California fires: Epic aerial assault to protect homes in Brentwood, Encino as L.A. wildfire death toll rises

An epic aerial assault was underway Saturday as a fleet of aircraft worked to prevent the Palisades fire from hitting homes in Brentwood and Encino.

A shift in winds late Friday sent the fire north and east through the Santa Monica Mountains, forcing evacuations of Brentwood and the hills of Encino and Tarzana — keeping Los Angeles on edge in Day 5 of an unprecedented fire siege that has already damaged or destroyed more than 10,000 structures and killed at least 13 people.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner is reporting that the number of people killed by the Palisades and Eaton fires has jumped to 16.

So far, five people have been killed by the Palisades fire while 11 people have been killed by the Eaton fire, according to officials.

Los Angeles watched in awe and terror this weekend as a squadron of aircraft bombed water on the Palisades fire as it marched toward Brentwood and Encino.

Much of the TV coverage focused the astonishing sight of choppers day and night flying over tall columns of flames, depositing their water and flying away as red flames transformed into puffs of white smoke. Bystanders cheered direct hits.

Authorities detected more than 30 drones in the restricted airspace around the Palisades fire between Friday and Saturday, Los Angeles County Fire Department spokesperson Sheila Kelliher said Saturday.

“When a drone is detected near manned firefighting aircraft, operations must be suspended,“ she said. “This disruption compromises structure defense and critical lifesaving efforts.”

Drone detection sensors and software can identify pilots who fly illegally, Kelliher said. Additionally, the FBI is assisting in tracking them down.

An FBI investigation began after a Super Scooper firefighting aircraft collided with a drone Thursday and was grounded for repairs, depriving the firefighting effort of a major tool.

The Canadian Super Scooper was left with a 3-inch-by-6-inch hole in its wing after it collided with a personally owned drone, said Akil Davis, assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office.

Fixed-wing aircraft like the Super Scooper represent “our No. 1 tool in fighting these fires,” Davis said. The drone pilot who grounded the plane may have caused “significant loss of property but also potential loss of life,” he said.

The FBI was aware of social media posts by pilots apparently flouting the restrictions, he said, noting that flying a drone during a temporary flight restriction is a federal crime.

In 2020, the FBI arrested an operator after his drone collided with an on-duty LAPD helicopter, Davis said.

Now, the agency is on the lookout for those who are hampering firefighting efforts against L.A. County’s fires, conducting an investigation into who is flying the drones and operating ground intercept teams composed of FBI agents and members of local law enforcement.

Those with information on illegal drone activity should report it to 1-800-CALL-FBI or visit tips.fbi.gov, Davis said.

President-elect Donald Trump has not responded to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s invitation to tour California’s fire damage, Newsom said Saturday afternoon.

Newsom sent a letter on Friday inviting the incoming president to California to meet with fire victims, survey the devastation in Los Angeles County and join him in thanking first responders. The invitation, which the governor’s office said was emailed to Trump’s team, marked a slight change in tone in the political battle between Newsom and Trump, with Newsom imploring Trump not to politicize the tragedy.

After five days of an unrelenting firestorm in Los Angeles County, medical experts are warning that the area’s smoke levels pose unique risks to expectant pregnant people and their unborn children.

So what should pregnant L.A. residents do?

Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger on Saturday invited President-elect Donald Trump to visit the devastation across L.A. County in the wake of two major fires that continue to burn.

“We need all levels of support, both at the local county level, the state level and the federal level, and we need it immediately,” Barger said Saturday afternoon at a news conference. “I cannot stress enough how important that is and will continue to be in the future.”

It wasn’t immediately clear if Trump’s team had responded.

“Engaging the White House makes the way for the rapid deployment of federal resources, including emergency personnel and financial assistance,” she said.

Also Saturday, President Biden spoke by phone separately with Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and Ventura County Supervisor Kelly Long to discuss the latest updates on the wildfires across Los Angeles.

Biden has gotten regular briefings from his staff on the wildfires, and has pledged full federal reimbursement for 100% of disaster assistance costs over the next 180 days, though he will leave office Jan. 20.

When Brigitte Tran arrived Wednesday morning at the Rodeo Drive boutique where she works as a sales associate, she was on edge.

Smoke from multiple wildfires raging across Los Angeles County billowed overhead. The luxury shopping corridor usually bustling with tourists appeared a ghost town.

Her Calabasas home is wedged between two major fires that have devastated Los Angeles County, and she can see water-dropping helicopters through the windows. The slightest change in the wind could have life-altering consequences.

Yet when she awoke Friday, this registered nurse drove through the haze and smoke to Pasadena to help people who have been displaced by another fire, the deadly Eaton blaze.

UCLA was not yet within any evacuation zone, but students were put on high alert Saturday as the campus is located just next to areas now under evacuation warnings. University housing officials sent an email to campus residents to “stay vigilant and ready to evacuate,” county officials said.

In the event of an evacuation, the meeting points would be Pauley Pavilion and Tipuana Apartments, and UCLA said it would provide transportation from those sites.

UCLA also announced classes will be remote through Friday.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said Saturday that the number of California National Guard service members in Los Angeles is doubling to 1,680 to help support firefighting efforts.

The state now has more than 1,000 members of the CalGuard’s law enforcement branch stationed at traffic control points and supporting local police, Newsom’s office said.

The remainder of the CalGuard members are supporting wildfire fighting efforts.

The state has mobilized more than 12,000 people and more than 1,660 pieces of firefighting equipment — including more than 1,150 engines and five dozen aircraft — to try and gain the upper hand against the Eaton, Palisades and Hurst fires.

Not quite six years ago, wildfire expert Jack Cohen, who lives in Missoula, Mont., visited Pacific Palisades to instruct firefighters and property owners on how to protect homes against wildfires.

Three days of training, including a tour of the community, left Cohen hopeful, but the feeling faded when it became clear that his lessons were not going to be fully implemented. This week’s tragedy has left him with a deep sadness.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the utility for city residents, said Saturday that one-fifth of its hydrants in the Palisades area sustained a loss of pressure during this week’s deadly wildfire.

The utility also said it had fixed hydrants in the Palisades and neighboring communities that L.A. Fire Department inspectors flagged for repairs.

“LADWP’s fire hydrant repair list was current and updated, and all reported fire hydrants were fully operational in the Pacific Palisades and in L.A.’s Westside,” said a statement from Michelle Figueroa, a spokesperson for the utility.

Most of the hydrants that lost pressure were in higher elevation streets, according to DWP.

Los Angeles County’s top emergency manager said Saturday the county’s overhaul of its emergency notification system is nearly complete after it sent out a succession of faulty emergency alerts urging millions of residents across Los Angeles to prepare to evacuate amid the ongoing firestorm.

Kevin McGowan, director of L.A. County’s Office of Emergency Management, said in a morning news conference that the problem was caused by a software system glitch.

Two homes in the area around Mandeville Canyon were burned in the fire Saturday morning even as firefighting aircraft pounded the area with water and fire retardant.

Fire officials were in an all-out aerial war on the fire as it approached homes in Brentwood.

The aircraft were cycling between the fire zone and the Encino Reservoir to refill with water. They were dropping water both on canyons and individual homes.

The homes lost were in a remote area. It’s unclear what the addresses were.

Santa Ana gusts aren’t going anywhere, as meteorologists expect north-to-northeast winds to pick up Saturday night and continue into Wednesday evening for Southern California’s mountain and foothill communities.

Periods of elevated critical fire weather are expected to peak Saturday night into Sunday and then again Monday night through Tuesday as winds could gust up to more than 75 mph for the eastern part of the mountain ranges in Los Angeles County. Weather forecasters say the turbulent conditions may help push the Eaton fire in the Altadena area farther south.

Multiple wildfires have broken out in Southern California during a historic red flag wind event this week.

Although the cause of each blaze has yet to be determined, all have exploded in or near foothill communities where gusty winds and dry air and vegetation have fueled fast-spreading flames.

Officials on Saturday confirmed at least 13 people have died in the two fires, as they have continued to warn the death toll was likely to rise.

In the Eaton fire, L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna confirmed an additional two fatalities, up to a total of eight. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner had previously confirmed five deaths in the Palisades fire.

Luna said his office was also still working on 13 missing persons reports as well, which he said may or may not overlap with the confirmed deaths.

Los Angeles has Frank Gehry’s glorious Walt Disney Concert Hall, the space-age wonder of the LAX Theme Building and the stack-of-vinyl needle drop that is the Capitol Records building. For some design geeks, however, the heart and soul of L.A.’s architecture resides not just in its museums and office towers but also in its exalted, often otherworldly houses.

Those homes — especially those designed by Midcentury greats such as John Lautner, Richard Neutra, Ray Kappe, and Charles and Ray Eames — have been the obsession of those tracking the threats posed by firestorms laying waste to the wooded canyons and grassy hillsides that are the scenic backdrops for these residences.

Two potential wildfires in Laguna Beach were quickly extinguished on Friday, city officials said.

The first incident began Friday morning when a jogger noticed a smoldering burn scar along a trail behind the Ranch, a resort near Aliso and Wood canyons, officials said.

The jogger quickly called Orange County park officials, who alerted resort employees. One used a garden hose to extinguish the smoking 20-square-foot area.

“This was a team effort that exemplifies how collaboration and quick action can prevent a potentially dangerous situation from escalating,” said Laguna Beach Fire Chief Niko King.

Later Friday, county park staff found hot coals on a dirt road near Soka University.

Officials said the site appeared to have been used as a warming fire the night before. Although the fire was burned out, hot coals remained in the base. City and county firefighters extinguished the coals.

Even though Laguna Beach no longer has a red flag warning, King urged residents and visitors to report any signs of fire immediately to 911.

“As we live in a high fire-risk area, every second counts,” he said.

When devastating wildfires erupted across Los Angeles County this week, David Torgerson’s team of firefighters went to work.

The thousands of city, county and state firefighters dispatched to battle the blazes went wherever they were needed. The crews from Torgerson’s Wildfire Defense Systems, however, set out for particular addresses. Armed with hoses, fire-blocking gel and their own water supply, the Montana-based outfit contracts with insurance companies to defend the homes of customers who buy policies that include their services.

Aircraft were dropping water and fire retardant on hillsides in Brentwood Saturday morning as the Palisades fire made a run on its east flank.

The fire had been moving north and east for the last 15 hours thanks to shifting winds.

Brentwood and parts of Encino are under mandatory evacuation.

The flames were approaching some hillside homes in the Mountaingate area.

Despite new evacuation orders overnight in Brentwood and parts of the San Fernando Valley, firefighters made more progress on containing the Eaton and Palisades fires.

As of Saturday morning, the Eaton fire was 15% contained and the Palisades fire was 11% contained. On Friday, the Palisades fire was 8% contained and the Eaton fire was 3% contained.

Firefighters made more progress on containing the Eaton and Palisades fires.

As of Saturday morning, the Eaton fire was 15% contained and the Palisades fire was 11% contained. On Friday, the Palisades fire was 8% contained and the Eaton fire was 3% contained.

Winds will continue to be a factor for firefighters battling the L.A. firestorm this weekend.

“Another round of gusty northeast winds will develop through today into Sunday, then a stronger offshore wind event will likely develop between Monday night and Wednesday. Cold overnight temperatures are expected in wind protected areas,” the National Weather Service said in its Saturday forecast.

“Critical fire weather conditions are likely to develop again across portions of the Southland this evening through Sunday morning,” NWS added.

Shifting wind prompted a flare-up Friday night that prompted evacuations in Brentwood and parts of the Valley.

The annual Golden Dragon Parade, which celebrates the Lunar New Year in Los Angeles’ Chinatown, has been postponed due to the fires.

The parade’s host, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles, postponed the parade “due to the devastations our community is currently facing,” the organization said on Instagram.

“We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding during this difficult time,” the chamber said. The parade had been scheduled for Feb. 8.

The organization also postponed the Miss Los Angeles Chinatown Pageant, which had been scheduled for Jan. 19.

Firefighting helicopters were dumping water on a flare-up of the Palisades fire that was threatening Encino and Brentwood, which triggered new evacuation orders and warnings.

The flames can now be seen across the San Fernando Valley.

Aiding the firefighting efforts were relatively calm winds. “Winds are fairly light at this point,” National Weather Service meteorologist Todd Hall said. There could be gusts of up to 30 mph by daybreak, he said.

The gusts are nowhere near as severe as those that swept Los Angeles County during the historic firestorm this week. The fire siege, which saw gusts as strong as 100 mph, has consumed 12,000 structures and killed at least 11 people since Tuesday morning.

With the fire changing directions and potentially heading to the northeast and east, locations under a mandatory evacuation order include a large swath of Brentwood, hilly neighborhoods just east of Encino Reservoir, homes along Mulholland Drive west of the 405 Freeway, and the MountainGate Country Club.

Homes along Mandeville Canyon Road, which are under a mandatory evacuation order, are relatively close to the fire.

Caltrans has closed offramps from the 405 Freeway near the fire, including at Getty Center Drive and Skirball Center Drive.

Areas under an evacuation warning include portions of Encino south of Ventura Boulevard, including the Gelson’s supermarket. Encino Hospital Medical Center is across the street from the evacuation warning area.

A large swath of Bel Air was under an evacuation warning.

The Palisades fire is forming fire whirls, according to video of the fire as the blaze threatened Brentwood, Encino and the 405 Freeway through the Sepulveda Pass on Friday.

Video from news helicopters on KCAL-TV showed flames swirling in a whirl. The video showed firefighting helicopters making water drops.

With the fire changing directions and potentially heading to the northeast and east, locations under a mandatory evacuation order include swaths of Brentwood, hilly neighborhoods just east of Encino Reservoir, homes along Mulholland Drive west of the 405 Freeway, and the MountainGate Country Club.

Areas under an evacuation warning include areas of Encino south of Ventura Boulevard, including the Gelson’s supermarket. Encino Hospital Medical Center is across the street from the evacuation warning area.

A large swath of Bel Air was under an evacuation warning.

Josh Sautter, president of the Encino Neighborhood Council, said the new evacuation orders issued for the Palisades fire sent a shock wave of panic through the community.

“I don’t think that people here really saw that it was coming,” he said. “We didn’t think that it was something that would really affect us — until it did.”

His neighborhood group chats exploded as people scrambled to leave, and the Encino streets rapidly became clogged with traffic, he said.

“I was just talking to people in those zones who were desperately trying to get things together and trying to get out as quickly as possible,” he said. “People were completely freaked out.”

By 10 p.m. the neighborhood was eerily quiet.

For now, Sautter is staying put. He lives just outside the evacuation area with his pregnant wife and their 2-year-old baby.

But he’s on edge as he peers out his window and sees bright flames leaping from the hillside.

Here is a map of current evacuation orders and warnings.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has declared a local health emergency due to the ongoing firestorm in the region.

“The fires, coupled with strong winds, have severely degraded air quality by releasing hazardous smoke and particulate matter, posing immediate and long-term risks to public health,” the department said in a statement Friday evening.

The declaration prohibits the use of powered leaf blowers or other devices that could stir up ash and particulate matter into the air until further notice.

“The order applies to all areas of Los Angeles County due to the widespread presence of ash and particulate matter in the air throughout the entire region,” officials said.

Breathing air polluted with ash or smoke can cause wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath and other damage and irritation to the lungs — especially for elderly people or those with respiratory conditions, according to the American Lung Assn.

The public health department says that, if you see or smell smoke, you should close windows and doors to keep indoor air clean. If you must go outside for long periods of time, wear an N95 or P100 mask. You should call your doctor or go to urgent care if you experience severe shortness of breath, coughing, wheezing, chest pain, palpitations, nausea or unusual fatigue, and call 911 if the symptoms are life-threatening.

Multiple unauthorized drones flew above the Palisades fire Friday afternoon, forcing firefighting aircraft to leave the area for safety and angering those working on the front lines, authorities said.

These sightings came just a day after a drone collided with a Super Scooper fixed-wing aircraft, grounding the plane for several days of repairs and reducing the number of aircraft available to fight the fire.

January is usually an easy month to book a Southern California hotel room. Not this year.

Driven by the fires that have uprooted hundreds of thousands of L.A. County residents, legions of displaced families and individuals are grabbing rooms in surrounding counties, especially along the coast and in the desert. Beyond those under mandatory evacuation, many more, including many families and anxious pet owners, have left because of poor air quality or general wariness of the county’s precarious state.

Officials upgraded an evacuation warning to a mandatory order on the eastern flank of the Palisades fire as the blaze continued to burn Friday night.

The new evacuation order is in effect from Sunset Boulevard north to Encino Reservoir, and from the 405 Freeway west to Mandeville Canyon.

Evacuation warnings were issued for areas east of the 405 Freeway, north of West Sunset Boulevard and south of Mulholland Drive, along with areas south of Ventura Boulevard and east of Louise Avenue in Encino.

Here is a map.

The expanded evacuation order area includes the Getty Center, an art museum on 86 acres of gardens and terraces.

The fire threatened the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades just days ago.

One by one, Eaton fire evacuees showed up to a National Guard blockade in Altadena on Friday afternoon, believing they would be allowed to make one trip into the mandatory evacuation zone.

They flashed screenshots of a Facebook post from the city of Pasadena to perplexed National Guard members.

A spokesperson for Mayor Karen Bass has denied a report from the Daily Mail that she had fired L.A. Fire Chief Kristin Crowley, according to Times staff writer David Zahniser.

The Palisades and Eaton fires have forced tens of thousands of residents to flee this week, leaving many wondering what may remain of their homes in Pacific Palisades, Altadena and surrounding areas.

New satellite images give a look at the neighborhoods most impacted as the smoke clears.

The northern leg of the Palisades fire was creating a large smoke plume visible from the San Fernando Valley and other areas late Friday afternoon.

The fire is burning in rugged terrain near the Encino Reservoir and Braemar Country Club in Tarzana, but remains some distance from homes.

The L.A. Fire Department extended an evacuation warning to hillside neighborhoods just west of the 405 Freeway, as well as areas south of the 101 Freeway, but said residents don’t need to leave now.

“While no immediate action is required, we ask residents to ensure they are Ready, Set, Go! with an evacuation bag and a plan,” the LAFD said in a statement.

The evacuation warning zone now covers the Encino Reservoir as well as areas around Corbin Canyon Park, Serrania Park and Mulholland Gateway Park.

Here is a map.

A veil of wildfire smoke continued to linger over many Southern California communities Friday as conflagrations tore through the Santa Monica and San Gabriel mountains.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District extended its smoke advisory into Saturday, marking the fifth consecutive day of unhealthful pollution, largely due to the Eaton fire in Altadena.

Amid heightened anxiety over deadly wildfires and erroneous evacuation alerts, Angelenos got another dose of panic Friday when a social media hoax about immigration sweeps in Los Angeles began to circulate online.

The false report is a single message from an unknown sender who states that people had spotted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in several South L.A. neighborhoods as well as in nearby cities including Pasadena, El Segundo and Inglewood.

Before the fires they mostly tracked police pursuits and crimes in progress — maybe the occasional building fire.

But over the last week, since major fires began ravaging huge swaths of Los Angeles County, “scanners” on X — accounts who listen obsessively to police and fire radio chatter, then transcribe what they hear into digestible posts — have grown exponentially in popularity.

Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a letter to President-elect Donald Trump on Friday inviting the incoming leader to California to meet with fire victims, survey the devastation in Los Angeles County and join him in thanking first responders.

The invitation, which the governor’s office said was emailed to Trump’s team, marks a change in tone in the political battle between Newsom and Trump.

A large reservoir in Pacific Palisades that is part of the Los Angeles water supply system was out of commission when a ferocious wildfire destroyed thousands of homes and other structures nearby, the Los Angeles Times found.

Officials said that the Santa Ynez Reservoir had been closed since about February for repairs to its cover, leaving a 117-million-gallon water storage complex empty in the heart of the Palisades for nearly a year.

When Mayor Karen Bass unveiled her budget plan for 2024-25, she called for a 2.7% reduction in spending at the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Her proposal, unveiled in April, sought $23 million in cuts to the department, with much of it focused on reduced equipment purchases.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered an investigation into the causes behind water supply problems that left fire hydrants dry and hampered firefighting efforts during the devastating fires in Southern California.

Newsom’s demand for answers came amid criticism of city officials in Los Angeles over their handling of the disaster and questions about whether local water-related decisions and planning played a role in depriving firefighters of water during the most destructive fires in L.A. history. The governor has also come under criticism, largely on social media and in right-wing media coverage, for the state’s handling of the disaster.

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has issued a moratorium that bars insurers from canceling or non-renewing home policies in the Pacific Palisades and the San Gabriel Valley’s Eaton fire zones.

The moratorium, issued Thursday, protects homeowners living within the perimeter of the fire and in adjoining ZIP codes from losing their policies for one year, starting from when Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Wednesday.

As quickly as the Sunset fire started charring through Runyon Canyon in the Hollywood Hills on Wednesday evening, an AI-generated photo of the Hollywood sign ablaze was rapidly circulating on social media.

It was just one example of misinformation surrounding the Los Angeles-area fires spreading on social media, and experts warn that false information during natural disaster events disrupts recovery efforts and harms community trust.

A man “attempting to start a fire” Thursday in a West Hills neighborhood that was burning from the Kenneth fire is under investigation in connection with the nearly 1,000-acre blaze, according to law enforcement officials and a document reviewed by The Times.

Juan Sierra, 33, was arrested by officers from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Topanga Division around 5:30 p.m. after he was seen attempting to spark a fire, according to a law enforcement email obtained by The Times.

It is expected to take some time to determine the death toll from this week’s Los Angeles firestorms.

Officials confirmed 10 people died in the Eaton and Palisades fires, but Los Angeles Sheriff Robert Luna said that number is likely to rise.