bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

The death toll from massive wildfires that have ravaged Los Angeles rose to 24 on Sunday, with officials warning of incoming dangerous winds that could whip the blazes up further.
The fires continued to rip through the United States’ second-largest city for the sixth day, reducing whole communities to scorched rubble and leaving thousands without homes.
Massive firefighting efforts have staunched the spread of the Palisades Fire, which was looming toward upscale Brentwood and the densely populated San Fernando Valley.
But conditions are set to dramatically worsen, with “extreme fire behaviour and life threatening conditions” over the coming days.

Winds up to 110km/h (70mph) mean a “particularly dangerous situation (PDS)” will be declared from early Tuesday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Rose Schoenfeld.
These gusts could fan flames and whip up embers from existing burn zones into new areas, firefighters warned.
Los Angeles County Fire Department chief Anthony Marrone said his department had received resources including dozens of new water trucks and firefighters from far afield and was primed to face the renewed threat.
Questioned whether hydrants could run dry again, as they did during the initial outbreak of fires last week, Mayor Karen Bass replied: “I believe the city is prepared”.
There was frustration for evacuees who were told they would not be returning home until at least Thursday when winds subside.
Some have queued for hours in the hope of getting back to homes they fled to pick up medication or a change of clothes.

But Sheriff Robert Luna said escorts into these areas were being suspended Sunday because of the winds and dangerous conditions among the wreckage, as well as the need to retrieve victims’ bodies.
Teams with cadaver dogs were carrying out grid searches with the grim expectation that the confirmed death toll would rise.
Several more arrests of looters were made, including one burglar who had dressed as a firefighter to steal from homes.
Nighttime curfews in evacuated zones have been extended, and additional National Guard resources have been requested.
Prevented from entering an evacuation zone, Altadena resident Bobby Salman, 42, said: “I have to be there to protect my family, my wife, my kids, my mom and I cannot even go and see them”.
The Palisades Fire has now consumed 9,500 hectares (23,700 acres) and was just 11 per cent contained.

Video footage showed “fire tornadoes” – red-hot spirals that occur when a blaze is so intense it creates its own weather system.
The ferocious fire also left streaks of molten metal flowing from burnt-out cars.
But containment of the 5,665-hectare Eaton Fire in Altadena had improved, figures showed, with 27 per cent of its perimeter controlled.
The County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner published a list of fatalities without giving details of any identities. Eight of the dead were found in the Palisades Fire zone, and 16 in the Eaton Fire zone, the document said.
The total number of residents under evacuation orders dropped to around 100,000, from a peak of almost 180,000.
The sudden rush of people needing somewhere to live has posed a growing problem for the city, with reports of illegal price gouging from opportunistic landlords.

“I’m back on the market with tens of thousands of people,” said a man who gave his name as Brian, whose rent-controlled flat had burned. “That doesn’t bode well.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom vowed the city would rebuild, saying there would be a “Marshall Plan” – a reference to the US support that put Europe back on its feet after World War II.
“We already have a team looking at reimagining L.A. 2.0,” he said.
President-elect Donald Trump has accused California officials of incompetence.
“This is one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our Country. They just can’t put out the fires. What’s wrong with them?” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
A heroic firefighting operation that has operated 24/7 since the first flames erupted was bolstered Sunday with the arrival of crews from Mexico.


They join teams from all over California and across the western United States who have come to help out.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday even offered to send 150 personnel to California from his war-ravaged country.
“The situation there is extremely difficult, and Ukrainians can help Americans save lives,” he wrote on social media.
A huge investigation by federal and local authorities was under way to determine what caused the blazes.
While the ignition of a wildfire can be deliberate, they are often natural, and a vital part of an environment’s life cycle.
But urban sprawl puts people more frequently in harm’s way, and the changing climate – supercharged by humanity’s unchecked use of fossil fuels – is exacerbating the conditions that give rise to destructive blazes.


Indonesia landslide kills 16 in Central Java, search for missing continues

Southern Taiwan hit by 6.4-magnitude earthquake, chipmaker TSMC evacuates some factories

Indonesia’s relentless Mount Ibu erupts 1,000 times this month, displacing thousands

Who was under-fire LA Mayor Karen Bass’ late ex-husband, Jesus Lechuga? She was married to him for 6 years, and their only child was killed in a car accident … but she’s close to her stepchildren

Natural disasters

Los Angeles wildfires death toll rises as dangerous winds threaten to fan flames anew

A car drives past homes and vehicles destroyed by the Palisades Fire. Photo: AP

Wildfire smoke covers downtown Los Angeles. Photo: AFP

Burned homes along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. Photo: AP

Burned vehicles line a street. Photo: AFP

National Guard enforcing a curfew. Photo: AFP

Trump bashes California leaders over Los Angeles fires response

California Governor Gavin Newsom tours Pacific Palisades. Photo: Jonathan Alcorn/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Damage from the Palisades Fire, in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood in Los Angeles. Photo: Reuters

California Governor Gavin Newsom tours the downtown business district of Pacific Palisades on January 8. Photo: TNS

Firefighters race to contain Los Angeles wildfires before menacing winds return

Firefighters battle the Palisades fire in California on Sturday. Photo: Reuters

People watch smoke rising from the Palisades fire in the Tarzana neighbourhood of Los Angeles, California, on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

16 dead in LA wildfires, according to county medical examiner’s office

A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon. Photo: AP

The Palisades Fire as it tears through Mandeville Canyon in Los Angeles’ Brentwood neighbourhood. Photo: TNS

People gather and sort through donated clothing and other items at a pop-up donation centre for wildfire victims at Santa Anita racetrack. Photo: AFP

Ivan De La Torre stands near his uncle’s burned down home after the Eaton Fire tore through the Los Angeles suburb in Altadena. Photo: Reuters

A Super Scooper drops phosphorus on the Palisades fire as it tears through Mandeville Canyon in Los Angeles’ Brentwood neighbourhood. Photo: TNS

Los Angeles like ‘war scene’ after wildfires, Biden says amid looting reports

Cars are left charred inside a dealership in the aftermath of the Eaton fire in Altadena, California, on Friday. Photo: AP

Residents of a senior centre are evacuated as the Eaton fire approaches in Altadena, California, on Tuesday. Photo: AP

The devastation from the Palisades fire in California is seen from the air on Thursday. Photo: TNS

Firefighters battle the Franklin fire next to a business along Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. Photo: Los Angeles Times/TNS

A plume of smoke from the Palisades Fire rises over Ventura Boulevard in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles on Friday. Photo: AP

News

World

United States & Canada

Firefighters raced to contain the frontiers of two Los Angeles wildfires that burned for the sixth straight day on Sunday


Firefighters raced to contain the frontiers of two Los Angeles wildfires that burned for the sixth straight day on Sunday.


United States

Donald Trump

Extreme weather

Joe Biden