Curfew Declared Amid Looting, Lawlessness

‘Like Atomic Bomb Dropped’, Fires Devour Los Angeles

Date: 10 January 2025 - 23:04

News ID: ۱۳۵۷۰۲

LOS ANGELES (Dispatches) -- Major wildfires around Los Angeles raged for a fourth straight day on Friday, as firefighters battled to control the raging blazes that have killed at least 10 people and destroyed nearly 10,000 structures.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna told a news conference he expected the number to grow.
“It looks like an atomic bomb dropped in these areas. I don’t expect good news, and we’re not looking forward to those numbers,” Luna said.
All around Los Angeles, scenes of flames were everywhere, as many areas continued to burn all but unabated.
Nearly 180,000 people are under evacuation orders due to the fire, with another 200,000 residents subject to evacuation warnings, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
More than 285,000 residents are without electricity in Southern California, according to

PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide, while water and sewage infrastructure across the area has suffered extensive damage.
The Palisades Fire between Santa Monica and Malibu on the city’s western flank and the Eaton Fire in the east near Pasadena already rank as the most destructive in Los Angeles history, consuming more than 13,750 hectares and turning entire neighborhoods to ash.
Private forecaster AccuWeather estimated the damage and economic loss at $135 billion to $150 billion, portending an arduous recovery and soaring homeowners’ insurance costs.
With nerves on edge, Los Angeles County mistakenly sent an evacuation notice countywide to a population of 9.6 million, even though it had been meant only for the area of the Kenneth Fire, officials said.
At least 20 arrests have been made for looting. The city of Santa Monica, which is next to Pacific Palisades, declared a curfew because of the lawlessness, officials said.
National Guard troops arrived in Los Angeles on Thursday evening and will help protect property.
Officials said the Eaton Fire had damaged or destroyed 4000 to 5000 structures while the Palisades Fire destroyed or damaged another 5300 structures.
Aerial video showed block after block of leveled homes, while satellite images showed the two largest fires forming a pincer around the city and thick plumes of smoke from the fires being blown out over the Pacific Ocean.
The homes of movie stars and celebrities were among those consumed by flames.
Firefighters from half a dozen other U.S. states and Canada were being rushed to California, in addition to U.S. federal personnel and materiel.
Authorities have not determined the cause of the fires but are investigating various possible sources of ignition.
While lightning is the most common cause of wildfires in the U.S., according to the National Fire Protection Association, there were no reports of lightning in the vicinity at the time the blazes began.
Other common causes include intentionally lit fires and power lines.