Closing summary
Thanks for joining our live coverage of the Los Angeles wildfires today. The sun is setting in California and this blog is now closing. You can read our full report on the fires today here.
Here are the top headlines from this afternoon and evening:
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There are four wildfires currently raging in Los Angeles county. They include:
The Palisades fire, at 23,654 acres and 11% containment
The Eaton fire, at 14,117 acres and 15% containment
The Kenneth fire, at 1,052 acres and 90% containment
The Hurst fire, at 799 acres and 76% containment
Eleven fatalities have been officially confirmed in the Palisades and Eaton fires. As family members have been alerted to the losses of their loved ones, eight of the victims have been publicly identified. Law enforcement officials expect the death toll to rise once weather and fire conditions allow cadaver dogs and detectives into the burn zones.
In response to criticism over water supply issues, the LA department of public works released a statement “correcting misinformation” about the lack of water to fight the Palisades fire this week. The statement was released one day after the chief of the LA fire department, Kristin Crowley, told Fox LA that her firefighters had been hamstrung when hydrants ran dry in certain parts of the Palisades on Wednesday morning.
Firefighters deployed from Mexico arrived in Los Angeles Saturday afternoon. Canadian and Texan firefighters are also on their way to the Golden state.
California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, has doubled the deployment of the state’s national guard to Los Angeles amid the wildfires.
Newsom has also launched a website aimed at addressing misinformation about the Los Angeles area wildfires. CaliforniaFireFacts.com, a branch of Newsom’s own website, includes information about water availability, forest land management and LA’s fire department budget.
The New York Post published aerial images taken by paparazzi the same day that a drone grounded a firefighting Super Scooper aircraft. The images were captured by London Entertainment, a Los Angeles-based celebrity photography company founded by London-trained paparazzo Giles Harrison.
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Sag-Aftra donates $1m to assist members affected by LA fires
Sag-Aftra, the union representing 160,000 actors and performers, will donate $1m to “assist members experiencing hardship caused by the Los Angeles fires”.
“The very essence of a labor union is solidarity: that we all work to elevate each other during times of stability, and we’re there for each other in times of crisis. The devastation is hard to fathom, even for those of us living in it,” union president Fran Drescher said in a statement.
Many members of the film industry – which has already canceled and postponed numerous premieres, awards shows and filming as a result of the fires – call the Los Angeles area home.
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