Closing summary
Thanks for joining our live coverage of the Los Angeles wildfires so far today. It’s 7pm here in California and this blog is closing. These are are the top headlines we followed this afternoon and evening:
-
There are three wildfires currently raging in Los Angeles county. They include:
The Palisades fire, at 23,713 acres and 14% containment.
The Eaton fire, at 14,117 acres and 33% containment.
The Hurst fire, at 799 acres and 97% containment.
At least 24 people have died, and relatives have begun identifying their loved ones as they return to their homes or are notified by local officials. The fires have destroyed more than 12,000 structures and may be the costliest disaster in US history, according to initial estimates of damage and economic losses exceeding $250bn from AccuWeather.
With fire weather expected to continue in the Los Angeles area through Wednesday, state and city officials have pre-deployed firefighters across LA and surrounding counties.
The LA county sheriff’s department has arrested three people in relation to “two drone usages”, Sheriff Robert Luna said on Monday. The Los Angeles county district attorney has also charged ten people in relation to crimes committed during the wildfires, nine for looting.
Altadena residents have filed three lawsuits against Southern California Edison, alleging that the utility is responsible for the Eaton fire. The lawsuits cite evidence that the fire began under a transmission tower and reference the utility’s role in other wildfires. However, no official cause for the fire has yet been determined.
House speaker Mike Johnson said he believes there should be conditions on disaster aid to California, citing “state and local leaders [who] were derelict in their duties”. Hours after Johnson’s comments, Joe Biden said in a media briefing that Congress “needs to step up” and provide funding. Meanwhile, president-elect Donald Trump told conservative outlet NewsMax that he’s eyeing the damage with the perspective he developed as a real estate developer.
California governor Gavin Newsom has called on the state’s legislature to approve $2.5bn in additional funding to aid “response and initial recovery efforts for Los Angeles”. To do so, the governor expanded the special legislative session he’d called for the state in November, designed to prepare for Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Updated
