Families in shock begin to visit their charred homes in the Los Angeles area

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Many watched in shock on television as their homes were consumed by flames. While new fire threats remained, the second-largest U.S. city was in turmoil as many residents returned to their still-smoldering neighborhoods after fires broke out in and around Los Angeles. For some, it was their first in-person glimpse of the devastating reality of the losses, as the region of 13 million people faces the enormous challenge of overcoming the disaster and rebuilding.

Calmer winds on Friday allowed firefighters to begin controlling some of the largest fires in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, but strong winds were forecast to return over the weekend, while the region has gone more than eight months without rain. Bridgette Berg saw her home in Altadena go up in flames on television while she was at work, and two days later, she and her family returned there for the first time “just to make it real.”

Their feet crunched on the remains of the home they had lived in for 16 years. Her children sifted through the debris in the walkway, finding a ceramic pot and some mementos, hoping to locate Japanese woodblock prints they were hoping to recover. Her husband reached into the rubble near the still-standing fireplace and held up a piece of petrified wood that had been passed down from his grandmother. “It’s OK, it’s OK,” Berg said to herself and others as she assessed the damage, recalling the deck and pool where her family used to watch fireworks. “It’s not just us who lost our house, it’s everyone who lost their house.”

Since the fires began in a densely populated 25-mile (40-kilometer) area north of downtown Los Angeles, they have burned more than 12,000 structures, including homes, apartment buildings, businesses, outbuildings, and vehicles. The cause of the largest fires has not yet been determined. Talk of leadership failures and political finger-pointing has already begun, and investigations have been launched. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday ordered state officials to investigate why a 117 million-gallon (440 million-liter) reservoir was out of service and some fire hydrants were dry, calling it “deeply disturbing.” Meanwhile, Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley expressed disappointment that city leadership had not provided enough funding for the fire department. She also criticized the lack of water. “When firefighters get to a fire hydrant, we expect there to be water,” she said.

At least 11 people have died, five from the Palisades fire and six from the Eaton fire, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office. Officials said the death toll was expected to rise as cadaver dogs searched through the flattened neighborhoods and assessments were made of the damage in an area larger than San Francisco. Officials set up a center on Friday where people could report missing persons. Tens of thousands of people remained under evacuation orders, and the fires have consumed about 56 square miles (145 square kilometers) of land. The disaster has taken the homes of everyone from waitresses to movie stars. The government has not yet released cost figures for the losses, but private companies have estimated that damages will climb into the tens of billions of dollars. The Walt Disney Company announced Friday that it would donate $15 million to respond to the fires and help with rebuilding.

The fires struck schools, churches, synagogues, libraries, boutiques, bars, restaurants, banks, and local landmarks like Will Rogers’ Western ranch house and an Altadena Queen Anne-style mansion dating back to 1887 that was commissioned for wealthy mapmaker Andrew McNally. Neighbors wandered through the ruins on Friday, describing bedrooms, recently renovated kitchens, and outdoor living spaces that are now gone. Some spoke of the magnificent views that had drawn them there, their words a stark contrast to the sight of soot and ash. In the coastal community of Pacific Palisades, Greg Benton surveyed the place where he had lived for 31 years, hoping to find his great-grandmother’s wedding ring in the wreckage. “We spent Christmas mornings right here in front of the chimney. This is all that’s left,” he said, pointing to the black rubble that was once his living room. “It’s those little family heirlooms that are the saddest.”

Elsewhere in the city, people sifted through cardboard boxes of donated items at collection points to restart their lives. Firefighters made progress for the first time since Tuesday in controlling the Eaton fire north of Pasadena, which has burned more than 7,000 structures. Officials said Friday that most of the evacuation orders in the area had been lifted. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said her city was experiencing its worst crisis in decades and that she was facing a severe test of her leadership, adding that several smaller fires had also been extinguished. Firefighters also made progress in the Palisades fire, which burned 5,300 structures and is the most destructive fire in Los Angeles history.

California National Guard troops arrived in the streets of Altadena before dawn to help protect property in fire evacuation zones, and an evening curfew was imposed to prevent looting after several arrests were made earlier. Even in a state that frequently faces massive wildfires, the level of devastation was shocking. After fleeing with her 6-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son, two dogs, and some clothes, Anna Jaeger said she and her husband were agonizing over whether to return to their beloved Altadena neighborhood near Pasadena. A neighbor told them their house was gone. Now she regrets not taking her children’s artwork, her husband’s treasured cookbooks, family photos, and jewelry that belonged to her mother, who died in 2012, and her husband’s grandmother, a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

When the couple returned, they saw only rows of “chimneys.” “There were wires everywhere. Everything was burning,” she said, adding that when they got to their house, “there was just dust left.” Charred grapefruits were scattered around a scorched tree in their yard, some still hanging from the branches. Jaeger’s Tudor-style neighborhood was scheduled to celebrate its centennial in May. “You build a world for yourself and your family, and you feel safe in that world, and then something happens that you have no control over,” she said. “It’s just so devastating.”

Jaeger had taken photos of her children on their front porch almost every day since 2020 and had planned to continue doing so until they were in high school. The remains of the front porch gave her hope. “The front porch is still there, and for me, that’s a sign to rebuild and not leave,” she said. “You know, it’s like saying, ‘Hey, I’m still here. You can still do this.’”