L.A. County lacked resources to hold back destructive wildfires. Here’s the latest

Good morning. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.

• The latest in wildfire news: Firefighters were dispatched to fight two new blazes that erupted Wednesday night.
• The FDA sets limits for lead in many baby foods as a California disclosure law takes effect.
• Get your back scratched and hair brushed at this cozy ASMR massage studio in L.A.
• And here’s today’s e-newspaper.

L.A. County is no match for this scale of fiery destruction

As I wrote this, I could see a thick pillar of smoke rising from the San Gabriel Mountains and filling the western sky from my home office. It was one of the two biggest wildfires raging in Los Angeles County.

At least five people have died as the Palisade and Eaton fires burn out of control in the region’s foothills and mountains. The scale of devastation is horrific and incalculable. With more than 2,000 homes, businesses, churches and other structures destroyed, the region is facing potentially the worst firestorm in modern history.

California

What happened during the first four days of the Eaton, Palisades fires in Southern California

Coverage of the fires ravaging Altadena, Malibu, Pacific Palisades and Pasadena, including stories about the devastation, issues firefighters faced and the weather.

Jan. 10, 2025

Local fire officials say they were overwhelmed by the scale and ferocity of the blazes, which were being fanned by an epic windstorm that brought gusts of 70-100 mph in some county areas.

And then two news blazes erupted Wednesday night — a fast-growing brush fire that prompted chaotic evacuations near the Hollywood Hills and a structure fire in Studio City.

Donald Bryce is devastated upon viewing the destruction of his father-in-law Stuart McCallister’s home, destroyed in the Palisades fire on Haverford Avenue in Pacific Palisades.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Here’s the latest information from emergency officials as of early Thursday morning:

Palisades fire:

• More than 17,000 acres have burned.
• No deaths have been reported, but L.A. County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone noted “a high number of significant injuries” to some residents and first responders.
• More than 1,000 homes and other structures destroyed, according to Cal Fire.
• Containment remains at 0%.

Eaton fire:

• 10,600 acres have burned.
• Five people have died in and around Altadena and Pasadena.
• At least 1,000 homes and other structures either damaged or destroyed.
• Containment remains at 0%.

A third blaze, dubbed the Hurst fire, broke out in the northeast San Fernando Valley late Tuesday. It had burned an estimated 855 acres in the foothills near where Interstate 5 meets the 14 and 210 freeways. Dozens of homes and businesses in and around Sylmar were under mandatory evacuation orders. The fire was 10% contained.

The cause of the fires remains under investigation.

Samuel Girma runs to get a hose as helps protect a home in Altadena as the Eaton fire continues to grow.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Firefighters and infrastructure were overwhelmed.

Fire officials acknowledged Wednesday that the massive, volatile fires — along with the everyday emergencies they respond to — were too much for local agencies to handle.

“L.A. County and all 29 fire departments in our county are not prepared for this type of widespread disaster,” Marrone told reporters. “We’re doing the very best we can. But no, we don’t have enough fire personnel … to handle this.”

Efforts to contain the blazes were also hampered by powerful winds overnight that grounded vital water-dropping aircraft. And in Pacific Palisades, my colleagues Matt Hamilton and David Zahniser reported that city fire hydrants ran dry, leaving firefighters unable to douse flames as they worked to save homes.

Firefighters battle an intense apartment blaze on East Pine Street in Altadena on Wednesday.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

“The demand for water at lower elevations was hampering the ability to refill the tanks located at higher elevations,” they wrote. “Because of the ongoing fire, DWP crews also faced difficulty accessing its pump stations, which are used to move water up to the tanks.”

Janisse Quiñones, chief executive and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, told The Times her department had “pushed the system to the extreme,” but the unprecedented and sustained need for water in the area was too much for the system to handle.

President Biden approved a major disaster declaration on Wednesday requested by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The two leaders met in Santa Monica on Wednesday as Biden pledged that his administration “is prepared to do anything and everything for as long as it takes to contain these fires.”

The state will also receive additional firefighting resources from the U.S. Forest Service.

“President Biden’s swift action is a huge lift for California — as we throw everything we can into protecting residents with substantial state, local and federal resources,” Newsom said in a statement. “To all those in Southern California, please continue to listen to local authorities and don’t wait; evacuate if asked.”

While some fled, others stayed to fight.

Times reporters and photographers captured horrifying images and harrowing stories as some residents fled while others stayed to try to save their homes.

Steve Salinas shields himself from intense heat as he hoses down a neighbor’s rooftop amid the Eaton fire.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

With firefighting resources stretched too thin to save every home, some residents in Altadena chose to stay and battle the flames themselves.

That included 65-year-old J.C. Matsuura, who armed himself with a garden hose to fend off embers and flames from his home of 20 years.

“I stayed because this is my home, it’s my business. It’s a lot,” he told Times reporter James Rainey. “I figured if I stayed long enough, I might be able to save it.”

The Palisades fire approaches the Pacific Ocean in Malibu.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Elsewhere in the unincorporated county community, a local church, post office and hundreds of homes and other structures were lost.

The Palisades fire burned a path of devastation, ripping through homes and businesses in the Santa Monica Mountain foothills all the way to Pacific Coast Highway. It continued to spread west Wednesday, engulfing additional multimillion-dollar homes along the coast.

Palisades Charter High School sustained major damage in the blaze, and nearby elementary schools may be destroyed. Hundreds more schools across L.A. County were closed Wednesday due to active fire risk or hazardous smoke.

Even as the fires continue to spread, they became a political battleground.

President-elect Donald Trump posted several times about the fires — not to offer condolences to the thousands of residents who lost homes and businesses, but to blame Gov. Newsom and his “Los Angeles crew” for the ongoing disasters.

Posting on his social media platform, Trump said Newsom “refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way.”

Trump’s claims are “blatantly false, irresponsible and politically self-serving,” said Peter Gleick, a hydroclimatologist and senior fellow of the Oakland-based Pacific Institute.

“There is no water shortage in Southern California — the state’s reservoirs are all at, or above, levels normally expected for this time of year,” Gleick told Times reporters. “The problem with water supply for the fires is entirely the result of the massive immediate demands for firefighting water, broken or damaged pipes and pumps, and homeowners leaving hoses and sprinklers running in hopes of saving property.”

Our newsroom continues to cover the impacts of the fires and how officials are responding. Explore more resources and reporting here:

• How to help those affected by fires raging across Los Angeles County
• If you lost your home or business in the wildfires, here’s what to do next
• A fire is forcing you to evacuate. What do you pack?
• Fire evacuees can find rooms at these L.A. hotels
• How to protect yourself from wildfire smoke
• SoCal wildfires by the numbers: Location, size, containment and more
• Shocking before-and-after satellite images show destruction of Malibu and Altadena neighborhoods
• First this veterinarian took in her brother’s pets during the Palisades fire. Then she took in 39 more
• Karen Bass left L.A. for Africa as wind, fire warnings increased. Mayor returned to a burning city
• This Pasadena temple burned in the Eaton fire. Leaders vow to keep its spirit alive
• Beverly Hills Hotel turns upscale evacuation zone: ‘The vibe is apocalyptic’
• ‘We don’t know when we’re going to go home’: Private security in Palisades say they’re working around the clock

Today’s top stories

The casket of former President Carter lies in state at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Wednesday.

(Andrew Harnik / Associated Press)

Remembering Jimmy Carter

• As night fell Tuesday on the nation’s capital, thousands gathered outside the U.S. Capitol to pay their final respects to the 39th American president.
• Jimmy Carter only had a one-term presidency, but he changed the way the world saw the U.S. — often for the better, Tracy Wilkinson writes.
• The former president once was offered a gift from Northern California: a 9-ton peanut carved from a redwood tree. His aides said no thanks.

The FDA sets limits for lead in many baby foods

• The agency set maximum levels for lead in baby foods in an effort to cut young kids’ exposure to the toxic metal that causes developmental and neurological problems.
• The FDA guidance comes a week after a California law took effect that requires baby food makers selling products in the state to disclose levels of four heavy metals.

What else is going on

• Bracing for Trump, Mexico aims to roll out a ‘panic app’ for Mexican nationals being deported.
• Former congresswoman Barbara Lee has announced her bid for Oakland mayor in a special election prompted by the recall of the city’s former leader.
• Levi Strauss heir and nonprofit executive Daniel Lurie has been inaugurated as mayor of San Francisco.

Get unlimited access to the Los Angeles Times. Subscribe here.

Commentary and opinions

• Thousands have fled their homes in the Los Angeles fires. But for one Palisades resident, the flames hold a lesson and hope, columnist Anita Chabria writes.
• California offers great gifts and great risks. Columnist Steve Lopez weighs them all as he gets ready for a possible evacuation from the brutal Eaton fire.
• Meta is changing its rules and embracing Trump. Consequences of those changes may reshape societies and even threaten lives, writes Suzanne Nossel, a member of Facebook’s Oversight Board.

This morning’s must-read

Attorney Anthony Douglas Rappaport, left, speaks at a 2016 news conference with clients Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn. The couple reached a $2.5-million settlement with the city of Vallejo after police falsely accused them of fabricating Huskins’ kidnapping.

(Sudhin Thanawala / Associated Press)

‘American Nightmare’ survivors turn the tables, investigating the man who kidnapped them. Matthew Muller, featured in the Netflix documentary “American Nightmare,” was charged with another home invasion in the Bay Area, the second time in recent weeks that new crimes have been attributed to the convicted kidnapper.

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to [email protected].

For your downtime

Julie Luther, an ASMR masseuse, gives Jackie Snow a massage in Pasadena.

(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

Going out

• 💆‍♀️Get your back scratched and hair brushed at this cozy ASMR massage studio in L.A.

Staying in

• 🍪 Here’s a recipe for Sycamore Kitchen’s oatmeal cookies.
• ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.

A question for you: What do you pack if you need to evacuate?

Fire has broken out in large swaths of Los Angeles County since Tuesday morning, prompting the evacuation of tens of thousands of people in the Pacific Palisades, Altadena and Pasadena communities.

If you receive an evacuation warning, what do you pack in your “go-bag”?

Email us at [email protected]. Your response might appear in the newsletter this week.

And finally ... from our archives

(Janet Fries/Getty Images)

On Jan. 9, 1978, Harvey Milk became the first openly gay person elected to public office in California. His life and political career ended later that year when he was assassinated by a disgruntled former San Francisco supervisor.

While most of the state celebrates his life and legacy, Temecula’s school board voted in 2023 to reject a curriculum that included materials about Milk. As The Times wrote in July of that year, Gov. Newsom stepped in and offered to buy banned textbooks mentioning Milk for students.

Have a great day, from the Essential California team

Ryan Fonseca, reporter
Defne Karabatur, fellow
Andrew Campa, Sunday reporter
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Hunter Clauss, multiplatform editor
Christian Orozco, assistant editor
Stephanie Chavez, deputy metro editor
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters

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