LA firefighters desperately try to contain monster Palisades fire

Firefighters are working tirelessly to prevent the largest of the deadly wildfires threatening Los Angeles from spreading into one of the city's wealthiest neighborhoods. Aircrews are dropping water and fire retardant on the burning hillsides to halt the advance of the Palisades Fire, which has grown to 1,000 acres and now threatens Brentwood.

Officials are facing growing anger as fire hydrants have run dry while firefighters struggle to contain the rapidly spreading blazes. Winds are expected to pick up again overnight, further fueling the flames that have already claimed the lives of at least 11 people. “Los Angeles County has experienced another night of unimaginable horror and heartbreak,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath on Saturday.

Firefighters have made some progress in containing the worst of the fires, the Palisades Fire, which has burned nearly 23,000 acres and is now 11% contained. But the blaze has spread into the Mandeville Canyon community, triggering evacuation orders for large parts of Brentwood, an upscale enclave where Arnold Schwarzenegger, Disney CEO Bob Iger, and NBA star LeBron James have homes. The Getty Center, a hilltop museum housing over 125,000 works of art, including masterpieces by Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Rubens, Monet, and Degas, is also within the evacuation zone. The building is not currently damaged.

The second-largest fire, the Eaton Fire, has burned more than 14,000 acres and is 15% contained. Firefighters have largely contained two smaller fires, the Kenneth and Hearst fires. But the National Weather Service has warned that the strong Santa Ana winds that initially sparked the fires will pick up again on Saturday and Sunday. Seven neighboring states, the federal government, and Canada and Mexico have sent emergency resources to California.

The cause of the fires has yet to be determined. The two largest fires combined have burned an area more than twice the size of Manhattan. About 153,000 residents have been forced to evacuate, and another 166,000 have been warned that they may also need to leave. The political fallout has already begun. On Friday, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, rumored to have White House ambitions, ordered an investigation into why a key reservoir stopped supplying water and why some fire hydrants ran dry.

Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley complained about the lack of water supply. “When firefighters arrive at a fire hydrant, we expect there to be water,” she said. Chief Crowley also slammed city leadership for cutting her department’s budget and eliminating mechanic positions, which she said has led to more than 100 fire trucks being out of service. On Saturday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass—who has faced criticism for traveling to Ghana for that country’s presidential inauguration on Tuesday when the fires broke out in Los Angeles—hinted at tensions with Chief Crowley. “Let me be clear,” Bass said at a press conference, “the fire chief and I are focused on putting out these fires and saving lives, and any differences we may have will be addressed privately.”

More than 70,000 people have signed a petition on change.org calling for the mayor to resign immediately. As fears of looting have grown, officials said that a dusk-to-dawn curfew is being strictly enforced in the evacuated areas. Newsom announced on Saturday that he would double the number of National Guard troops on the ground to 1,680 to “ensure the safety of communities.” There have been about two dozen arrests, including for burglary, looting, and curfew violations. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said search dogs are helping 40 search and rescue teams comb through flattened neighborhoods. The death toll is expected to rise once house-to-house searches are conducted.

The fires have been so intense that the wheel alloys on cars have been melted into liquid metal. Real estate agent Rick McGeagh told Reuters that in his Pacific Palisades neighborhood, only six out of 60 homes survived. At his own home, the only thing left standing was a statue of the Virgin Mary. “Everything else is ash and rubble,” said the 61-year-old father of three.