Photo: CalFire
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - With the latest Santa Ana winds behind them, firefighters worked Thursday to extend containment of the Eaton and Palisades fires and douse hot spots, but while conditions have improved dramatically, authorities said it could still be more than a week until most evacuated residents are permitted to return home.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said he understands the desire for people to return, especially if their homes are undamaged and habitable, but he expects to to be "at least another week, and that's an estimate, but I believe it's going to be longer than that."
While much of the active fire has been doused, Luna and county Fire Chief Anthony Marrone noted that there is extensive work still going on in the fire zones, including securing utilities to ensure safety, removing hazardous wastes from the area and -- most delicately -- searching for human remains.
"Our search and rescue efforts continue," Luna said. "... There are areas we are holding because we believe there may be deceased victims there."
He said the process is "going to take a little while. Please be patient with us." He added that while he is empathetic to people anxious to return home, he is more empathetic to people waiting to learn about missing loved ones who may have died in the fires.
Luna also noted that in many of the severe burn areas, "It literally looks like a bomb dropped. There are things everywhere."
Marrone also estimated that it could be a week or more for many residents to return, saying authorities have to ensure the areas are safe to reoccupy.
"The last thing we want as public safety and the county and city leadership, we don't want people going back to an area and getting injured," he said. "We know there's a lot of conversation about when we can come back, they want a date. We don't have a date."
Some evacuation orders have been lifted in recent days in the Eaton Fire burn area, but the bulk of the orders will likely stay in place well into next week.
Authorities had initially been running some escorts, with officers accompanying residents into the burn areas for brief periods to retrieve items or view their homes, but Marrone said that process became too unwieldy, occupying too many law enforcement personnel.
A three-day Santa Ana wind event wrapped up Wednesday night, failing to ever produce the hazardous gusts that authorities feared might re-ignite the fires. Red flag warnings of critical fire danger expired in most of the region at 6 p.m. Wednesday, although a red flag warning will remain in effect until 3 p.m. Thursday in the western San Gabriel Mountains and the Golden State (5) and Antelope Valley (14) freeway corridors, with winds of 15 to 25 mph anticipated, along with gusts of up 40 mph.
According to the National Weather Service, the region will see a "significant cooling trend through the weekend." And more importantly for firefighters, humidity levels will rise, alleviating the dry conditions that helped fuel the spread of wildfires over the past week.
"By Thursday afternoon a solid onshore flow will be arriving along the coast and working its way inland through the rest of the day, finally bringing this long offshore stretch to an end," according to the NWS. "For Friday and the weekend, much cooler temperatures are expected as the cool onshore flow off the ocean will prevail."
Forecasters warned, however, that Santa Ana winds are likely to return early next week, "especially later Monday into Tuesday," but it was too early to judge how strong that event might be.
As of Thursday, the nearly 24,000-acre Palisades Fire was 22% contained, and containment of the 14,117-acre Eaton Fire was at 55%.
Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley said Thursday that with the latest wind event ending, crews were focused on locating "hot spots and putting them out."
As of Wednesday, 25 deaths have been reported in the two fires -- nine in the Palisades Fire and 16 in the Eaton Fire, according to the county Medical Examiner's Office. A death that was previously tied to the Eaton Fire was removed from the total late Tuesday night, when investigators determine the remains being examined were not human.
Luna said the sheriff's department has 31 active missing-person cases relating to the fires, Luna said, with 24 in the Eaton Fire area and seven in unincorporated areas in the Palisades Fire zone.
Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell said the department has five active missing-person reports in the Palisades Fire area.
Marrone said residents can visit recovery.lacounty.gov for damage information on individual properties in the burn areas. The website has maps of the fire areas, with icons placed on properties that have been inspected. It is updated in real time as more properties are surveyed.
Roughly 5,000 structures are believed to have been destroyed or damaged in the Palisades Fire, and at least 7,000 in the Eaton Fire. Those numbers could also rise as more inspections are completed.
Authorities were warning residents near the fire areas that air quality continues to be highly unhealthy. People were urged to suspend the use of leaf blowers, to stay inside with doors and windows closed as much as possible, and to wear masks if they do go outside.
With high winds and power lines presenting a potential further fire danger, power was shut off for thousands of customers as a precaution. Southern California Edison reported Thursday that nearly 12,000 of its customers in Los Angeles County were without power due to the shutdowns.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power announced Monday that it had restored power to all its customers who lost electricity during last week's windstorm, with the exception of 17,600 customers in Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, Sylmar and Encino, where lines remained deactivated as a public safety measure.
The county has implemented a curfew that continues to be in effect nightly from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. in the mandatory evacuation areas in the Eaton and Palisades fire zones. Only firefighters, utility workers and law enforcement personnel are allowed in those areas.
Luna reported 47 arrests so far, 36 in the Eaton Fire area and 11 in the Palisades Fire area. Those arrests include two men for impersonating a firefighter in an effort to burglarize homes.
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell reported 14 arrests as of Tuesday morning, including curfew violations, impersonating a police officer, impersonating a firefighter, DUI, vandalism, ammunition possession, burglary and other offenses.
The Santa Monica Police Department has announced about 40 arrests of people in evacuation zones in the northern reaches of that city.
Starting Tuesday, FEMA services and assistance were made available at a pair of Disaster Assistance Centers located at UCLA Research Park -- formerly the Westside Pavilion in West Los Angeles at 10850 W. Pico Blvd. -- and at Pasadena City College Community Education Center, 3035 E. Foothill Blvd.
Those centers will be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
The deadly wildfires have destroyed at least 35 historic places, according to the latest count by the Los Angeles Conservancy.
By the time all the damage in assessed, the fires are expected to constitute one of the costliest disasters in U.S. history. Newsom told NBC News on Sunday that he believes the fires will be the worst natural disaster in the history of the country "in terms of just the costs associated with it, in terms of the scale and scope."
On Monday, AccuWeather experts increased their estimate of total damage and economic loss from the fires to between $250 billion and $275 billion. That's up from its estimate last week of $135 billion to $150 billion.
"Multimillion-dollar homes with priceless contents have already been lost in one of the world's most expensive neighborhoods have contributed to this increase as well as the high costs to mitigate smoke damage and water damage due to fire suppression efforts," AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said in a statement. "There will also certainly be a decrease in real estate values in some of the affected areas as a result of the fires. And perhaps even migration changes as large numbers of people leave California rather than choose to rebuild."
Emergencies have been declared in the county and the state, and President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration for the state. Both Newsom and County Supervisor Kathryn Barger have invited President-elect Donald Trump to visit the area and assess the damage.
Copyright 2025, City News Service, Inc.
