Containment grows on Palisades, Eaton fire as Brentwood, Encino residents remain on edge
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Despite new evacuation orders overnight in Brentwood and parts of the San Fernando Valley, firefighters made more progress on containing the Eaton and Palisades fires.
As of Saturday morning, the Eaton fire was 15% contained and the Palisades fire was 11% contained. On Friday, the Palisades fire was 8% contained and the Eaton fire was 3% contained.
But a flare-up the northeastern flank of the Palisades fire is bringing new anxiety.
The latest order is in effect from Sunset Boulevard north to Encino Reservoir, and from the 405 Freeway west to Mandeville Canyon ¡ª an area that includes the Getty Center museum as well as Brentwood and the foothills of the San Fernando Valley.
New evacuation warnings were issued for areas to the east of the 405 Freeway, north of West Sunset Boulevard and south of Mulholland Drive, along with areas south of Ventura Boulevard and east of Louise Avenue in Encino.
Offramps from the northbound and southbound 405 Freeway are closed at Getty Center Drive, Sunset Boulevard and Skirball Center Drive, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The fire siege in Los Angeles County has consumed 12,000 structures and killed at least 11 people since the Palisades fire began Tuesday morning.
¡°It feels like Los Angeles is a punching bag,¡± Scott told KTLA on Friday evening.
The Getty Center in Brentwood ¡ª home to one of Los Angeles¡¯ largest art collections ¡ª is complying with Friday evening¡¯s evacuation order and is now closed, with only emergency staff on site, Ali Sivak, a spokeswoman for the J. Paul Getty Trust, said in a statement.
The Getty Center¡¯s last close call with wildfires was in 2019, when the Getty fire threatened the edge of the museum¡¯s campus but did not affect any of its collections. The Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades was threatened earlier this week by the Palisades fire, but escaped largely unscathed.
Josh Sautter, president of the Encino Neighborhood Council, said the new evacuation orders sent a shock wave of panic through the community.
¡°I don¡¯t think that people here really saw that it was coming,¡± he said. ¡°We didn¡¯t think that it was something that would really affect us ¡ª until it did.¡±
His neighborhood group chats exploded as people scrambled to leave, and the Encino streets rapidly became clogged with traffic, he said.
¡°I was just talking to people in those zones who were desperately trying to get things together and trying to get out as quickly as possible,¡± he said. ¡°People were completely freaked out.¡±
By 10 p.m. the neighborhood was eerily quiet.
For now, Sautter is staying put. He lives just outside the evacuation area with his pregnant wife and their 2-year-old baby.
But he¡¯s on edge as he peers out his window and sees bright flames leaping from the hillside.
Before Friday evening¡¯s flare-up, fire crews were showing signs of progress containing the infernos as winds weakened.
Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said Friday morning that crews were in their best position yet to get a handle on the blazes ¡ª though still with a long way to go.
In addition to better weather, the fight has been aided by a stream of firefighting help from far and wide and the ability to use water-dropping aircraft, which were grounded by high winds during the first day of the fires.
The work of these aircraft was disrupted Friday afternoon when unauthorized drones were spotting flying above the Palisades fire near Santa Monica, said Palisades fire spokesperson Chris Thomas.
¡°Because of safety, we have to get all the aircraft out of the area until we know the drones are gone,¡± he said. ¡°So that is very dangerous, because it takes water-dropping capability away from the fire.¡±
On Thursday, a drone collided with a Super Scooper aircraft fighting the Palisades fire, causing the plane to be grounded for several days of repairs. Drone operators are not allowed to fly above the wildfires, per a temporary flight restriction issued by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Officials are warning of much more pain and anguish ahead.
It is expected to take some time to determine the death toll from this week¡¯s Los Angeles firestorms. Officials confirmed five people were killed in the Palisades fire and six in the Eaton fire, but L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna said those numbers are likely to rise.
¡°We do, unfortunately, anticipate that deaths will go up because of the destruction that we¡¯re seeing,¡± Luna said. ¡°We¡¯re not able to get in there in a manner ¡ª because it¡¯s still not safe ¡ª to really do a thorough search.¡±
On Friday, the Los Angeles County medical examiner identified one of the victims as Victor Shaw of Altadena. Officials said Shaw, 66, died of smoke inhalation and had suffered burn injuries.
Shaw was first identified by his sister, Shari Shaw, who told The Times that she and a neighbor found her brother on the walkway outside the front door of his house with a hose in his hand.
The identities of the other victims have not been released, but a list provided by the medical examiner¡¯s office includes streets where families suspect their relatives may have died.
Among them is 83-year-old Erliene Kelley, whose home in the 3200 block of Tonia Avenue in Altadena burned down. Briana Navarro, 33, said her grandmother refused to evacuate.
She said her brother learned from police Thursday evening that her grandmother¡¯s body had been discovered in the charred rubble that was once her home.
¡°My heart sank,¡± Navarro said, upon learning of her grandmother¡¯s death.
The fires devastated huge swaths of Pacific Palisades and Altadena, where entire neighborhoods have been overwhelmed by the flames. More than 5,000 homes, businesses and other structures have been damaged in the Palisades fire and 7,000 in the Eaton fire.
Luna said his deputies are still dealing with downed wires that are charged, leaking gas pipes and ongoing fires that hinder searches.
¡°I think we¡¯re still trying to grasp ... how tragic this is. We don¡¯t know half of it,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ve seen a lot of tragedy in my 40 years doing this job, but this one is ¡ª it¡¯s gonna be up there.¡±
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More than 150,000 people remain under mandatory evacuation orders across Los Angeles County. Some who have returned to fire zones have found little left of their homes. Air quality remains poor across large sections of the Southland and, on Friday, officials warned residents in Pacific Palisades not to drink tap water because of the risk of fire-related contaminants.
Gov. Gavin Newsom surveyed the damage in Altadena, describing the scene of elementary schools, community centers and churches ¡°torn asunder.¡±
¡°Today we¡¯re going to make a lot of progress,¡± Newsom said Friday. ¡°The reality of this is starting to come into clarity as smoke begins to move, and daylight ¡ª people are starting to understand the magnitude.¡±
It is not clear how many people have been reported missing from the two major fires. A firefighter, who was injured in a fall working on the Eaton fire Thursday, was hospitalized and is expected to fully recover, officials said Friday.
The utility has notified the California Public Utilities Commission that it had received a number of notices, from attorneys representing insurance companies, to preserve evidence regarding the Eaton fire.
On Friday, Antoinette Younger and her neighbor Sarah Yell embraced near the roadblock where the California National Guard and police positioned themselves between a group of Altadena residents and their homes.
Younger and Yell knew from video that their homes were gone. But they needed to see it ¡ª in person ¡ª for themselves.
¡°Who are these strangers going to our homes and recording what¡¯s left of them?¡± Yell asked. She grew up in Altadena and described it as their ¡°own little paradise.¡±
Eventually, an officer let the group pass the barricade.
¡°It¡¯s about a quarter mile to our home,¡± Younger said as she started the trek. ¡°We¡¯ll see what we can salvage.¡±
Across the county in Pacific Palisades, residents lined up at the foot of Chautauqua Boulevard on Friday afternoon waiting for their first look at their homes since the fire tore through their neighborhood. Residents are still not allowed into the area on their own, but a patrol car was slowly escorting residents, a few at a time, to what remained of their homes.
Some had no idea what awaited them. Others knew their homes had been destroyed and just wanted to see what they could salvage.
Coverage of the fires ravaging Altadena, Malibu, Pacific Palisades and Pasadena, including stories about the devastation, issues firefighters faced and the weather.
Whitney Farrer, 28, who grew up in the Palisades, said her parents had fled without taking anything sentimental. They thought they¡¯d be able to return home the next day.
¡°We¡¯re going through the rubble to see if there¡¯s anything left ¡ª any mementos,¡± she said.
Besides fighting the flames, officials are trying to protect the massive burn zones in Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Altadena, Pasadena and surrounding areas from would-be looters. On Friday, members of the California National Guard were patrolling some areas, assisting with traffic control and keeping people out of evacuated neighborhoods where authorities have made arrests in recent days for looting and other crimes.
The Sheriff¡¯s Department has implemented a curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. in the mandatory evacuation zones around the Eaton and Palisades fires. The curfew, which was in effect Thursday night, was expected to continue Friday, Luna said.
Santa Monica has already imposed a nighttime curfew for some northern neighborhoods still affected by a mandatory evacuation order.
L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said authorities are focused on five crimes related to the fires: arson, curfew violations, looting, illegal drone usage and scams. For anyone who commits these crimes, Hochman said, ¡°you will be arrested, you will be prosecuted and you will be punished to the full extent of the law.¡±
Officials are continuing to investigate the cause of all the fires burning in Los Angeles County. However, two law enforcement sources told The Times that it¡¯s likely many of the small blazes will turn out to have been the work of arson. The sources were familiar with the investigations but not authorized to discuss specifics.
Officials on Friday praised firefighters¡¯ quick action in the Kenneth fire, which started near the western edge of Woodland Hills about 2:30 p.m Thursday, where Victory Boulevard terminates into the rolling hills of the Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve.
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The fire, fanned by strong Santa Ana winds, spread through open space and was threatening homes in the Malibu Canyon area north of the 101 Freeway near Calabasas. Firefighting helicopters worked swiftly to douse the flames with water.
The fire had consumed 1,052 acres of brush as of Friday and was 50% contained, officials said.
The dangerous combination of low humidity, bone-dry fuels and shifting winds has complicated firefighters¡¯ efforts to get the blazes under control this week. Firefighters were hopeful the lull in the winds would help them lay down fire lines and boost containment. Additional help was also continuing to arrive, including in the form of fire crews from Canada and Mexico, officials said.
Coverage of the fires ravaging Altadena, Malibu, Pacific Palisades and Pasadena, including stories about the devastation, issues firefighters faced and the weather.
Looking ahead, crews face more challenging conditions on the fire line.
After a day of brief respite from the winds Saturday, gusty winds are expected to return as early as Sunday.
That could be the start to as many as three Santa Ana wind events next week, the strongest expected by Tuesday.
Those winds shouldn¡¯t be as devastating as the gusts recorded Tuesday and Wednesday this week, which reached 80 to 100 mph in some areas, but would still amount to a ¡°moderate to strong event,¡± said Kristan Lund, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
But the winds are expected to be focused over Ventura County ¡ª which could give L.A. County firefighters a bit of a break, but it also could create additional concerns farther west in a region already strapped for resources.
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Times staff writers Rong-Gong Lin II, Melody Gutierrez, Tony Barboza, Terry Castleman, Sean Greene, Lorena I?iguez Elebee, Don Lee, Summer Lin, Jasmine Mendez, Luke Money, Koko Nakajima, Sandra McDonald, Matthew Ormseth and Faith E. Pinho contributed to this report.
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