- Officials warn the Los Angeles fires aren’t over yet.
- Though winds are forecast to die down this week, they could pick up again next week.
- The fires have burned through 40,000 acres and could have caused up to $275 billion in damage.
Los Angeles officials said Wednesday that they’d generally been able to keep the wildfires ravaging the area from spreading further — but they warned the region isn’t in the clear yet.
Extreme fire danger conditions were forecast to continue through at least Wednesday afternoon local time, the National Weather Service said. Meteorologists said conditions could improve on Thursday.
The wildfires, which have now been raging for more than a week, have already burned through 40,000 acres and destroyed more than 12,300 homes and other structures.
More than 8,500 firefighters have been marshaled to fight the blazes, which have caused at least 25 reported deaths.
LA fires rage on for a ninth day
Officials said Wednesday that, over the past 24 hours, winds had not been as bad as expected, but the area still faced dangerous conditions.
The LA County Fire Department said Wednesday morning that a “red flag” warning for the Eaton Fire, one of the major blazes, had been extended into the evening. It said that the Santa Ana winds will gradually subside throughout the day, but very dry conditions will likely persist through Thursday.
“The anticipated 70-mile-an-hour winds have yet to materialize,” Anthony Marrone, the Los Angeles County Fire Department chief, said at a Wednesday briefing. “However, this could change, and we are still at risk.”
And though conditions may improve in the next few days, weather forecasters are already sounding the alarm for potential critical fire weather conditions beginning again toward the middle of next week.
The Palisades and the Eaton Fires — the two largest at 23,712 acres and 14,117 acres — were 19% and 45% contained as of Wednesday morning, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or CalFire. The Hurst Fire, at 799 acres, was almost fully contained, it said.
Los Angeles County Robert Luna said that as of Wednesday morning, fewer people were under evacuation orders, noting 82,400 people affected. Evacuation warnings had risen slightly because of the winds, up to 92,400.
Looting, burglary, arson, and price gouging are hitting the area
As thousands of LA area residents struggle to pick up the pieces of their lives, others have taken advantage of the situation for their own gain.
LA officials have reported suspected instances of looting, burglary, and other crimes in wildfire-ravaged areas.
Sheriff Luna said Wednesday that his officers had made 44 arrests related to the Eaton and Palisades Fires, including for suspected burglary, trespassing, curfew violation, possession of guns and narcotics, and impersonating a firefighter.
In addition to those arrests, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell said Wednesday that his department had made 14 arrests related to the fires — for things like suspected felony vandalism, impersonating a firefighter, possession of burglary tools, and shoplifting.
There have also been a few cases of suspected arson, officials said.
In one suspected case on Tuesday evening, a bystander caught someone starting a fire near the edge of the Hurst Fire zone and detained them until officers arrived, McDonnell said. The bystander had already put out the fire by the time officers got there, and the suspect was taken into custody where McDonnell said he admitted to sparking the fire because “he liked the smell of burning leaves.”
Another person was booked on suspicion of arson that day after McDonnell said she admitted to starting multiple rubbish and trash fires because she said she “enjoyed causing chaos and destruction.”
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said his office has seen instances of price gouging on medical supplies and hotels, as well as landlords overcharging above the legal limit.
Jason Oppenheim, the star of “Selling Sunset” who co-runs the real estate brokerage the Oppenheim Group, has also reported seeing landlords engaging in suspected price gouging.
Damage from the LA fires is mounting
The scope of the LA fires’ destruction is beginning to come to light.
Preliminary estimates from AccuWeather peg the total damage and economic losses associated with the Southern California wildfires at up to $275 billion.
That would make the fires more economically damaging than the Maui wildfires from 2023, which AccuWeather said caused up to $16 billion in damages — and more destructive than 2024’s Hurricane Helene, which caused $225 to $250 billion in damages, according to AccuWeather’s estimate.
AccuWeather’s estimate accounts for more than just damage to buildings and infrastructure — it also includes the expected financial impact of evacuation orders, the long-term cost of rebuilding or relocation for people whose homes were destroyed, anticipated cleanup and recovery costs, emergency shelter expenses, immediate and long-term healthcare costs for those who were injured or exposed to unhealthy air quality, as well as lost wages for people whose jobs will have been affected.
Meanwhile, according to Goldman Sachs, the total damage from the LA fires could rank among the top 20 costliest natural disasters in US history in terms of GDP.
And all that loss isn’t going to help California’s ongoing insurance crisis, where many homebuyers already struggle to get approved for loans, home insurance, and fire insurance — even in areas outside the typical risk zones.
Rising prices, which experts say will now likely only get worse, have forced some residents to go without insurance entirely — and for those impacted by the fires, the recovery costs will be significant.
Looking beyond the destruction of the LA fires
LA officials are already looking beyond the fires, despite firefighters still struggling to put out the larger blazes fully.
On Tuesday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued an executive order to speed up the city’s building permit review process. The order calls for reviews to be completed within 30 days of submission.
The executive order also aims to streamline processes for clearing debris.
Meanwhile, California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday issued an executive order barring land developers from making unsolicited and undervalued offers to buy properties.
“Make no mistake — this is a prosecutable crime,” he said in an X post.
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