UPDATE: 9:00 p.m. PT:
The battle against the Palisades Fire is far from over, and on Friday night the blaze crossed the ridge of the Santa Monica Mountains and is now edging closer to neighborhoods in the San Fernando Valley.
Authorities have ordered new mandatory evacuations for people living between Sunset Blvd in the south and the Encino Reservoir in the north, and from
the 405 Freeway in the east to Mandeville Canyon in the west.
While the fires have not yet reached Encino, theyare starkly visible against the night sky, these photos, taken by TheWrap’s Alexei Barrionuevo in nearby Sherman Oaks, demonstrates:
At least 4 Helicopters and planes could be seen crisscrossing the fire zone Friday night, attempting to stem the spread of the fire.
There is also a curfew in effect within the city of Los Angeles in all evacuation areas lasting from 6:00 PM – 6:00 AM.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers home games scheduled for Saturday have also been rescheduled, and tickets for the games will be honored at a later date, TBD.
UPDATE: 3:50 p.m. PT: 11 fire-related death cases have been reported to the Los Angeles Medical Examiner as of Friday afternoon. Five people have been reported dead from the Palisades Fire and six others in the Eaton Fire, according to the L.A. County Medical Examiner. Eight cases are still under investigation, but the department has confirmed the human remains for three cases.
UPDATE 1:15 p.m. PT: At a Friday press conference, Eaton fire authorities lowered the number of total reported deaths from 10 to eight and the number of looting/curfew-related arrests from 20 to 18 city-wide.
UPDATE 11:45 a.m. PT: Granada Hills caught fire late morning Friday, leading to immediate evacuation orders from the Los Angeles Fire Department. The LAFD cited “erratic winds” as contributing to the fire’s spread.
Calling it the Archer Fire, the blaze picked up in the 17200 block of West Sesnon Boulevard around 10:30 a.m. PT. Officials set the following parameters for the evacuation notice — East: Balboa x Int 5; West: Tampa; South: Sesnon; North: Sunshine Canyon Road.
ORIGINAL STORY: The Los Angeles wildfires showed subtle signs of relenting up overnight into Friday morning, but the numbers associated with the devastation continue to rise. Thus far, at least eight people are dead, 10,000 structures have been destroyed and 153,000 locals are now under evacuation orders.
The Palisades fire is currently at 8% containment, having burned 20,438 acres since it began on Tuesday. Elsewhere, the Eaton fire has burned 13,690 acres now at 3% containment, with the Kenneth fire still at 1,000 acres, the Hurst fire at 771 acres and the Lidia fire nearly contained at 395 acres.
“Yesterday, we were very hopeful that we could turn a corner on this fire, and we did,” CalFire battalion chief Brent Pascua said of the Palisades fire’s containment on Friday. “It’s going to take a lot more work to see that grow, but we’re headed in the right direction.”
Many Angelenos were jolted awake by a second (hopefully errant) all-county emergency alarm on their phones at around 4 a.m. PT early Friday morning. Thursday’s similar text message alert was confirmed to have been sent wide by mistake.
At least 13,926 emergency responders are now battling the unprecedented urban wildfires, with 8,000 personnel coming from California itself and additional assistance from Oregon, Washington, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Mexico and Canada.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has again activated the California National Guard to help combat both the blazes and looting after at least 18 people were arrested for burglarizing impacted homes this week. “Taking advantage of evacuated communities is absolutely sick,” he said. “Looting will not be tolerated.”
A suspected arsonist in connection to the more recent Kenneth fire was also arrested Thursday night, according to the LAPD. “Justice will be swift, it will be firm, and the maximum punishment will be sought,” Los Angeles DA Nathan Hochman noted.
All Los Angeles Unified School District schools are closed for Friday. LAUSD superintendent Alberto Carvalho further stated that next week’s classes will be dependent on weather, pollution and fire conditions, in addition to potential recovery needs.
A red flag warning remains in effect until Friday evening.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story stated there were 10 confirmed deaths due to the L.A. wildfires. The LAFD has since lowered that total to eight.
