Wildfires latest: 153,000 residents still under evacuation as Kenneth Fire order lifted
Firefighters are hoping for a break Friday from the fierce winds that have fueled massive blazes in the Los Angeles area, killing 10 people, obliterating whole neighborhoods and setting the nation’s second-largest city on edge.
On Thursday afternoon, the Kenneth Fire started in the San Fernando Valley. It moved into neighboring Ventura County, but a large and aggressive response by firefighters stopped the flames from spreading.
The fires have burned more than 10,000 homes and other structures since Tuesday, when they first began popping up around a densely populated, 25-mile (40-kilometer) expanse north of downtown Los Angeles. No cause has been identified yet for the largest fires.
Here's the latest:
Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman said he would prosecute anyone looting, those flying drones in the wildfire zones, and those breaking the curfew “to the full extent of the law.”
“Looting is a despicable crime,” he said. “For the people who have already been arrested, please know this is not going to end well.”
Los Angeles Sheriff Robert Luna said a curfew on all mandatory evacuation zones will start again at 6 p.m. Friday for houses left standing.
Officials imposed a curfew overnight after arresting several people looting in the burned areas.
“You can’t not be in these affected areas. If you are, you are subject to arrest,” he said.
Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said all evacuation orders and warnings in LA County for the Kenneth Fire have been lifted.
Overall evacuation orders have dipped to 153,000 from more than 180,000.
Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Perrone said the super scooper that was damaged by a drone should be back in the air by Monday.
“Flying a drone in the fire traffic area is not only dangerous but it’s illegal,” he said, adding that those who fly them over the wildfire area will be prosecuted.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said officials are working around the clock and that firefighters have extinguished fires in Pacoima, Hollywood, Studio City and other places.
“To all Angelenos, we’re fighting hard for each of you,” she said. “I don’t believe there is anything Angelenos can’t do if we stand together,” she added.
“There is an extreme amount of frustration, anger, fear with regards to the erroneous messages that have been sent out through the wireless emergency Alert System across L.A County. I can’t express enough how sorry I am for this experience,” L.A. County Office of Emergency Management Director Kevin McGowan said at a news conference on Friday.
McGowan said the alerts are not being sent by a person and his office is trying to find the root cause.
Several organizations are working to support people, families and households affected by the wildfires in the Los Angeles area.
Among those are:
GoFundMe.org: The crowdfunding platform’s nonprofit arm uses its Wildfire Recovery Fund to give emergency grants to verified people and families fundraising for themselves or others, as well as small businesses and nonprofits.
Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) and BStrong: In partnership with Bethenny Frankel’s bstrong disaster relief fund, GEM will distribute cash cards to evacuated residents to help with immediate needs like accommodation, gas and food. The organizations are accepting cash donations.
Los Angeles Regional Food Bank: The food bank is supporting a network of more than 600 partner agencies to make sure impacted households are fed. It’s accepting cash donations, food donations at two sites, and volunteers. If your household needs assistance, you can find a food bank here.
Major fires across the Los Angeles area this week have killed at least 10 people, destroyed thousands of structures and forced 180,000 to flee their homes — including children.
Here are a couple of organizations accepting support specifically for kids and families:
Project Camp: The Los Angeles-based organization runs trauma-informed pop-up day camps for children displaced or out of school due to natural disasters. It’s in the process of setting up multiple sites to help families impacted by the Palisades and Eaton fires. It is accepting monetary donations as well as volunteers to staff the camps.
Impacted families can also find out how to sign up for a camp here.
Boys and Girls Clubs of Malibu: Informed by its experience helping kids and families after the 2018 Woolsey fire, the organization is offering free counseling, case management and resource referrals for area families. It’s collecting donations to provide emergency grants and, when its facilities can safely reopen, it will create an emergency relief distribution center.
Those looking for help can fill out intake forms in English and Spanish.
A firefighting plane had to be grounded Thursday after it was struck by a drone flown by a civilian, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said. Nobody was injured.
It’s a federal crime to fly a drone during firefighting.
NBC News reporter Jacob Soboroff didn’t know what to expect when he turned his SUV onto the Pacific Palisades street where he grew up.
What he found on Wednesday were smoldering ruins where his childhood home had stood. Only the remnants of a chimney and brick wall remained. It was among the countless number of buildings destroyed by the wildfires in the Los Angeles area, where Soboroff is one of many journalists covering the story — and living it.
His own tale, told across several NBC News platforms Wednesday and Thursday, broke the so-called “fourth wall” and gave viewers an intimate experience of what the tragedy felt like.
▶ Read more on how the wildfires have impacted Soboroff and other
National Guard troops were patrolling the streets of Altadena before dawn on Friday after being called in to help protect property in the fire evacuation zone.
Troops in camouflage were posted at intersections in the city hard-hit by the Eaton Fire near Jeeps, Humvees and other military vehicles.
At least 20 arrests have been made for looting and other thefts in areas where the fire raged.
Los Angeles County officials say they plan to put an overnight curfew in place that would make it easier to make arrests.
“We haven’t had any requests for further support. But Australia always stands ready to provide support to our friends in times of need,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese Albanese told Australian Broadcasting Corp. in the west coast city of Perth on Friday.
“One of the issues that we have, of course, is we do need to be cognizant of the fact that this is our fire season as well,” he added.
The California fires come at the peak of Australia’s fire season.
Earth recorded its hottest year ever in 2024, with such a big jump that the planet temporarily passed a major climate threshold, several weather monitoring agencies announced on Friday.
Last year’s global average temperature easily passed 2023’s record heat and kept pushing even higher. It surpassed the long-term warming limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit ) since the late 1800s that was called for by the 2015 Paris climate pact, according to the European Commission’s Copernicus Climate Service, the United Kingdom’s Meteorology Office and Japan’s weather agency.
The European team calculated 1.6 degrees Celsius (2.89 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming. Japan found 1.57 degrees Celsius (2.83 degrees Fahrenheit) and the British 1.53 degrees Celsius (2.75 degrees Fahrenheit) in releases of data coordinated to early Friday morning European time.
▶ Read more about what this could mean for the climate in the future
Investigators are considering an array of possible ignition sources for the huge fires that have killed at least 10 people and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses in the Los Angeles area.
While lightning is the most common source of fires in the U.S., according to the National Fire Protection Association, investigators were able to rule that out quickly. There were no reports of lightning in the Palisades area or the terrain around the Eaton fire, which started in east Los Angeles County and has also destroyed hundreds of homes.
The next two most common causes: fires intentionally set, and those sparked by utility lines.
▶ Read more about what may have caused the fires
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