Los Angeles wildfires live updates: Moment looters raid LA residence, as $200K of items and Emmy allegedly stolen from homes
Security footage has captured the moment a team of looters raided an abandoned multimillion-dollar home, stealing $200,000 worth of items.
At least 25 people have died in wildfires which continue to ravage Los Angeles a week after the blaze broke out.
Some 88,000 people are still under evacuation orders as two large fires and two smaller ones continue to burn.
The biggest two – the Eaton and Palisades fires – are now the two most destructive wildfires ever recorded in Southern California.
The Eaton fire is now 45 per cent contained after burning over 14,000 acres, while the
Palisades Fire, which has destroyed more than 23,700 acres, is 19 per cent contained.
Follow below for live updates.
Moment looters raid LA residence, as $200,000 worth of items and Emmy Award allegedly stolen from homes
Home security footage has captured the moment a team of looters raided an abandoned multimillion-dollar home inside the Palisades Fire evacuation zone.
The footage, released by the LA District Attorney, shows a group of looters wearing grey pants and jumpers, walking up the stairs of the house, estimated to be worth $34 million, in Mandeville Canyon.
Over $200,000 worth of property was allegedly stolen from the residence and three people were arrested, police said.
One of the suspects crashed their car while trying to flee police, injuring another person.
A further six people have been charged with looting homes in the Eaton and Palisades fire areas.
“These crimes are appalling and represent a direct attack on our community during a time of unprecedented loss and vulnerability,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said during a press conference.
An Emmy Award was among the property stolen from one of the raids, the DA said, without sharing details on who owns the award.
‘Bad news’: Dangerous weather conditions expected next week
LA residents are experiencing a “much-needed break” from fire weather conditions, with winds calming down on Wednesday, US time.
“Finally, today, those winds are finally relaxing … We’re not expecting — at least for several days — any critical fire conditions for the area,” National Weather Service Meteorologist Rich Thompson told CBS News.
However, the National Weather Service Los Angeles warned the relief won’t last long, with “dangerous fire weather conditions” around the corner.
“Good news: We are expecting a much-needed break from the fire weather concerns to close this week,” the weather service wrote on social media.
“Bad News: Next week is a concern. While confident that we will NOT see a repeat of last week, dangerous fire weather conditions are expected.”
Meghan Markle delivers donations to support teen girls
Meghan Markle has visited a relief group, delivering bags of donations, to help teenage girls affected by the Eaton fire.
On Monday, the Duchess of Sussex volunteered and delivered donations to the Altadena Teen Girls Fire Recovery group, a new organisation created by 14-year-old Avery Colvert to provide clothes. beauty products and other goods to teens displaced by the fire.
Meghan was seen wearing a black T-shirt and ‘LA’ baseball cap while carrying overflowing bags of donations in a video shared by Altadena Girls on Instagram.
“And thank you to everyone who showed up on Monday, which was such a special day! We love you!” the group captioned the video.
The group later commented on the Instagram post, praising the Duchess for her support.
“Even just meeting her is life-changing! Having her support is unreal,” the group wrote.
Meghan and Prince Harry were earlier seen at the Pasadena Convention Centre wearing hats and hospital masks and handing out food and supplies alongside volunteers last week.
“Domino effect of missteps”
Only a fraction of firefighters and five of the 40 available fire trucks were deployed to battle the deadly Palisades fire, a damning new report has revealed.
Internal fire department records obtained by the Los Angeles Times show officials held off on ordering hundreds of available fire crews to remain on duty last Tuesday, to fight flames in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood.
Despite being available, no extra engines were readied in the Palisades region prior to the fire breaking out there, according to the logs.
Criticising decisions made by officials, former LAFD Battalion Chief Rick Crawford told the publication: “You would have had a better chance to get a better result if you deployed those engines.”
“You give yourself the best chance to minimise how big the fire could get. … If you do that, you have the ability to say, ‘I threw everything at it at the outset.’”
“That didn’t happen here,” he continued, adding the choices were part of a “domino effect of missteps” by officials.
The Times also reported that before the fires, LAFD leaders decided not to deploy additional engines to fire-prone areas like the Pacific Palisades. However, nine engines were positioned in Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley in anticipation of fires breaking out there.
Meanwhile, additional manpower was only called up in the now-destroyed Palisades enclave after the flames was already out of control, the logs show.
LA’s Deputy Chief Richard Fields, who is in charge of staffing and equipment, stressed that his plan was “appropriate for immediate response” and slammed critics for playing “Monday morning quarterback.” His boss, Chief Kristin Crowley, also defended the decision.
“What we did was based on many years of experience and also trying to be responsible for the rest of the city at any given time of that day,” Fields told the publication.
“I accept that we could be scrutinised for not having enough after the thing has happened,” Fields added. “But I would challenge any of those people that scrutinise that to make a different decision prior to the thing happening.”
Arson suspect “liked the smell of burning leaves”
Two more people have been arrested on arson charges as fires continue to rage in LA, with one admitting they started a blaze because they“liked the smell of burning leaves”.
Los Angeles police officers said a resident had extinguished flames and detained a suspect who allegedly set fire to a tree in Pacoima on Tuesday.
During the investigation, the suspect admitted to starting the fire, because ``he liked the smell of burning leaves,’’ Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell said at a press conference on Wednesday, local time.
Hours later, officers responded to multiple reports of a suspect setting multiple piles of rubbish on fire in Santa Monica.
The fire department extinguished the fire and officers took the suspect into custody.
“The suspect admitted to setting multiple fires that day and stated that she enjoyed causing chaos and destruction,” the police chief said.
Footage released by the Los Angeles County District Attorney shows the moment another arson suspect was arrested in a park in Azusa, near where the Eaton Fire started.
In the footage, the suspect, dressed in a green hoodie and black baseball cap, is seen being escorted away by police as a tree burns in front of them.
Residents sue Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
A group of residents in Pacific Palisades are suing the Los Angeles Department of Power and Water after the fire destroyed thousands of structures.
“The Palisades Fire has been a traumatic event for its victims, who through no fault of their own, went from homeowners to homeless in a matter of hours,” according to the complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday.
The residents allege the water supply system in the area had failed and played a “substantial factor” in the losses they endured.
“Among other failures, the Santa Ynez Reservoir, a 117-million-gallon water storage complex that is part of the Los Angeles water supply system, was empty, leaving fire crews little to no water to fight the Palisades Fire,” the filing states.
Host stunned by new theory on LA fires cause
Tucker Carlson was shocked by a theory that meth addicts are starting some of the fires in Los Angeles out of “nihilism”.
Michael Shellenberger, who Carlson said “may be the best reporter in America,” appeared on the host’s talk show to discuss the fires.
Shellenberger gave a take that homeless people were “starting fires all over” the city.
Carlson asked: “Why do homeless people start fires?”
Shellenberger shot back: “Well, it turns out meth heads love to start fires.” He then explained that meth is “the drug of nihilism” and therefore, “perfect” for California and suggested that “half of all fires” started in the county for many years have been by the homeless.
Carlson appeared shocked by the theory and wondered if the fires started by addicts were in the act of cooking the drug which Shellenberger suggested was possible.
Shellenberger then added that meth drives psychosis and psychopathy that would lead someone to starting fires and said that they were “into fire”.
More Coverage
Today, Los Angeles police arrested four people on arson charges for allegedly trying to ignite new fires.
The four were arrested in separate arson incidents that occurred outside the wildfire zones, police officials announced Tuesday as the death toll rose to 25, according to an update from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner
– With the New York Post
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