Wildfires rage through LA prompting mass evacuations, impacting thousands
Thousands of residents are being forced to flee as multiple wildfires burn across Los Angeles County. Firefighters continue to battle the fires, which have intensified due to strong winds and drier conditions.
So far, more than 28,000 homes and businesses are in the direct path of the fires, with evacuation orders affecting over 70,000 people. Los Angeles Fire Chief Anthony Marrone stated the Santa Ana winds are pushing the flames across the region.
“The fire is growing, we have no percentage of containment,” the chief said in an update on Wednesday, Jan. 8.
At least three separate fires are currently burning across the county, stretching several miles from the Pacific coastline to Pasadena.
The most significant is the Palisades Fire, located to the west of the city. The fire has already scorched more than 5,000 acres.
“We have an estimated 1,000 structures destroyed,” Marrone said.
In addition to the Palisades Fire, crews are working to control the Hurst Fire in the northwestern part of the county. The Eaton Fire to the northeast is also spreading rapidly, driven by winds reaching up to 100 mph.
Amid the thick smoke, authorities discovered the bodies of two individuals, though it is not yet confirmed if their deaths were directly linked to the fires. Officials are continuing to investigate the circumstances.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department is urging residents to prioritize safety. The department has seen a high number of injuries from individuals who ignored evacuation orders.
The fire chief also said emergency workers have also sustained injuries while battling the wildfires on the frontlines.
“The National Weather Service has predicted a continued red flag weather event with strong winds and low humidity placing all residents of Los Angeles County in danger,” Marrone added.
Due to the extreme weather conditions, more than 300,000 people across California have been without power. While the exact cause of the wildfires remains under investigation, officials are working tirelessly to contain the spread of the flames and prevent further destruction.
Wildfires force thousands to evacuate Southern California
Three massive wildfires are burning out of control in Southern California, putting thousands of homes at risk. And President-elect Donald Trump shares his plans to acquire Greenland, the Panama Canal and bring Canada as the 51st state. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025.
Southern California wildfires force thousands to evacuate
Three separate wildfires are burning in the Los Angeles, California, area, and there is no end in sight, as strong winds are fueling the flames. The most extreme of the three is the Palisades Fire, which spans nearly 3,000 acres and has already forced 30,000 residents to evacuate.
Cities surrounding Pacific Palisades, including Malibu, issued evacuation orders. Officials there told all residents to prepare to leave their homes, whether they were under evacuation orders or not since the inferno was moving so quickly.
All hands are on deck to fight the #PalisadesFire in Southern California. California is deeply grateful for the brave firefighters & first responders battling the blaze.
We will continue to mobilize resources and support local communities as they respond to this severe weather. pic.twitter.com/JZrYy85e4z
The neighboring city of Santa Monica also issued an evacuation order for the northern part of the city. It also closed the area to the public, warning of an immediate threat to life.
As thousands of firefighters continue to battle the flames, authorities work to find the fire’s cause.
A second wildfire, dubbed the Eaton Fire, burns near Pasadena. A city spokeswoman said it has “created its own firestorm” with flying embers igniting at least a dozen other spot fires.
So far, the Eaton Fire has consumed about 1,000 acres. It engulfed homes and forced more than 100 people to evacuate from a nursing home — some in wheelchairs and on gurneys. A federal disaster declaration is now in effect for the Eaton Fire.
Crews are also battling the Hurst Fire about 100 acres in the San Fernando Valley, which is in the northern part of Los Angeles County. The Hurst Fire also prompted evacuation orders.
The Los Angeles County canceled schools in 19 districts Wednesday, Jan. 8. Plus, more than 200,000 people are without access to power, either because of the powerful Santa Ana winds or because a utility provider turned off electricity to prevent additional fires.
The forecast called for the winds to continue for days, producing gusts that could top 100 miles per hour in the mountains and foothills.
Biden administration asks federal appeals court to block 9/11 plea deals
The Biden administration asked a federal appeals court to block a plea agreement for accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The controversial deal would spare Mohammed from the death penalty for his role in planning the terror attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.
The deadly attack rocked the U.S. and began the war on terrorism.
In court filings Tuesday, Jan. 7, the Justice Department argued the government would be irreparably harmed if the guilty pleas were accepted for Mohammed and two co-defendants in the 9/11 attacks.
It said the government would be denied a chance for a public trial and the opportunity to “seek capital punishment against three men charged with a heinous act of mass murder that caused the death of thousands of people and shocked the nation and the world.”
The Defense Department negotiated and approved the plea deal but later revoked it.
However, attorneys for the defendants argued the deal was already legally in effect and that U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who began the administration’s efforts to throw it out, acted too late.
Mohammed is set to enter his guilty plea on Friday, Jan. 10, if the appeal is not granted. His co-defendants, accused of lesser roles in 9/11, are due to enter theirs next week.
Harris, Johnson deliver eulogies for President Jimmy Carter
The 39th president died last week at the age of 100.
Carter’s body had been lying in repose since Saturday, Jan. 5, at the Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta before being transported Tuesday morning to Washington D.C.
Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson each delivered a eulogy during Tuesday’s ceremony
“We all know that his care for humanity didn’t stop at building homes,” Johnson said. “In the face of illness, President Jimmy Carter brought lifesaving medicine. In the face of conflict, he brokered peace. In the face of discrimination, he reminded us that we are all made in the image of God. If you were to ask him why he did it all, he would likely point to his faith.”
Harris highlighted Carter’s faith. She said, “James Earl Carter, Jr. loved our country. He lived his faith. He served the people. And he left the world better than he found it.”
Carter’s body will lie in state through Thursday morning, Jan. 9, and then be taken to the National Cathedral for a state funeral. Biden is expected to deliver a eulogy.
Trump suggests using military, economic force to expand America
In a wide-ranging press conference from Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, President-elect Donald Trump touched on a bunch of topics, including a $20 billion foreign investment to build data centers in the U.S. He also talked about his plans to revoke Biden’s recent ban on offshore oil and natural gas drilling as well as expansion strategies for the United States.
Trump reiterated his goals of acquiring the Panama Canal, which has been under Panama’s sole control since 1999, and Greenland, a territory of Denmark.
Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., is leading an American delegation currently in Greenland, though the country’s prime minister said he is there as “a private individual.”
The Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen responded to Trump’s remarks Tuesday, saying Greenland was not for sale.
Greenlandic Prime Minister Múte Egede reiterated this point, saying “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders. Our future and fight for independence is our business.”
A reporter asked the president-elect if he can assure that he would not use any military force to take control of either the Panama Canal or Greenland.
“I can’t assure you, you’re talking about Panama and Greenland,” Trump replied. “No, I can’t assure you on either of those two but, I can say this we need them for economic security. The Panama Canal was built for a military. I’m not going to commit to that now.”
In response to those remarks, the prime minister of Denmark called the United States its country’s “closest ally” and did not believe the U.S. would use any force to secure Greenland. Panama’s foreign minister repeated earlier comments from the country’s president that the sovereignty of the Panama Canal is not negotiable.
“[I’d use] economic force because Canada and the United States — that would really be something,” he said. “You get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you take a look at what that looks like. It would also be much better for national security. Don’t forget, we basically protect Canada.”
Outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued his response in a post on X saying, “There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States.”The president-elect also spoke of one more geographical goal of his in the upcoming term: to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, saying it “has a beautiful ring to it.”
Not long after his remarks, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia said she directed her staff to begin drafting legislation for the name change.
Police: Former soldier used AI to plan Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion attack
New details are emerging about the man who blew up a Tesla Cybertruck outside Trump Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day. Las Vegas police said Tuesday the attacker used generative AI, including ChatGPT to plan the attack.
An investigation into former soldier Matthew Livelsberger, 37, found his search history on ChatGPT included questions about firearms and explosives. Straight Arrow News reporter Lauren Taylor has more details on the investigation into the Cybertruck explosion.
Girl Scout cookie season begins, 2 flavors discontinued
Girl Scout cookie season has arrived. The annual tradition is meant to teach young girls about entrepreneurial skills through selling boxes of cookies.
Almost everyone has a favorite, of course, but if yours is Girl Scout S’mores or Toast-Yay! Cookies — bad news. The Girl Scouts plan to retire those two flavors later this year.
The organization said discontinuing those two flavors may lead to something new and delicious.
Wildfire breaks out in Southern California, mandatory evacuations issued
A fast-moving wildfire erupted Tuesday, Jan. 7, in the Pacific Palisades, roughly 20 miles west of downtown Los Angeles. Residents have been issued mandatory evacuations as firefighters battle the flames in steep, rugged terrain.
The Palisades Fire, fueled by a strong windstorm and ongoing drought, broke out near a neighborhood between Santa Monica and Malibu. By evening, the fire had spread to Los Angeles, growing to over 2,900 acres.
Los Angeles officials declared a state of emergency, as nearly 30,000 people had to evacuate their homes.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on X that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved a Fire Management Assistance Grant to support local fire departments with response costs.
Numerous fire crews are working to contain the fast-moving flames. However, firefighters have had difficulty getting their trucks up Palisades Drive after residents abandoned their vehicles in the middle of the roadway.
KTLA spoke with actor Steve Guttenberg, who lives nearby and offered to help.
“If anybody has a car and they leave their car, leave the keys in the car so that we can move your car,” said Guttenberg. “So that these fire trucks can get up Palisades Drive. What happens is people take their keys with them as if they’re in a parking lot. This is not a parking lot. We really need people to move their cars.”
California to require insurers to offer policies in fire-prone areas
In recent years, destructive wildfires across California prompted some insurance companies to stop writing new policies for high-risk areas. Now, California is implementing a new regulation requiring home insurers to offer new policies in fire-prone areas if they want to remain in the state, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced Monday, Dec. 30.
This is the first regulation of its kind in California.
“Californians deserve a reliable insurance market that doesn’t retreat from communities most vulnerable to wildfires and climate change. This is a historic moment for California,” Lara said in a statement.
Insurers must cover at least 85% of their statewide market share in those high-risk regions, gradually increasing coverage by 5% every two years until they reach the target, according to a news release from Lara’s office.
In exchange, California will modernize reinsurance regulations to help insurance companies expand coverage and offer more policies in high-risk communities –– something the commissioner believes will boost stability and resilience in the market.
Reinsurance is insurance for insurance companies that provides support in the event of large-scale losses.
Opponents of the new regulation disagree.
Consumer Watchdog President Jamie Court spoke to KTVU News and said rates are on track to rise by 40%.
“There is no legally binding commitment in this document that they have to cover more people, but we’re all going to be paying more,” Court said. “There is nothing in these, like, you know, 72 pages of regulation and explanations about the cost impact on consumers.”
Consumer Watchdog says it will sue to block or overturn the new regulations, KTVU reports.
Thousands return home after Malibu fire, Dick Van Dyke shares his escape
As thousands of Malibu residents who fled the Franklin Fire return home, legendary actor Dick Van Dyke is sharing his narrow escape from the wildfire with NBC News. The actor, who turns 99 on Friday, Dec. 13, had to crawl to escape the fire.
“I forgot how old I am, and I realized I was crawling to get out,” Van Dyke told NBC News.
Van Dyke says after attempting to put out the flames in his guest house with a water hose, he became too exhausted to stand.
“I was trying to crawl to the car,” Van Dyke said. “I couldn’t get up. Three neighbors came and carried me out and came back and put out a little fire in the guest house, and saved me. Thank God for them.”
The wildfire grew to more than 4,000 acres on Wednesday, Dec. 11, and at one point, thousands of structures were threatened by the fire.
The cause of the fire, which sparked on Monday, Dec. 9, is still under investigation. Officials say lighter winds on Thursday, Dec. 12 and more moisture helped them make progress in the battle against the fire.
Around 3,700 who previously evacuated were able to return home on Thursday as further progress in containing the fire was made.
Rapidly spreading fire in Malibu grows by nearly 40% overnight as thousands flee
A rapidly spreading wildfire in Malibu, California, exploded in size on Wednesday, Dec. 11, as thousands of people, including some celebrities, fled their homes. The Franklin Fire, fueled by strong winds and dry conditions, grew from around 2,700 acres to nearly 4,000 acres overnight.
Officials report that at least 7,500 structures, mostly homes, are in harm’s way, and nearly 13,000 are under evacuation orders.
CalFire says more than 1,500 firefighters are battling the fire, but it remained only slightly contained as crews navigated the rugged terrain.
The fire has burned both homes and celebrity mansions, and at Pepperdine University, thousands of students sheltered in place on campus.
The fire erupted on Monday, Dec. 9, and quickly spread, forcing officials to shut down power to about 40,000 customers in the region to prevent electric equipment from sparking more flames.
Malibu’s Franklin Fire forces thousands to flee, all public schools to close
An intense wildfire fueled by strong winds and dry conditions ripped through Malibu, California, on Tuesday, Dec. 10, reportedly forcing thousands of people to flee along the coast. Additionally, around 2,000 structures threatened by the fire were under evacuation orders.
Meanwhile, Pepperdine University ordered students and staff to shelter in place and canceled classes and final exams as firefighters battled the blaze that had grown to more than 2,000 acres.
All public schools in the area also closed on Tuesday due to fire danger and widespread power outages.
Hundreds of firefighters are reportedly struggling to contain the fire –– hampered by winds of up to 80 miles per hour –– as helicopters douse the fire with water from nearby lakes.
It’s unclear what started the fire, but Los Angeles and its surrounding areas have been abnormally dry over the past few months and the region is under a red flag warning.
Northeast faces threat to water supply as drought hits NYC and New Jersey
New data released from the U.S. Geological Survey on Thursday, Nov. 21, revealed water supplies are being threatened in at least one part of the country. In the Northeast, severe drought conditions have left rivers, channels and reservoirs at historically low levels.
Hydrologists are especially concerned because fall is typically when they see bodies of water at their highest levels as they replenish from heavy use during the summer months.
For example, the Cambridge Reservoir in Massachusetts, which can reportedly hold up to 1.5 billion gallons of water currently sits at just 50% capacity.
Officials warn that small communities that manage their own water supplies are at the greatest risk as water levels in smaller reservoirs typically dry up at much faster rates than larger reservoirs.
The dry conditions have prompted New Jersey to issue its first drought warning in nearly a decade and for New York City to follow suit by issuing its first drought warning in more than 20 years.
Earlier this week, NYC paused a $2 billion project to repair an aqueduct that supplies water to half its residents and other communities in the Hudson Valley as Mayor Eric Adams, D, cited extremely dry conditions.
Even with more rain in the forecast in the coming days, officials caution it may take months to recover from the drought, and if conditions worsen, they did not rule out mandatory water usage restrictions.
High winds combined with little to no rain have also fueled wildfires in New Jersey and New York, leading to at least one death, in a region typically known to be “water rich.”
How unmanned helicopters are aiming to save pilots’ lives in US
An unmanned helicopter, which its creator claims will revolutionize everything from spraying crops to fighting fires all while saving lives, is taking flight. As revealed on Tuesday, Nov. 19, the so-called Sprayhawk needs no pilot. Developed by the U.S. startup Rotor, the helicopter relies on AI, sensors and communications systems, allowing a user to operate remotely from the ground.
“The most urgent need for our helicopters are places where there are lots of fatalities already, and that’s agriculture, that’s aerial firefighting, that’s offshore transport,” Hector Xu, Rotor Technologies founder and CEO, said. “What we’re able to do is to offer the same payload and capabilities that people are getting from manned aircraft with an unmanned solution, and that’s never happened before.”
Crop dusting and firefighting operations are reportedly some of the most dangerous flights for pilots. The U.S. National Transportation Board reports that 13 pilots were killed in agricultural operations from April to September 2024.
Xu says the 2,500-pound drone can “carry more than 1,000 pounds of payload.”
“We think this is going to change the world and we’re proud to be building it right here in Nashua, New Hampshire,” he said.
Rotor hopes to have as many as 20 choppers ready for the market in 2025. The company is currently working through the Federal Aviation Administration process to launch its helicopter to a larger market. The firm says it has already received federal approval to begin agricultural operations in the Midwest.
According to Rotor, technology still needs to be perfected, noting that the semi-autonomous aircraft could potentially pose a danger to pilots in areas with heavy air traffic, but the company said the initial plan is to stay in rural areas, minimizing that danger.
The company also has safeguards, including a button that shuts off the helicopter’s engine and initiates a controlled landing in case of an emergency.
On Wednesday, Nov. 20, Rotor reportedly plans to perform its first public flight tests with the Sprayhawk at an aviation trade show in Texas.
Wildfires on East and West Coasts continue to burn as one turns deadly
Crews on both sides of the U.S. coast continue to battle wildfires as one turned deadly in New York and New Jersey. Officials said a tree fell on an 18-year-old park employee, killing him on Sunday, Nov. 10.
New York state officials said while they do all they can to protect themselves, there are always dangers.
“Wildland firefighting is a very dangerous profession, and we try to take as many precautions as we can to mitigate some of the hazards that are out there in the wild land fire environment, but occasionally, accidents do happen. Unfortunately, one of our firefighters did pass away yesterday assisting with fire line construction,” Jeremy Oldroyd from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said.
Meanwhile, New Jersey officials said on Sunday that the Jennings Creek Fire, located on the border between New York and New Jersey, threatened more than two dozen structures and was only 10% contained.
However, New Jersey firefighters did make progress on the 175-acre Cannonball 3 Fire in the northeastern portion of the state, reaching 100% containment.
Additionally, New Jersey prosecutors announced arson charges in connection with the Jackson Township Fire that started on Wednesday, Nov. 7. They said a shotgun round with magnesium shards sparked the 350-acre fire. New Jersey authorities say that firing an “incendiary or tracer ammunition” is barred in the state.
As a result of the smoke from the fires, New Jersey and New York officials issued health advisories for at-risk populations and urged many to stay indoors or avoid strenuous activity.
On the West Coast, in California, firefighters are making progress against the Mountain Fire northwest of Los Angeles.
The fire has forced thousands of Californians to evacuate their homes, and more than 130 structures have been destroyed by the fire fueled by strong winds and dry conditions. The fire was at 32 square miles on Sunday as it continues to threaten Ventura County communities.