Firefighters boost containment of Palisades and Eaton fires amid break from destructive winds

A wide view of destroyed homes in Pacific Palisades.

, Grace Toohey, Andrea Chang, Rong-Gong Lin II and Richard Winton

Jan. 16, 2025 Updated 2:06 PM PT

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Containment on the Palisades and Eaton fires that have kept thousands of Los Angeles County residents out of their homes, some for more than a week, grew overnight after winds that have plagued the region began to die down.

Containment of the Eaton fire, which has burned just over 14,100 acres in Pasadena and Altadena, jumped to 55% on Thursday morning, up from 45% a day earlier. At the Palisades fire, which has burned 23,700 acres, containment was at 22% Thursday morning, up from 17% a day earlier, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Containment is a reference to how much of the fire’s edge, or perimeter, has been surrounded to the extent firefighters believe they can stop the fire from expanding. But officials have stressed that there is still much work to be done in the fire zones before residents can return. More than 150,000 Angelenos remain under evacuation orders and warnings.

It’ll be at least another week before some people can begin heading back to their homes in the evacuated fire zones, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said during a news conference on Thursday.

“When I say one more week, that does not include the entire evacuation order area,” Marrone said. “We’re doing our best as we know that this is a challenge for our residents.”

Utilities are working to restore power and water, and officials are removing debris from the burn areas. There is also still the search and recovery of human remains.

The number of confirmed deaths in the fires climbed to at least 27 after authorities say they found remains in the Palisades and Eaton fire zones on Wednesday. Authorities say that number could continue to climb in the coming days as they continue searching destroyed properties. There are 39 missing person reports across both fires, officials said.

After allowing some people to bypass the barricades with a police escort last week, residents have been turned away at multiple checkpoints on Sunset and San Vicente boulevards leading into the Palisades this week. Officials say allowing people into the burn zones — even for a few minutes — overwhelmed their resources.

“It’s understandable — there’s still a fire, they’re still putting out hot spots,” said Noah Martin, 30, who was living in a house on Northfield Street that burned down. The property was owned by Martin’s parents, who live nearby on Temecula Street in a home that is still standing.

On Sunday, Martin and his roommates sneaked into the neighborhood by hiking four miles from Santa Monica through a canyon.

“We don’t have a lot of confidence that even when they do say the fire is out that they’re going to be letting us back in, and that’s certainly frustrating,” Martin, a software engineer, said. “We want to get there to start cleaning it. It feels like the longer they make us wait, the worse the damage will be.”

Joe Iacopino, an attorney and longtime resident of the Palisades, and his wife fled the blaze with nothing but the clothes on their backs last week. They’ve seen photos that showed their home — and the contents inside — unscathed by the fire. But he’s still not able to return home to get basic necessities.

“Not know[ing] how long it’s going to take to get back there should I make accommodations for another day or two? Or a week or three weeks? Three months?” he said. “We can’t make a plan.”

Officials estimate that the fires have destroyed more than 12,000 structures, including many homes, making them two of the most destructive — and deadliest — wildfires in California history.

A home that had survived the fire in the Palisades was destroyed this week when the hillside behind the home gave way, seemingly splitting the property on Castellammare Drive in half, photographs of the scene show.

It is not clear exactly what caused the landslide, but officials say it is likely the result of significant water in the area from the firefighting effort or broken water lines.

“There has been inundation, to some extent, of water into the system. You can imagine the amount of water that was placed in the firefighting effort,” said Mark Pestrella, public works director for Los Angeles County. “There were also gas lines and water lines that were destroyed in the system.”

Pestrella said the area is suffering from “dry ravel,”, a type of erosion that causes downhill movement of dry soils and debris, particularly an issue post-fire after vegetation cover has been destroyed.

He warned residents whose homes are on slopes in the fire area that debris flow hazards could occur even before any significant rains. Residents who might notice this land movement — in or outside of the fires’ burn scars — should call 211, so geology, soil and flood control engineers can assess the property and make safety recommendations, Pestrella said.

More than 8,600 firefighters are working the fires, with the focus over the next several days on constructing containment lines and extinguishing hot spots to prevent the fires from spreading. At the Eaton fire, crews applied retardant around the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and cleared brush in high-risk areas in La Cañada, according to Cal Fire.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials have arrested 47 people in the fire zones, Sheriff Robert Luna said Thursday. About 14 people were arrested on suspicion of burglary and another 17 suspected of curfew violations. Other arrests were made for alleged narcotics possession, firearm possession and ID theft, authorities said.

Winds are expected to continue dissipating this week, but it’s shaping up to be a short reprieve for the region. There’s growing risk that significant fire weather could return to Los Angeles and Ventura counties starting early next week. The region is also facing continued danger from extreme dry conditions and lack of rain.

Southern California is seeing one of its driest starts to a winter on record. Much of the region has received just 5% or less of its average rainfall for this point in the water year, which began Oct. 1, said Alex Tardy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in San Diego, which also issues forecasts for Orange County and the Inland Empire.

Downtown L.A. has received just 0.16 of an inch of rain since Oct. 1 — 3% of the average at this point in the season, which is 5.56 inches. For many other areas of Southern California, “this is the driest start to any water year,” Tardy said, “and you can see extreme fire behavior with the ignitions.”

In the coming days, Monday and Tuesday are of the most concern, with a 70% chance of red flag warnings for Los Angeles and Ventura counties, which indicates a high likelihood of critical fire behavior should one ignite, according to the National Weather Service.

Relative humidity could fall under 10% next week, meaning vegetation will be especially bone-dry and vulnerable. As for wind, there is increasing confidence that moderate Santa Anas will develop.

“We still have a large amount of unburned, dry fuel with low humidity,” said Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley. “There are more extreme winds on the horizons... next week and our community needs to remain ready.”

Officials have confirmed 2,869 structures have been destroyed in the Palisades fire. Another 508 structures have been damaged, according to Cal Fire. As officials continue damage assessments, those numbers are likely to increase. Authorities estimate that 5,300 structures have burned in that fire.

Damage assessments have confirmed 5,718 structures destroyed and 679 damaged in the Eaton fire, though inspection teams have completed assessments for only 60% of the structures in the fire’s footprint, according to Cal Fire. Officials estimate that 7,000 structures were damaged or destroyed; structures can include homes, businesses, smaller outbuildings, sheds and even vehicles.

The causes of both large fires are under investigation.

Investigators looking into the Eaton fire are focusing on an area around a Southern California Edison electrical transmission tower in Eaton Canyon.

The head of Southern California Edison said Wednesday that winds blowing in Eaton Canyon on Jan. 7 were not strong enough to meet the threshold the company uses for de-energizing the powerful electrical transmission line.

As for the Palisades fire, sources with knowledge of the investigation have told The Times that the fire, which started in the Skull Rock area north of Sunset Boulevard, appears to have human origins. Officials are looking into whether a small fire possibly sparked by New Year’s Eve fireworks could somehow have rekindled on Jan. 7.

Jose Medina, acting special agent in charge of the Los Angeles field division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said investigators are scouring video from state owned cameras that were in place in the area, from residents and social media posts.

Investigators have already reviewed frame by frame between 50 and 60 hours of video related to Palisades fire, an agency spokesperson told The Times.

Medina urged people who were in the area that day — even those who don’t think they have a lot of information — to contact the agency.

“We are talking to individuals about not just what they saw, but what they smelled and they heard,” Medina said.”Even if you were in the area and saw or smelled nothing, that too could be valuable information.”