Clara Harter
Sat, February 1, 2025
Los Angeles Times
Lashonda Ellis comforts her grandmother Margaret Martin, 96, who lost her Altadena home built by her husband, Henry Martin, in 1966.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.Generate Key Takeaways
Fire crews have reached a milestone in the devastating firestorm that rained embers and terror across Los Angeles County, achieving 100% containment of the Palisades and Eaton fires Friday evening.
But a long road to recovery looms ahead, with thousands of Angelenos left without homes, and entire neighborhoods left flattened.
Estimates of the total economic loss are more than $250 billion, which would make the fires one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history. More than 124,000 individuals have registered for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass' office.
Read more: Estimated cost of fire damage balloons to more than $250 billion
Both blazes ignited on Jan. 7 and quickly exploded in size — fanned by fierce Santa Ana wind gusts and critically low humidity rates that prompted the National Weather Service to issue its most severe fire weather warning.
The Palisades fire went on to char 23,448 acres in the area of Pacific Palisades, Topanga and Malibu, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Over 6,800 structures were destroyed, including many residences and iconic businesses along Pacific Coast Highway and homes in the hills above. At least 12 people were killed.
The Eaton fire tore a path of destruction through 14,021 acres in and around Altadena and Pasadena, razing over 9,400 structures and claiming 17 lives. It took a heavy toll on the historically Black community of Altadena, where many families of color had used their homes to accumulate generational wealth.
Read more: Against all odds, Black residents built something remarkable in Altadena. Then the fire came
Although the fires have been contained, massive piles of debris remain, as does the challenge of repopulating neighborhoods with crippled infrastructure and riddled with hazardous waste.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced an ambitious 30-day timeline to remove hazardous waste by establishing temporary debris processing sites near Topanga Canyon and Irwindale. Both sites have generated fierce resistance from local residents worried about the potential impacts on human and environmental health.
On Friday afternoon, Bass announced the planned reopening of Pacific Palisades to the general public, which has also upset residents, who are worried about toxic debris, looters and lookie-loos.
While fire season has yet to come to an official end, a rainstorm next week is expected to help push the county closer to the precipitation levels needed to do so.
Read more: Three atmospheric river storms are headed for California. Will one be enough to end SoCal’s devastating fire season?
While the Palisades and Eaton fires were the most devastating blazes to ignite during January's severe fire weather, they were far from alone. The Lidia, Archer, Woodley, Sunset, Kenneth, Hurst and Auto fires collectively scorched almost 2,400 acres; all are also 100% contained. The Hughes fire ignited near Castaic Lake on Jan. 22 and quickly grew to over 10,000 acres before crews were able to reach 100% containment.
To battle the firestorm, regional fire crews were assisted by a massive outpouring of aid from fire departments across the country, as well as Mexico and Canada.
Investigations into the causes of the two largest fires are ongoing.
In the case of the Eaton fire, officials are scrutinizing a Southern California Edison electrical transmission tower where videos showed what appeared to be a fire igniting. For the Palisades fire, investigators are focusing their efforts on a popular hiking trail where they believe an old fire was reignited or a new fire sparked on Jan. 7.
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Deadly Eaton and Palisades fires 100% contained after 24 days
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.Generate Key Takeaways
Fire crews have reached a milestone in the devastating firestorm that rained embers and terror across Los Angeles County, achieving 100% containment of the Palisades and Eaton fires Friday evening.
But a long road to recovery looms ahead, with thousands of Angelenos left without homes, and entire neighborhoods left flattened.
Estimates of the total economic loss are more than $250 billion, which would make the fires one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history. More than 124,000 individuals have registered for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass' office.
Read more: Estimated cost of fire damage balloons to more than $250 billion
Both blazes ignited on Jan. 7 and quickly exploded in size — fanned by fierce Santa Ana wind gusts and critically low humidity rates that prompted the National Weather Service to issue its most severe fire weather warning.
The Palisades fire went on to char 23,448 acres in the area of Pacific Palisades, Topanga and Malibu, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Over 6,800 structures were destroyed, including many residences and iconic businesses along Pacific Coast Highway and homes in the hills above. At least 12 people were killed.
The Eaton fire tore a path of destruction through 14,021 acres in and around Altadena and Pasadena, razing over 9,400 structures and claiming 17 lives. It took a heavy toll on the historically Black community of Altadena, where many families of color had used their homes to accumulate generational wealth.
Read more: Against all odds, Black residents built something remarkable in Altadena. Then the fire came
Although the fires have been contained, massive piles of debris remain, as does the challenge of repopulating neighborhoods with crippled infrastructure and riddled with hazardous waste.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced an ambitious 30-day timeline to remove hazardous waste by establishing temporary debris processing sites near Topanga Canyon and Irwindale. Both sites have generated fierce resistance from local residents worried about the potential impacts on human and environmental health.
On Friday afternoon, Bass announced the planned reopening of Pacific Palisades to the general public, which has also upset residents, who are worried about toxic debris, looters and lookie-loos.
While fire season has yet to come to an official end, a rainstorm next week is expected to help push the county closer to the precipitation levels needed to do so.
Read more: Three atmospheric river storms are headed for California. Will one be enough to end SoCal’s devastating fire season?
While the Palisades and Eaton fires were the most devastating blazes to ignite during January's severe fire weather, they were far from alone. The Lidia, Archer, Woodley, Sunset, Kenneth, Hurst and Auto fires collectively scorched almost 2,400 acres; all are also 100% contained. The Hughes fire ignited near Castaic Lake on Jan. 22 and quickly grew to over 10,000 acres before crews were able to reach 100% containment.
To battle the firestorm, regional fire crews were assisted by a massive outpouring of aid from fire departments across the country, as well as Mexico and Canada.
Investigations into the causes of the two largest fires are ongoing.
In the case of the Eaton fire, officials are scrutinizing a Southern California Edison electrical transmission tower where videos showed what appeared to be a fire igniting. For the Palisades fire, investigators are focusing their efforts on a popular hiking trail where they believe an old fire was reignited or a new fire sparked on Jan. 7.
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Deadly Eaton and Palisades fires 100% contained after 24 days
Dennis Romero
Updated Sat, February 1, 2025
The deadly, wind-fueled Palisades and Eaton fires, which broke out 3½ weeks ago in Southern California, were declared fully contained Friday by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The expansive Palisades Fire erupted the morning of Jan. 7 in Pacific Palisades, a neighborhood east of Malibu, as a brush fire and was quickly exploded in Southern California’s dry weather conditions.
Later that evening, the Eaton Fire started in Los Angeles County in the foothills of Angeles National Forest. It feasted on seven months of rain-free brush as hurricane-force winds spread it into the neighborhoods of Altadena.
A resident inspects the remains of her home in Altadena, Calif., on Jan. 9, 2025.
Containment denotes how much of a perimeter has been established around a fire to halt its growth.
At least 29 people were killed in the two fires — 17 in the Eaton Fire and 12 in the Palisades Fire, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.
The official cause of the fires is under investigation, according to Cal Fire.
The Palisades Fire covered 23,448 acres, destroyed 6,837 structures and damaged an additional 1,017, according to Cal Fire.
A firefighter extinguishes vehicles in Altadena, Calif., during the Eaton Fire on Jan. 8.
The Eaton Fire fed on a San Gabriel Valley foothills enclave nestled against the vast, mountainous Angeles National Forest as heavy winds pushed flames downhill and into the urban population.
It destroyed 9,418 structures and damaged 1,073, many of them century-old homes in Altadena, a historically inclusive community known for its Black professionals and artists. Many of the community's architectural gems, including the Andrew McNally House and the Zane Grey Estate, were destroyed, according to the Los Angeles Conservancy.
Roughly 4,000 acres of the 14,021-acre blaze covered urban and residential blocks, the operations section chief on the fire, Jed Gaines of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said at a community meeting last week.
Residents return to their fire-damaged home after the Eaton Fire swept through Altadena on Jan. 8.
MAGA Forces Trans Soldier to Say They Weren’t Flying Doomed Black Hawk
The Daily Beast
A combination of drought-like conditions and powerful offshore winds in Southern California prompted fire weather that was, in the words of the National Weather Service, “about as bad as it gets.” The region has had less than 10% of average rainfall since Oct. 1.
The National Weather Service warned extreme fire weather was coming, using a rare term, “particularly dangerous situation,” on Jan. 6.
Gov. Gavin Newsom moved state fire personnel and equipment to Southern California as a precaution, his office said the day before the fires.
The wildfires overwhelmed most attempts to stop them, though a few others, such as the Sunset Fire in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, were contained, doused and starved of fuel.
On Monday, Cal Fire Chief Joe Tyler credited the recent storm, which brought the first significant rainfall to parts of Southern California in nearly eight months, for helping firefighters working on the deadly L.A. blazes.
“Rain showers across Southern California have greatly reduced current fire potential,” he said on X.
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