UPDATE 5 p.m.
Firefighters battling to save Los Angeles braced for “particularly dangerous” winds as early as Monday night that threatened to reverse gains crews achieved during a weekend of relative atmospheric calm. The National Weather Service issued a rare fire danger alert based on extreme winds expected Tuesday and Wednesday, with gusts only somewhat weaker than the hurricane-force winds that sparked up the Palisades, Eaton and Hurst fires on Jan. 7. While the worst sustained winds were expected after sunrise Tuesday, winds were forecast to start picking up overnight, a critical time as the largest fires are still only partially contained. Fire officials said they were deploying resources to at-risk areas, including the still-raging Palisades Fire.
UPDATE 4 p.m.
Disney and Warner Bros. have each donated $15 million to support those impacted by the LA fires, while Amazon, Netflix and NBCUniversal parent Comcast have each pitched in $10 million, Snap Inc. has pledged $5 million and Paramount Global $1 million. Other organizations who have made donations include Beyoncé’s BeyGOOD Foundation, The Recording Academy and MusiCares, in addition to some notable celebrities.
UPDATE 1 p.m.
Three separate lawsuits were filed against Southern California Edison on Monday accusing the power company of starting the Eaton fire. Representing homeowners in Altadena, a group of lawyers announced the civil action, despite that an official cause for the fire has not yet been determined, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The trio of suits blame the utility because the fire reportedly started under a transmission tower in Eaton Canyon, a popular hiking spot. An Edison spokesman said the company has not yet been served.
UPDATE 12:30 p.m.
Due to the wildfires, the Oscars have extended the nominations voting window to Jan. 17, pushed back the nominations announcement to Jan. 23 and canceled the Nominees Luncheon, AMPAS announced Monday. For now, the March 2 date of the 97th Academy Awards ceremony will not change.
Meanwhile, the Grammys will go on as planned. The live-telecast ceremony, scheduled for Feb. 2, will raise funds for those displaced by the fires and honor first responders.
PREVIOUSLY:
The deadly Los Angeles wildfires continued to burn Monday morning, with fire officials updating the death toll to 24.
Late Sunday night, the county medical examiner added eight deaths related to the Palisades fire and 16 in the Eaton fire. Additionally, 23 people have been reported missing and more than 12,300 structures have been destroyed.
The Palisades fire is currently at 14% containment after burning 23,713 acres since Tuesday, while the Eaton fire is now 33% contained at 14,117 acres. Thankfully, the Hurst fire is 95% contained at 799 acres.
While the Santa Ana winds gave firefighters a slight reprieve over the weekend, the National Weather Service now predicts “extremely dangerous fire weather conditions to develop across coastal southern California early this week.”
Strong winds are expected to reach their peak Tuesday morning, with a Particularly Dangerous Situation Red Flag Warning issued through Wednesday.
The warning “is one of the loudest ways that we can shout,” Rose Schoenfeld, a National Weather Service meteorologist, told the LA Times. “This is a continued extreme fire weather and wind scenario.”
In response, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom have pre-deployed emergency service personnel to locations likely to be impacted by the worsening conditions near the Palisades fire.
Edison International president and CEO Pedro Pizarro told “Good Morning America” on Monday that 50,000 locals are without power due to the devastation, with as many as 450,000 others warned that their power could be turned off to prevent potential utility line fires in the coming days.
