Los Angeles County firefighters spray water on a burning home as the Eaton Fire moved through the area on January 08, 2025 in Altadena, California. Fueled by intense Santa Ana Winds, the Palisades Fire has grown to over 2,900 acres and 30,000 people have been ordered to evacuate while a second fire has emerged near Eaton Canyon in Altadena.
Deadly Los Angeles wildfires
TOPSHOT – This image taken from the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip on October 29, 2023, shows a black cloud of smoke ascending from the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. The Israeli army has raised the number of troops fighting inside the Gaza Strip, a spokesman said on October 29, 2023, as the military stepped up its war on Hamas in the tiny Palestinian territory. Thousands of civilians, both Palestinians and Israelis, have died since October 7, 2023, after Palestinian Hamas militants based in the Gaza Strip entered southern Israel in an unprecedented attack triggering a war declared by Israel on Hamas with retaliatory bombings on Gaza. (Photo by FADEL SENNA / AFP) (Photo by FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images)
Hopes rise for Gaza ceasefire deal
Live Updates
Dangerous winds raise fire risk in the LA area but are lighter than feared
By Hanna Park, Jessie Yeung, Karina Tsui, Antoinette Radford, Andy Rose, Lauren Mascarenhas, Chris Boyette, Taylor Romine, Michelle Watson, Emma Tucker and Amanda Jackson, CNN
Updated 12:10 AM EST, Wed January 15, 2025
See emotional moment when firefighter finds wedding ring after house burned down
05:12 – Source: CNN
What you need to know
• Firefighters are facing challenging conditions in their battle against the Los Angeles wildfires, with powerful winds forecast over the next 24 hours that could cause extreme fire behavior in the blazes or turn any new spark into a raging inferno.
• The Eaton and Palisades fires are now the most destructive and second-most destructive wildfires, respectively, in Southern California history, according to Cal Fire. The total area burned by the Palisades, Eaton and Hurst fires is about 60 square miles, an area larger than Paris.
• The fires over the past week were larger and burned hotter than they would have in a world without planet-warming fossil fuel pollution, a UCLA analysis suggests. The report is clear in saying the fires likely still would have occurred in a world without climate pollution, but it concludes they would have been “somewhat smaller and less intense.”
• For ways to help Los Angeles County residents, visit CNN Impact Your World.
All
catch up
Forecasts
70 Posts
Sort By
Latest
7 min ago
Updated wind reports across Southern California Tuesday
From CNN’s Robert Shackelford
A firefighter takes weather readings while standing on a scorched ridgetop above the Eaton Fire in Angeles National Forest on Monday.
A firefighter takes weather readings while standing on a scorched ridgetop above the Eaton Fire in Angeles National Forest on Monday. Noah Berger/AP
The winds across Southern California were fortunately lower on Tuesday than forecast, which helps firefighters in their continued efforts to battle ongoing wildfires.
Widespread wind gusts of 20-40 mph were reported with peaks seeing gusts over 60 mph. Here are the strongest wind gusts Tuesday:
74 mph: Magic Mountain in Angeles National Forest in the San Gabriel Mountains
62 mph: Mill Creek in the western San Gabriel Mountains
61 mph: Chilao in Angeles National Forest in the San Gabriel Mountains
61 mph: Palo Sola in the eastern Santa Susanna Mountains
60 mph: Sandstone Peak in the western Santa Monica Mountains
The National Weather Service in Los Angeles warns that winds will uptick beginning Tuesday overnight and will last through Wednesday. There are currently over 6 million people under critical fire threat Wednesday, which includes the cities of Riverside, San Bernardino, Irvine and Oxnard.
1 hr 11 min ago
LA wildfires were larger and more intense due to planet-warming pollution, scientists report
From CNN’s Angela Fritz and Hanna Park
Water is dropped by helicopter on the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills section of Los Angeles, on Thursday.
Water is dropped by helicopter on the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills section of Los Angeles, on Thursday. Ethan Swope/AP
The recent wildfires in Los Angeles have burned hotter and larger than they would have without human-induced pollution, suggests a new analysis from the University of California, Los Angeles.
The study attributes 25% of the available fuel for these fires to climate change, acknowledging that while the fires would have occurred regardless, they would have been “somewhat smaller and less intense.”
The result raises the question of whether the fires would have been more manageable without the exacerbating effects of climate change.
Twelve fires ignited across the region since January 7, when a rare Santa Ana wind event blew across the region. Over 60 square miles have been scorched and more than 12,000 structures, including homes and businesses, have been lost. The Eaton and Palisades fires now rank as the most destructive in Southern California’s history.
Several climate-related factors have heightened this fire fuel, including unusually wet winters, unseasonably warm summer and fall temperatures and a delayed rainy season. The last two winters brought double the average rainfall to downtown Los Angeles, promoting an overgrowth of grasses and shrubs, which later dried out in the heat.
The phenomenon of “weather whiplash” — rapid shifts between wet and dry conditions — has intensified, further exacerbating wildfire risks. Between May 2024 and January 2025, Los Angeles recorded only 0.29 inches of rain, marking one of the driest spans on record.
With forecasts predicting below-normal rainfall in the coming months, the region remains on high alert as it grapples with the harsh realities of a warming planet.
Leave a Reply