California Wildfires The Palisades Fire, a historic and catastrophic fire, is almost 20,000 acres in size.
Despite limited containment efforts, the Palisades Fire, the most damaging wildfire in Los Angeles history, continued to burn on Friday.
A 1:57 a.m. Cal Fire update stated that 19,978 acres had been burned in the Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and other parts of the Santa Monica Mountains. Fanned by hurricane-force Santa Ana winds, the fire broke out Tuesday morning and swiftly tore across residential and commercial neighborhoods.
Numerous homes and businesses are among the more than 5,000 structures that have been destroyed.
The estimated amount of damage is in the tens of billions of dollars.
There are still tens of thousands of people under warnings or evacuation orders. The evacuation order covered parts of Santa Monica, Malibu, and Topanga as well as the Pacific Palisades and the Pacific Ocean. On Friday, Calabasas residents and businesses were still under an evacuation notice.
The cause is still being looked into.
On Thursday, firefighters were able to make some headway in the battle against the Palisades Fire. Following two days without containment, authorities increased the containment to 6% as winds subsided sufficiently to enable more than 3,000 firefighters and fixed-wing aircraft to slow the spread of the fire.
Both the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire in Altadena and Pasadena, Southern California, have claimed the lives of at least ten individuals.
Another blaze, the Kenneth Fire, broke out near residences north of the 101 Freeway on Thursday afternoon, prompting the arrest of a man on suspicion of arson near Woodland Hills. After locals allegedly witnessed the man trying to start a fire, he was arrested.
Cal Fire issued the following dire warning regarding upcoming firefighting efforts and the possibility of further wildfires:
There are still topography and wind-driven upslope flows in the Palisades Fire. Cal Fire stated in a bulletin that short-range spotting is still being observed. Normal mid-January weather is predicted on Saturday. Weak to moderate Santa Ana winds are predicted for Sunday and throughout the middle of next week. Strong winds are possible on Tuesday. Through next week, there will still be a significant chance of severe fire weather conditions.