The Palisades fire burning in Pacific Palisades and Malibu topped 20,000 acres overnight, but fire crews achieved 8% containment of the blaze, authorities said on Friday morning, Jan. 10.
More than 3,000 personnel were battling the blaze into its fourth day and worked with more favorable weather conditions Thursday after two days of strong winds, Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said.
Overnight, firefighters also worked on extinguishing spot fires in the Topanga Canyon area, Crowley said, while also crediting favorable weather conditions and diligent work by firefighters in achieving some containment.
The fire stood at 20,438 acres as of Friday morning, Crowley said.
Crews braced for the possibility of strong winds again Friday as a red flag warning was in place until 6 p.m.
“These conditions will test containment lines,” Crowley said. “Firefighters will continue to respond to any flare-ups.”
The devastating fire, which has been dubbed by fire officials as the most destructive in the history of Los Angeles, has damaged or destroyed more than 5,300 structures in Pacific Palisades and Malibu since it started about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday near the 1100 block of Piedra Morada Drive, officials said.
The Medical Examiner’s office Thursday said it was investigating 10 deaths deemed to be related to the fires in LA County, though it was immediately unclear how many of those deaths were associated with the Palisades fire.
Firefighters have faced many challenges in battling the Palisades fire, from the strong and damaging winds and running out of water due to unprecedented demand early Wednesday morning, to a drone strike grounding a super scooper Thursday.
Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said the super scooper, a fixed-wing aircraft from Quebec, Canada, suffered a “fist-sized” hole in the frontside of one of the wings, but should be repaired and ready to fly again by Monday.
“Flying a drone in the fire area is dangerous and illegal,” Marrone said.
Evacuations orders for all fires were still affecting some 153,000 residents and nearly 58,000 structures, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said. Evacuation warnings were affecting an additional 166,800 residents, he said.
Luna did not update the number of arrests for looting Friday morning. That number stood at 20 on Thursday.
The sheriff also said a 6 p.m. curfew will remain in place for fire-affected areas in order to prevent further burglaries and looting and said he had been authorized to book people who violate that curfew into jail rather than cite-and-release.
“We are doing it to protect the structures, the houses that people that left because we ordered them to leave and I want them to feel confident that we are doing everything we can to protect that,” Luna said.
Members of the National Guard were anticipated to arrive in the Pacific Palisades area Friday morning to help with traffic control and structure protection, officials said.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said his office is considering cases for arson, looting, curfew restriction, drones and scams.
Officials also addressed the erroneous messaging sent out by the county’s alert system, including one that went countywide of an evacuation warning meant only for those affected by the Kenneth fire. Kevin McGowan, director of the county’s Office of Emergency Services said the messages were not being administered by a person.
“We have every technological specialist working to resolve this issue and to find the root cause,” McGowan said. “I implore everyone to not disable the messages on your phone. This is extremely frustrating, painful and scary, but these tools have saved lives during emergencies. Not receiving an alert can be a consequence of life and death.”
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