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What we know about the California wildfires
- A series of destructive wildfires in the greater Los Angeles area have killed at least 10 people and forced 180,000 from their homes. The true death toll is known, authorities said, as fires destroy entire streets and thousands of structures.
- Dry conditions and powerful winds fed at least five blazes, causing unprecedented damage in highly populated areas not known for fires — and strong winds are set to last through Friday, further complicating firefighting efforts.
- The Palisades Fire has burned through almost 20,000 acres — more than 30 square miles — and has destroyed an estimated 5,000 structures. It was 6% contained tonight.
- The latest brush fire, the Kenneth Fire, emerged yesterday afternoon in the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles, near Calabasas, prompting more evacuations. Evacuation orders were later downgraded, and forward progress of the fire was stopped, officials said.
- An evacuation alert was sent in error to the phones of nearly 10 million L.A.-area residents, a mistake likely to have caused panic and fear for many far from the threatened area.
At Los Angeles emergency shelters, wildfire evacuees turn to community help amid uncertainty
Reporting from LOS ANGELES
Johnnie Burman, an evacuee from Santa Monica, at Westwood Recreation Center.Brandon Tauszik for NBC NewsAsh trickled down from a gray sky and the smell of smoke lingered in the air today as Angelenos made phone calls to loved ones.
The common refrain: We’re OK. We’re safe. We’re at a shelter.
The evacuees paced outside the grounds of the Westwood Recreation Center in West Los Angeles today. It is one of four makeshift spaces for wildfire evacuees run by the Red Cross in the affected areas.
“The devastation, the destruction, I never thought this would happen,” said Johnnie Burman, 64, an evacuee from Santa Monica who went to the shelter in hope of finding his elderly neighbor and friend.
Aerial view of wildfire destruction in Pacific Palisades
Mario Tama / Getty Images
Mario Tama / Getty ImagesImages reveal the extent of destroyed homes in the Pacific Palisades yesterday as multiple wildfires, fueled by intense Santa Ana winds, continue to burn across Los Angeles County.
‘Entirely foreseeable’: The L.A. fires are the worst-case scenario experts feared
For the Los Angeles area, the recent string of wildfires represents a worst-case scenario — unusually powerful and prolonged Santa Ana winds struck after months without significant rain. But the steep consequences of the blazes are not a surprise, according to an NBC News review of after-action reports following previous fires, wildfire risk maps, public meetings about wildfire risk and interviews with fire experts.
“Entirely foreseeable,” said Char Miller, a professor of environmental analysis and history at Pomona College.
“We have been building homes deep into the fire zones. We know they’re fire zones, we know they’re dangerous, and yet City Hall and county government has constantly greenlit development in places of greater and greater risks,” Miller said. “All of the factors you don’t want to see combined combined.”
Surviving temple now a ‘refuge for the entire community’
Reporting from Pacific Palisades
Amid the wide destruction of the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles, there were symbols of hope. One of them was a temple still standing amid the destruction. It’s a place I know well.
Catch up with NBC News' coverage of the California wildfires
- Evacuation alert sent in error to phones of nearly 10 million L.A.-area residents
- ‘Entirely foreseeable’: The L.A. fires are the worst-case scenario experts feared
- At Los Angeles emergency shelters, wildfire evacuees turn to community help amid uncertainty
- Conservatives blame California wildfires on a small fish, DEI and more
- Drone video shows devastating damage of Palisades Fire in Southern California
- From a school featured in ‘Freaky Friday’ to a historic synagogue, these are some of the landmarks damaged in the L.A. fires
- What makes the Santa Ana winds so destructive?
- Los Angeles wildfires could be costliest blaze in U.S. history
- L.A. officials say looters ‘targeting vulnerable communities’ will be held accountable
- Video shows Mayor Karen Bass refuse to answer L.A. fires questions as she returns from trip abroad
- Los Angeles wildfires rage as California homeowners battle an ‘insurance crisis’
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