speaking on the podcast, Newsom said:
“What the president-elect was saying about state water project and the delta smelt [fish] somehow being culpable, somehow leading to some of the challenges that we face down here … it’s words. It’s a salad. It’s the form and substance of fog. It’s made up. It’s delusional. And it’s a consistent mantra from Trump going back years and years and years, and it’s reinforced over and over and over within the right wing. And so it’s become gospel, and it’s so profoundly ignorant, and yet he absolutely believes it.
It’s not an ignorance on his part. It’s such it’s sort of an indelible misinformation that he sort of manifested a falsehood, and he decided to bring it into this crisis in a profoundly demeaning and demand and damaging way.”
Trump has been claiming, falsely, for years that southern California’s lack of water is caused by Newsom’s refusal to sign off on a plan to divert water flowing into San Francisco Bay to irrigate crops and put out fires.
He said at a campaign event in September at his golf course outside Los Angeles:
“Vote for me, California. I’m going to give you safety. I’m going to give you a great border, and I’m going to give you more water than almost anybody has ... and the water’s going to come all the way down to Los Angeles and you’re going to have more water than you ever saw ... you’re going to have water in California at a level that you’ve never seen before ... And Gavin Newscum is going to sign those papers, because if he doesn’t sign those papers, we won’t given him money to put out all his fires. And we don’t give him the money to put out his fires, he’s got problems ... And all of that water is going to take care of California.”
The Guardian’s Robert Mackey contributed to this report
Disney will donate $15m to relief efforts amid the Los Angeles wildfires.
In a statement released on Friday, the Burbank-based company said:
The history of The Walt Disney Company is inextricably linked to the greater Los Angeles region, and the destruction from the devastating fires affecting thousands in our area is truly heartbreaking. Today we are committing $15 million for initial and immediate response and rebuilding efforts.”
Adding to the statement, Disney CEO Bob Iger said:
“As this tragedy continues to unfold, The Walt Disney Company is committed to supporting our community and our employees as we all work together to recover and rebuild from this unbelievable devastation … We are proud to provide assistance to this resilient and vibrant community in this moment of need.”
There are three ways residents in California are able to get help amid the wildfires, according to Ca.gov.
One way is to register for Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) assistance online at DisasterAssistance.gov. The other way is to apply via the Fema app, and the third way is to call the Fema helpline at 1-800-621-3362.
Additionally, assistance for small businesses is available through the federal Small Business Administration.
Here are some images coming through the newswires from Los Angeles:
Current state of the California wildfires
Here’s a look at the current state of the California wildfires as of Saturday morning, according to the California department of forestry and fire protection:
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Palisades fire: burned 21,596 acres, contained at 11%
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Eaton fire: burned 14,117 acres, contained at 15%
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Kenneth fire: burned 1,052 acres, contained at 80%
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Hurst fire: burned 799 acres, contained at 75%
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Archer fire: burned 19 acres, contained at 0%
In a tweet on Saturday, the city of Beverly Hills announced that the evacuation alert sent out to some of its residents at 4am PST today was an error.
“At approximately 4 a.m. today, some residents in Beverly Hills may have received another evacuation alert from the LA County Fire Department. The County’s Office of Emergency Management has confirmed this was another error,” city officials said.
They went on to add that there are no evacuations currently affecting the area.
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