California wildfires live updates: Firefighters make progress on Los Angeles blazes as winds weaken, but forecast shows 'dangerous' conditions next week

The abnormally dry conditions in Southern California that set the table for devastating wildfires over the last week and a half show no signs of stopping.

Via the Palm Springs Desert Sun:

A growing portion of Southern California is now experiencing "severe drought" conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Downtown Los Angeles has seen just 0.16 inches of rain since May.

In response to what could turn out to be the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history, California’s political leaders have taken swift action to try to help residents rebuild thousands of homes and businesses destroyed in a spate of deadly wildfires.

“When the fires are extinguished, victims who have lost their homes and businesses must be able to rebuild quickly and without roadblocks. The executive order I signed today will help cut permitting delays, an important first step in allowing our communities to recover faster and stronger,” Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom said Sunday in a statement.

But not everyone thinks that the impulse to rebuild fire-prone areas makes long-term sense, especially since climate change continues to elevate wildfire risks.

“There have been utterly understandable, natural reactions. You’re seeing it in the elected leaders saying that they are going to rebuild again,” Alice Hill, a fellow for energy and the environment at the Council on Foreign Relations and former Los Angeles judge, told Yahoo News. “The challenge is the nature of the land underneath our feet is changing. The nature of extreme weather events is changing and those alterations make some areas far less safe than they have been historically.”

Read more from Yahoo News.

As federal investigators try to determine what sparked the Palisades Fire, agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have gathered more than 150 leads and tips from residents, but are no closer to finding a cause.

"We are not leading towards anything right now," Jose Medina, the acting special agent in charge of the ATF's Los Angeles Field Division, said during a press conference Wednesday. "We're taking everything in evaluating all the evidence we received, but it's too early on in the investigation to make any determination."

"We are looking into everything," he added. "We will leave no stone unturned."

NBC News reports that "an early focus of the probe has been on potential human causes," including "arson, an accidental spark, fireworks, unauthorized camping activity or a rekindling of an earlier fire extinguished on New Year’s Day."

The Jan. 1 fire was spotted by residents of the nearby Palisades Highlands in the wee hours and extinguished before 5 a.m. by firefighters with no structures damaged and no one hurt.

But according to NBC's report, hikers and trail runners noticed smoke in the same area on Jan. 7, the day the Palisades Fire erupted.

Read more from NBC News: Investigators comb a scorched slope to solve a mystery: How did the Palisades Fire start?

With people around the country eager to support residents impacted by the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles, the FBI issued a public service announcement to warn that scammers may try to exploit the disaster.

"Scammers may pose as disaster relief agencies to collect personal information, conduct charitable fraud schemes, or commit fraud against disaster assistance programs," the FBI said in its PSA. "Scammers may also impersonate official entities, celebrities, influencers, or other individuals. For example, a scammer might pose online as a high-profile victim to solicit donations. Artificial Intelligence (AI) may be used to increase perceived legitimacy of a fraud or impersonation."

For days, law enforcement officials in Los Angeles have been putting out those same warnings.

The FBI is encouraging would-be donors to "be suspicious," do their own research to confirm the validity of any charity, and report suspicious ones to the bureau.

The city of Pasadena has declared a local public health emergency due to the impact of the ongoing Eaton Fire, which has scorched more than 14,000 acres, sending toxic ash and particulate matter into the air.

"Ash and debris pose a significant potential current and future risk to health, safety, and the environment," the Pasadena Public Health Department said in a press release. "PPHD is declaring a local health emergency to ensure residents take appropriate measures to protect themselves from toxic ash and debris."

In addition, the city is banning the use of leaf blowers until further notice.

"These devices stir up ash and particulate matter into the air, further worsening air quality and increasing health risks for everyone and their pets, particularly for those with respiratory conditions, older adults, children, and other vulnerable populations," the health department said.

Earlier this week, Los Angeles County health officials issued a similar advisory to residents.

Every community has things that make it special, the small idiosyncratic businesses or historic locales that exist nowhere else. These are just a few of the unique, quirky and cherished places that were lost in the fires.

The Bunny Museum

The self-proclaimed “Hoppiest Place on Earth” held the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of rabbit-related items anywhere in the world. The small museum in Altadena boasted that it housed more than 60,000 bunny items, including some that were more than 2,000 years old. Only about 20 of those items were saved — the rest were destroyed, according to a GoFundMe page created by the museum’s founders.

Will Rogers’s ranch house

Built in the 1920s, the house was the centerpiece of the sprawling ranch near Pacific Palisades owned by famed early-Hollywood star Will Rogers. After Rogers died in 1935, the ranch was donated to the state and turned into a public park. Along with the house, several other historic structures on the property were destroyed.

Funky Junk Farms

This sprawling lot in Altadena housed vintage cars, trailers, props and movie locations that the owners — who describe themselves as “longtime collectors and preservationists of vintage America” — frequently rented out for use in movies and TV shows.

Reel Inn

This popular roadside seafood shack was instantly recognizable to anyone who made the picturesque drive along the Pacific Coast Highway through Malibu. With chalkboard menus and surfboards slung in the rafters, the Reel Inn was designed as an homage to the New England fish shacks the owners frequented in their youth.

Click here to see more of the special places that were destroyed in the fires.

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James told reporters Wednesday that the wildfires have taken a mental toll on him.

“It’s been a lot of emotions. Kind of been off. Personally, I’ve been off. Personally, my family, we’ve been evacuated since Thursday night, so I’ve been in a hotel," he said following the Lakers' home victory over the Miami Heat at Crypto.com Arena. "I've just been completely off for obvious reasons, but hopefully things are contained or continue to be contained. And hopefully, at some point, we can start to push forward and move forward and put it behind us and rebuild our city, rebuild this beautiful city."

James said “a couple of dear friends" lost their homes in the Palisades Fire. “Obviously, my heart goes out to all of the families, all across not only the Palisades, but all across L.A. County and all the surrounding areas because of the fire," he said.

"Sports has always given people an opportunity to kind of just, like, temporarily forget about whatever they may have been going through," he added. "And us being such a big part of the L.A. community — along with a lot of other sports teams, but we know how important the Lakers is to the community — hopefully we can provide that to a lot of families."

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Thursday that it has begun the process of assessing hazardous materials in the areas of the Eaton and Palisades fires — the first step in the removal of debris.

“We are beginning this work today,” EPA incident commander Tara Fitzgerald said at a press conference Thursday.

“The initial phase of household hazardous materials includes removal of the most immediate risk to public health and workers returning to work within the burn footprint,” she explained. “That includes things like pesticides, batteries, the risk of damaged lithium-ion batteries, fuel and other things that would normally go to the household hazardous waste management landfill.”

After hazardous materials are removed, crews can then begin removing other debris.

L.A. County Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger said that the county will be providing residents with gloves, eye goggles and debris cleaning kits when they are eventually allowed to return.

At a press conference Thursday, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said that it is still not safe for people in mandatory evacuation areas to return to their homes.

"The repopulation of residents in evacuation order areas will not occur for at least one more week for the areas that are deemed safe," Marrone said.

"That does not include the entire evacuation order area," he added. "We're doing our best as we know this is a challenge for our residents."

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna also urged the public to be patient, saying that search and rescue operations are still being conducted in some areas — and that the bodies of some victims have yet to be recovered.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Thursday that the number of people under mandatory evacuation orders is 82,400, unchanged from the day before.

More than 90,000 people remain under evacuation warnings, Luna said, with that figure also unchanged.

A curfew for those in the evacuation zones remains in effect from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., he said.

The Hurst Fire in Los Angeles County, which has burned around 800 acres, was 100% contained as of Thursday morning, according to an X post from Angeles National Forest.

The blaze broke out last Tuesday in the Sylmar neighborhood of Los Angeles, north of Malibu.

Police in San Bernardino arrested a man on suspicion of arson in connection with a brush fire that scorched 34 acres before firefighters stopped its spread.

The Little Mountain Fire broke out around 2 p.m. on Wednesday, according to the San Bernardino County Fire Department. Firefighters were able to stop its forward progress by 3:30 p.m., fire officials said. No injuries or damage were reported.

The San Bernardino Police Department said officers later arrested a man on suspicion of two felonies, including reckless burning.

The strong winds that have fueled the wildfire outbreak have subsided for now, but forecasters expect they will return next week.

"Good news: We are expecting a much-needed break from the fire weather concerns to close this week," the National Weather Service in Los Angeles said in a post on X. "Bad News: Next week is a concern. While confident that we will NOT see a repeat of last week, dangerous fire weather conditions are expected."

There is a 60% chance of a red flag warning in Los Angeles and Ventura counties on Monday, the weather service said, and a 70% chance on Tuesday.

Thousands of firefighters continue to battle multiple wildfires that have scorched tens of thousands of acres, destroyed thousands of homes and businesses, and left at least 25 people dead.

• There are five active wildfires in Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino counties, according to Cal Fire:
  
  Palisades Fire (Los Angeles County): 23,713 acres, 22% contained
  Eaton Fire (Los Angeles County): 14,117 acres, 55% contained
  Hurst Fire (Los Angeles County): 799 acres, 98% contained
  Auto Fire (Ventura County): 61 acres, 85% contained
  Little Mountain Fire (San Bernardino County): 34 acres, 0% contained
  

• Strong winds that fueled the wildfire outbreak have eased, but forecasters say dangerous fire weather conditions will return next week.

• About 82,000 residents remain under mandatory evacuation orders, with another 90,000 under evacuation warnings.

• More than 50 people have been arrested in evacuation zones for various offenses, including looting and illegal drone operations, since the wildfires began.

• Police arrested a person on suspicion of arson in connection with the Little Mountain Fire that broke out in San Bernardino on Wednesday.

While firefighters continued to make progress Wednesday on two of the largest wildfires still burning in Southern California, the National Weather Service warned, "We are not out of the woods yet" thanks to "particularly dangerous situation" red flag warnings that remained in effect.

Here's a recap of what happened Wednesday:

• Officials in Los Angeles warned residents about a flurry of online scams, including fake GoFundMe pages, that have sprung up in recent days.

• Legitimate GoFundMe pages have raised more than $100 million for victims of the fires.

• The Auto Fire in Ventura County is now 50% contained, the Ventura County Fire Department said.

• More than 82,000 customers had their power shut off as a precaution due to continued high winds.

• FEMA created a hotline for missing pets and activated a shelter.

• Nearly three dozen people remain listed as missing from the wildfires.

• The EPA said it was sending out 40 teams with about 500 personnel to remove hazardous material from properties.

• More than 2,400 members of the California National Guard have been assisting with the fires.

• Winds are forecast to decrease over the coming hours and day, the National Weather Service said.

• The L.A. Chamber of Commerce established a fund to help small businesses impacted by the fires.

• Quebec sent two more aircraft to help firefighters combat the blazes.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Palisades Fire was 19% contained, the Eaton Fire was 45% contained, the Hurst Fire was 97% contained and the Auto Fire was 50% contained, according to fire officials.

Canada is sending two more water bombers from Quebec to California to help contain the wildfires in Los Angeles County.

In total, Quebec has now sent four water bombers, 12 pilots and six technicians to help battle the blazes, according to the Canadian Press.

The province is standing by to deploy 60 additional firefighters if needed, according to Luc Dugas, an engineer with Quebec's forest fire prevention agency.

Reuters reports:

Read more from Reuters: L.A. Chamber of Commerce sets up fund to help blaze-affected small businesses

“We’re already organizing a ‘Marshall Plan,’” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Saturday. “We already have a team looking at reimagining L.A. 2.0.”

Yet the promise of L.A. 2.0 glosses over the grueling process of recovery and rebuilding that affected residents will now have to endure — a logistical and emotional grind that will dominate their lives not just for the next few weeks and months but for years to come.

When residents are eventually cleared to reenter the burn zones, even those whose homes remain standing won’t be able to live in them. Utilities — water, power and gas — may be offline for months. Wind could stir up toxic ash. Dead trees will be everywhere, threatening to topple.

According to Zeke Lunder, a California fire management expert with nearly 30 years of experience, this is the point at which “disaster capitalism” kicks in, with billions of dollars flowing through the Federal Emergency Management Agency to big contractors who effectively scrape the area clean.

“There’s this incredible bureaucracy now that’s been built around post-fire cleanup,” Lunder said, citing his work after the devastating Camp Fire of 2018, which nearly erased the Northern California town of Paradise. “Before [a] lot can get certified as safe to rebuild, they have to come and they have to haul away the burnt home. They have to test the soil. If they find any contaminants, they have to take more soil away — and they also have to track all the wreckage and make sure it’s being dumped [properly].”

Meanwhile, residents who until recently lived in million- or multimillion-dollar homes — before the fires, the average market price was $3.4 million in the Palisades and $1.3 million in Altadena — will have to contend with “this really complex bureaucratic response that’s going to involve a lot of steps, regulations and hurdles,” as Lunder put it.

Applications for federal disaster assistance. The search for a long-term place to stay as landlords hike rents. Lawsuits over how the fires started — and who has to pay. Private equity swooping in to snap up prime lots. Battles with insurance companies that have been retreating from disaster-prone California. Planning, permitting — and hopefully, years from now, construction.

Read more from Yahoo News

TIME reports:

Read more from Time magazine: L.A. Fire Victims Describe Their Devastating Losses

A 24-year-old surfboard maker who parked a vintage VW van in a Malibu neighborhood reduced to ruins by the Palisades Fire was shocked to see that it survived.

“There is magic in that van,” Preston Martin — whose bright blue 1977 Volkswagen Type 2 microbus was captured in an Associated Press amid dozens of burned-out homes — told the news service.

“It makes no sense why this happened," Martin added. "It should have been toasted, but here we are.”

Martin said he purchased the van on a whim while studying mechanical engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and wound up living in it for a year.

Last summer, he sold the van to his friend and business partner, Megan Krystle Weinraub, a 29-year-old fellow surfboard designer.

Martin and Weinraub went surfing together on Jan. 5, and afterward Martin parked it for her in the Malibu neighborhood near her apartment. (She's still learning how to drive its manual transmission, Martin said, and he wanted to find a flat spot for it.)

When the fire erupted the next day, Weinraub fled with her dog in her primary car. She too figured it was gone, but then a neighbor sent her the striking AP photo that was circulating online.

“I freaked out,” Weinraub said. “I was in the bathroom, and I screamed.”

Read more from the Associated Press: A retro blue VW van miraculously survives deadly Los Angeles fire

Federal and local law enforcement agencies are forming a Joint Regional Fire Crimes Task Force "to investigate and prosecute fire-related crimes as Los Angeles County recovers from devastating wildfires," according to a news release from the Justice Department released Wednesday.

The task force says it will focus primarily on wildfire-related crimes concerning looting, arson, illegal drone flights and fraud.

“Whether it’s arson, illegal drone activity disrupting first responders, or fraud targeting victims and donors, this joint task force will investigate and hold individuals accountable," said Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna. "These efforts are about protecting our communities and ensuring those affected by this unimaginable disaster recover without fear or further victimization."

With deadly wildfires still burning in Southern California, officials are looking ahead to what dangers could come next. And two of the biggest concerns are landslides and long-term air pollution.

Landslides will threaten affected areas when rain returns to Southern California, experts say.

The landslide danger will be especially high in the Pacific Palisades, which has been decimated by the Palisades Fire. Costas Synolakis, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Southern California, told ABC News that that's because there is no debris basin there and the valley walls are steep.

An even bigger concern than the potential for landslides is the environmental impact of the fires, since toxic materials used to build homes, including asbestos, are being released into the air and ground as they burn.

"This is going into the local creek systems and in the local soils," Hugh Safford, a research fire ecologist at the University of California, Davis, told ABC.

Read more from ABC News: What hazards will remain in Southern California after the wildfires subside?

Some more welcome news for those battling the ongoing wildfires: The National Weather Service said that while there are "still some gusty winds out there, especially in the foothill and mountain areas," the wind speeds "are trending lower today into tomorrow."

The Weather Service had issued a "particularly dangerous situation" red flag warning through Wednesday at 3 p.m. PT.

The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that the Los Angeles Fire Department failed to pre-position about 1,000 available firefighters and dozens of fire engines ahead of the Palisades Fire:

Asked about the report at Wednesday's wildfire press conference, Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley said that the department “pre-deployed the resources on top of what we normally would do."

"We immediately then utilized all available on-duty, special duty people that aren’t normally in the field. They surged,” Crowley said, adding: “We have the system that’s built. We followed the system. We surged where we could surge.”

Read more from the L.A. Times here: L.A. fire officials could have put engines in the Palisades before the fire broke out. They didn't.

Thousands of National Guard members are now assisting in the wildfire response efforts in Southern California.

As of Wednesday, more than 2,400 members of the California National Guard, Nevada National Guard and Wyoming National Guard were activated across the L.A. Basin, the National Guard said in a post on X, up from 1,850 on Monday.

Guard members are assisting with firefighting efforts in the air and on the ground as well as with local law enforcement and FEMA in evacuation zones and other areas.

“Our hearts go out to the people of California impacted by these devastating wildfires," Gen. Steve Nordhaus, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said in a statement earlier this week. "Helping communities in need is a core National Guard mission, and we are incredibly proud of the men and women who, as they always have, answered the call to duty to work alongside first responders and emergency managers and all of our partners at the local, state and national levels."

GoFundMe, which created a dedicated online hub to fund verified wildfire relief campaigns on its crowdfunding platform, has seen more than $100 million in pledged donations in less than a week, a company spokesperson told Yahoo Life.

The funds directly help families, communities and businesses affected by the fires and support nonprofits providing relief on the ground, including World Central Kitchen, Direct Relief and the Salvation Army.

And the hub will "continue to be updated with more fundraisers as they are verified by our trust and safety team," the spokesperson said.

Read more from Yahoo Life: Amid L.A. fires, more than $100 million has been raised on GoFundMe. Direct donations can have a big impact.

The Auto Fire, which broke out in Ventura County on Monday night, has burned 61 acres and is 50% contained, the Ventura County Fire Department said Wednesday.

Overnight, firefighters addressed "small, isolated flare ups and stubborn pockets of heat across the fire perimeter," the department said in a post on X. "The fire remains static in its original footprint with no anticipated growth."

No structures were threatened, and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Utility companies in Southern California are intentionally shutting off power to thousands of customers as a precaution due to elevated fire weather conditions, part of what's known as the "Public Safety Power Shutoff" program.

According to Southern California Edison's website, more than 82,000 of its customers are currently without power due to a temporary power safety shutoff:

• Los Angeles County: 19,724 customers

• Orange County: 972 customers

• Riverside County: 11,068 customers

• San Bernardino County: 32,538 customers

• Ventura County: 17,820 customers

Power safety shutoffs are being considered for more than 260,000 other customers, per the website:

• Kern County: 8,105 customers

• Los Angeles County: 65,035 customers

• Orange County: 13,796 customers

• Riverside County: 84,870 customers

• San Bernardino County: 40,917 customers

• Santa Barbara County: 1,780 customers

• Ventura County: 47,989 customers

Officials are encouraging people to keep their mobile phones and other devices charged in the event they lose power.

The first step in getting wildfire survivors back to their properties is having the Environmental Protection Agency come in to remove household hazardous waste, Robert Fenton Jr., regional FEMA administrator, said during a Wednesday morning press conference.

The EPA's mission will be to reduce the immediate threat of hazards by removing everyday products like paints, cleaners, pesticides, larger asbestos debris, pressurized fuel cylinders and lithium-ion batteries.

The EPA will send out 40 teams with about 500 personnel over the next few days and has allocated $100 million to get this started.

Listed below are various resources for residents displaced by the Southern California wildfires that officials spoke of during a Wednesday morning press conference.

FEMA has activated a transitional shelter and assistance program for displaced survivors

"FEMA is reaching out to fire survivors who are registered with us that would be eligible for this program," said Robert Fenton Jr., FEMA regional administrator. "You don't need to request this type of assistance. If you're eligible, FEMA will notify you via phone, text or email."

FEMA will cover the cost of the room, taxes and nonrefundable pet fees, paying participating hotels directly. The program allows for fire survivors to stay at participating hotels until they can identify a short- or long-term housing solution. You can register with FEMA at disasterassistance.gov or call 800-621-3362.

New hotline established for missing pets

Residents separated from their pets can now call 213-270-8155 for assistance with being reunited with them, according to Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell.

Make sure to mask up

N95 masks are available for free at L.A. County libraries and at the local assistance and disaster resource centers, Dr. Nichole Quick with the L.A. County Department of Public Health said. N95 and P100 masks should be worn, as cloth masks, dust masks and bandannas do not provide adequate protection, Quick added.

Law enforcement officials in Los Angeles gave updates on the number of people reported missing since the wildfires began.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said that there are 26 active missing persons in his jurisdiction, including 20 in the Eaton Fire and six in the Palisades Fire.

LAPD Chief Jim McDonald said that 11 people in his jurisdiction were considered missing, including two who are likely deceased but need to be positively identified.

Fire officials on Wednesday relayed some good news in the battle against the ongoing Palisades and Eaton Fires.

"In the past 24 hours, there's been little to no fire growth on both incidents," Gerry Magaña, deputy chief of operations for Cal Fire, said at a press briefing.

The Palisades Fire is now estimated to be at 23,713 acres and is 19% contained.

The Eaton Fire is now estimated to be at 14,117 acres and is 45% contained.

Firefighters are hoping that a more favorable forecast of calmer winds and higher relative humidity in the coming days will allow crews to gain more ground.

Law enforcement officials said Wednesday that the number of arrests made since the fires began has risen to more than 50.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said there have been 44 total arrests: 36 in the area of the Eaton Fire and eight for the Palisades Fire.

About 14 of those arrests were for burglary, Luna said, along with other arrests for violating curfew, trespassing, drug and weapons possession and illegal drone activity.

Luna said another individual was arrested for "impersonating a firefighter" near the Palisades Fire. Similar arrests for impersonating police officers and firefighters were announced earlier this week.

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said there were no new arrests related to the fires overnight, with the previous total of 14 unchanged.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Tuesday that the number of people under mandatory evacuation orders has decreased to about 82,400, down from 88,000 the day before.

Some 90,400 people remain under evacuation warnings, Luna said, with the figure up slightly, due to the overnight wind threat.

A curfew for those in the evacuation zones remains in effect from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., he said.

The National Weather Service has issued another "particularly dangerous situation" (PDS) red flag warning for portions of Los Angeles on Wednesday, a day after strong winds briefly eased, providing firefighters battling four major wildfires a temporary reprieve.

Critical fire weather conditions are in effect until 3 p.m. PTfor people in the impacted areas.

“Key message: We are not out of the woods yet,” the NWS in Los Angeles said in a post on X late Tuesday. “The winds underperformed today, but one more enhancement could happen tonight-tomorrow.”

Health officials are warning that windblown particles from wildfires could impact air quality throughout Los Angeles County.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health issued a "Windblown Dust and Ash Advisory" through 7 p.m. Wednesday.

"Windblown dust and ash contain small particles that may cause irritation or exacerbate pre-existing health conditions, particularly for children, older adults, pregnant individuals, and those with heart or lung conditions," the health department said.

Health officials are advising residents to stay inside with windows and doors closed, use an air purifier or run air conditioners on recirculate mode, and wear an N95 or P100 mask and goggles if they must go outside.

Conditions are expected to improve by late Wednesday as wind speeds decrease, the advisory said.

Officials in Los Angeles are warning residents not to fall for fraudulent online fundraisers that have popped up in the wake of the wildfires.

GoFundMe created a centralized online hub for verified fundraising pages related to wildfire relief.

But that hasn't stopped some con artists from creating fake ones.

The Los Angeles Times reported that friends of Erin Berkowitz, a natural dye artist who lost her Altadena home in the Eaton Fire, created a GoFundMe fundraiser last week to help her replace art supplies lost in the fire. But within 24 hours, an Instagram account mimicking the effort was created, linking people to a fraudulent GoFundMe page.

"The fake GoFundMe had her exact information; the only difference was a slightly different webpage URL," the Times said.

Read more from the L.A. Times: Is that GoFundMe account legit? How to spot scams

Firefighters continue to battle wind-driven wildfires that have scorched tens of thousands of acres, destroyed thousands of homes and businesses, and left at least 25 people dead.

• There are four active wildfires in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, according to Cal Fire:
  
  Palisades Fire (Los Angeles County): 23,713 acres, 18% contained
  Eaton Fire (Los Angeles County): 14,117 acres, 35% contained
  Hurst Fire (Los Angeles County): 799 acres, 97% contained
  Auto Fire (Ventura County): 61 acres, 47% contained
  

• About 88,000 people residents remain under mandatory evacuation orders, with another 84,000 under evacuation warnings.

• A "particularly dangerous situation" (PDS) red flag warning is in effect through 3 p.m. PT for portions of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, according to the National Weather Service.

• Tens of thousands of people are facing temporary power shutoffs due to elevated fire weather conditions.

• Toxic, contaminated drinking water is becoming a growing concern in the L.A. area.

• Police have made dozens of arrests in evacuation zones for various offenses, including looting, arson and illegal drone operation.

• The cause of the fires remains under investigation.

As the narrative of the Southern California wildfires has shifted to identifying the causes behind what could prove to be the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history, a common refrain has emerged on social media that seeks to dismiss the role scientists say climate change played.

“California has forest fires every year,” a commenter wrote in response to a Yahoo News story on distinguishing the singular cause of a fire from its underlying aspects.

“To say California has always had wildfires, that they’ve always had extreme events, is a classic form of climate denial,” Peter Gleick, a climate scientist and the co-founder of the Pacific Institute, told Yahoo News. “For years, those of us in the climate community have heard, ‘The climate has always changed. We’ve always had floods, droughts and heat waves.’ And that’s just totally disingenuous. Of course, we’ve had those things. The question is whether climate change is making those things worse, and the answer is yes.”

Read more from Yahoo News.

Some Los Angeles County residents eager to return to their see if their homes are still intact have been unable to do so, even though fires may not currently be active in their neighborhoods.

L.A. County officials have cited fire flare-ups, downed power lines and ongoing searches for the missing as reasons why residents cannot yet return.

The county has, however, launched interactive maps for the Palisades and Eaton fires so that residents can get an update on the status of their property. In the top left of the map, a person can enter an address or place to search for their home or business.

The map shows structures in color-coded icons:

Red = destroyed, the structure has more than 50% damage

Orange = major damage, the structure has 26%-50% damage

Yellow = the structure received minor damage (10%-25%)

Green = minimal damage, about 1%-9% of the structure

Black = no damage to the structure

If a structure does not have a color code, it has not been inspected yet. The site also includes photos of specific properties.

Wildfire names are important. They help firefighters follow deployment commands without confusion and allow citizens to easily understand which blaze poses a threat to their area.

For all of their importance, though, not a lot of thought goes into those names. Typically, a fire is named by the first emergency responder to identify it, usually based on a geographic marker like a road.

"If a fire is called in to the 911 center off of Main Street, this fire would be called the Main Fire," California State Fire Marshal Daniel Berlant explained in a video on the Cal Fire YouTube page. "If a caller calls in and says, 'I'm at Monterey Park and there's a fire at the park,' dispatchers would likely name this fire either the Monterey Fire or the Park Fire."

This is why some of the most noteworthy fires end up with the simplest names, like the Camp Fire or the Tunnel Fire. There are even times when firefighters struggle to come up with a name, such as a 2015 fire in Idaho that was dubbed the Not Creative Fire.

The same procedures were used to name the two major fires currently burning in Los Angeles. The Palisades Fire first ignited in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood. The Eaton Fire started in Eaton Canyon in Altadena.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is debunking online rumors amid its response to the deadly wildfires in Southern California on a website: fema.gov/rumors

Among the misinformation it addresses on the site is the rumor that survivors can’t apply if they have insurance. FEMA says in part, "This is not true. If you have insurance, you can apply for FEMA assistance but you must file an insurance claim as well."

FEMA also had to address false rumors in the fall of 2024 during their response to hurricanes Helene and Milton.

A "particularly dangerous situation" (PDS) red flag warning is in effect starting Wednesday at 3 a.m. thru 3 p.m. PT for portions of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, according to the most recent update from the National Weather Service.

"Considering the extremely dry state of the fuels, recent fire behavior, and the strength of the winds, this is a particularly dangerous situation," the update said. "There is a high risk for large fires, rapid fire spread, and long range spotting."

The following areas have a PDS red flag warning starting early Wednesday:

• Western San Gabriel Mountains

• I-5 corridor

• Southern Ventura County Mountains

• Santa Susana Mountains

• Ventura Valleys (mostly near Simi Valley/Moorpark/Santa Paula/South Mountain)

• Western Santa Monicas

• Western San Fernando Valley (mainly ighways 118/210 corridors from Porter Ranch to San Fernando)

• Calabasas

• Agoura Hills

• Ventura County Coastal Plain

Red flag warnings remain in effect for much of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties and parts of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties through 6 p.m. PT Wednesday.

A red flag warning remains in effect thru 3 p.m. PT Thursday for: the Santa Susana Mountains, western San Gabriel Mountains and the I-5 corridor.

Otherwise, forecasters have said the winds started off "a little lighter than expected," on Tuesday, mostly under 30 mph from Acton to Oxnard, extending 20 miles on each side.

As fires have continued to start and spread across the L.A. area over the last week, several utility companies have issued notices warning customers about their drinking water.

Toxic chemicals from the wildfires can get into drinking water systems to the point where even filtering or boiling the water won't help protect people, the Associated Press reported. These chemicals can be harmful, even at very low concentrations in the water.

Last week Pasadena Water and Power issued a "Do-Not-Drink-Water" notice to a third of its customers — the first time it had to do that since it was founded in 1906. This week, after testing, it lifted that warning for most of the area.

While utility groups will continue to focus on making sure there's enough water to fight and control the fires, several are also spending the time to test and retest drinking water for contaminants, because it can sometimes take weeks or months of testing before water can be declared safe — especially if it is coming from areas with damage.

Experts told the Associated Press that toxic chemicals found in drinking water after a fire can cause illnesses that range from temporary nausea to cancer.

The ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles have destroyed thousands of structures, including homes and businesses.

Those who have lost homes are undoubtedly left with myriad questions about what comes next.

The Los Angeles Times has tried to answer some of the most common, including:

Read more from the L.A. Times: I was forced to evacuate my home. Do I still need to pay my mortgage, rent, utility bills?

The Palisades and Eaton fires, which started on Jan. 7 in Los Angeles County, have claimed at least 24 lives over the last week. The combined blazes are now the fourth-deadliest in California's wildfire history.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced Tuesday that she had signed an executive order a day earlier intended to help expedite the process for rebuilding after the wildfires.

According to the mayor's office, the order will streamline the debris removal and permitting processes as well as make 1,400 units of housing immediately available for displaced residents.

"We don't want people burdened by red tape and bureaucracy," Bass said.