By Nathan Frandino and Jackie Luna
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Firefighters made slow progress in their battle to contain the inferno that has burned wide areas of Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades neighborhood to the ground, but spreading flames and strong winds still threatened communities and officials warned on Sunday that a death toll of 14 people was likely to rise.
Aircraft dropped water and fire retardant on steep hills to stem the eastward spread of the Palisades Fire and KTLA television reported that ground crews had managed to save a number of houses, although others were lost.
“LA County had another night of unimaginable terror and heartbreak,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said.
Six simultaneous blazes have ripped across the second-largest U.S. city since Tuesday, killing at least 14 people as of Sunday morning. At least 16 others were believed missing.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said he expected the death toll to rise. “I’ve got search and rescue teams out. We’ve got cadaver dogs out and there’s likely to be a lot more,” he told NBC’s “Meet the Press” program.
Newsom said the fires are likely to be the worst natural disaster in U.S. history “in terms of just the costs associated with it.”
Active duty military personnel are ready to support the firefighting effort, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said in a series of Sunday television interviews, adding the agency has urged residents to begin filing for disaster relief.
“We have the funding to support this response, to support this recovery,” she told ABC’s “This Week” program.
The blazes have damaged or destroyed 12,000 structures, fire officials said. By Sunday, more than 100,000 people in Los Angeles County had been ordered to evacuate, while another 87,000 faced evacuation warnings.
Flames have reduced whole neighborhoods to smoldering ruins, destroying the homes of the rich and famous and ordinary folk alike, and leaving an apocalyptic landscape. Over the past 24 hours, the Palisades Fire spread over an additional 1,000 acres (400 hectares), consuming more homes, officials reported.
Cal Fire official Todd Hopkins said that while 11% of the Palisades Fire was now contained, it had burned more than 22,000 acres (8,900 hectares).
Hopkins told a press conference that fire had spread into the Mandeville Canyon and was threatening to jump into Brentwood, an upscale neighborhood that is home to many celebrities, and the San Fernando Valley. It also inched toward the north-south 405 freeway.
SANTA ANA WINDS
Dozens of Brentwood residents hoping to return to neighborhoods evacuated because of the Palisades Fire began lining up at around 5 a.m. on Sunday, while volunteers distributed coffee and donuts. They were denied entry by officials who said the area was still too dangerous.
“In driving around some of these areas, they literally look like war zones. There are downed power poles, electric wires. There are still some smoldering fires. It is not safe,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna.
Although the Santa Ana winds that have fanned the flames had calmed some over the weekend, the National Weather Service warned that stronger gusts of up to 70 mph (110 kph) could return early next week. Local officials said they expect the strongest winds to occur on Tuesday.
Red Flag warnings remain in effect for LA and Ventura counties through to Wednesday, the NWS said.
“These winds, combined with dry air and dry vegetation, will keep the fire weather threat in the area,” it said. Conditions were expected to moderate by Thursday.
Some residents were allowed to return to the sites of their ruined homes on Saturday to see what they could salvage. Teams with the LA County Sheriff’s Department were working to sift through the rubble with dogs to search for human remains.
FEDERAL HELP
President Joe Biden was due to convene key officials for a Sunday afternoon virtual briefing on efforts to suppress the wildfires across Los Angeles and how federal resources are supporting the state and local response.
His declaration of a major disaster unlocked federal assistance for those affected by the wildfires, clearing the way for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide support.
“FEMA is now starting to support, with the major disaster declaration, the individuals that have been impacted,” Criswell said on Fox News Sunday, urging people to register for assistance through the website DisasterAssistance.gov.
Support can range from funding for home repairs to money to replace lost food or medication, FEMA spokesperson Michael Hart said, adding that assistance can be provided within days.
Newsom also signed an executive order to reduce the amount of state government red tape needed to rebuild lost homes and businesses.
However, President-elect Donald Trump criticized local and state officials he believed had handled the situation badly.
“The fires are still raging in L.A. The incompetent pols have no idea how to put them out. Thousands of magnificent houses are gone, and many more will soon be lost. There is death all over the place… they just can’t put out the fires. What’s wrong with them?” he said on his Truth Social media feed.
Los Angeles Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger told reporters she invited Trump – who takes office on Jan. 20 – to visit the county to get a first-hand look at the destruction.
‘WEEKS OF WORK’
In Altadena, official Don Fregulia said managing the Eaton Fire and its impact will be a “huge, Herculean task” that he said will take “many weeks of work.”
The Cal Fire website reported that the Eaton Fire was 27% contained, up from 15% on Saturday, after burning 14,117 acres.
The two big fires combined have consumed more than 36,000 acres (14,500 hectares), or 56 square miles (145 square km) – 2-1/2 times the land area of Manhattan – in one of the worst disasters in Los Angeles history.
Officials have declared a public health emergency due to the thick, toxic smoke hanging over the city and poor air quality as the fires lofted traces of metals, plastics and other synthetic materials.
Progress was reported in bringing electrical power back to Los Angeles neighborhoods. Southern California Edison CEO Steven Powell said there were now about 50,000 customers without power, down from more than half a million days earlier.
Private forecaster AccuWeather estimated the damage and economic loss at $135 billion to $150 billion, portending soaring homeowners’ insurance costs.
Pope Francis in his weekly address to the faithful in St. Peter’s Square said: “I am close to the people of Los Angeles … where devastating fires have broken out in recent days. I pray for all of you.”
(Reporting by Katharine Jackson, Douglas Gillison and Andrea Shalal in Washington; Nathan Frandino, Jorge Garcia, Rollo Ross, Maria Alejandra Cardona, Joe Brock, Chad Terhune, Matt McKnight, Fred Greaves, Mike Blake, Omar Younis, Sandra Stojanovic and Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; Writing by Angus MacSwan and David Morgan; Editing by Mary Milliken, William Mallard, Alex Richardson, Bill Berkrot and Sandra Maler)
