16 Killed In Eaton Fire; Containment Grows But Winds Pick Up

UPDATED AT 7:30 A.M.: Firefighters continued to make progress overnight despite worsening wind conditions. The Eaton Fire is now 33 percent contained at 14,117 acres.

"Last night, firefighters continued active patrol and mop up, mitigating smoke and heat sources. Minimal fire activity was observed overnight, with smoldering and creeping. Individual pockets of unburned fuel continued to present challenges," CalFire noted. "A mobile retardant base has been set up at Mount Wilson to support air operations. Urban Search and Rescue efforts, infrastructure assessments, hazardous material response, and damage assessment operations continue in the communities along the southern edge of the fire.

"These operations are unprecedented in size and scale which are critical for mitigating existing hazards, confirming missing persons reports, and obtaining accurate number of structures loss."

The fire area will remain under a Red Flag Warning through early Wednesday, according to CalFire.

"Strong, gusty northeast winds, alongside very dry conditions, will peak late Monday through Tuesday morning," CalFire warned.

A virtual community meeting with fire offcials will be held Monday at 4:00 p.m. A question-and-answer session will follow the presentation.

Questions should be submitted in advance via email at: 2025.eaton@firenet.gov. The meeting will be live-streamed here.

ORIGINAL POST:

LOS ANGELES, CA — More bodies were found in the ashes of the Eaton Fire Saturday, and there are still more to find as deputies search grid by grid in the rubble of one of Los Angeles County's oldest and most unique communities. Sixteen people have died in the Eaton Fire, and still others people have been reported missing, authorities annonced Sunday. It brings the toll in the county's fires to 24 lives lost so far.

While deputies and cadaver dogs search the rubble, firefighters are battling to get the upper hand on the blaze even as the Santa Ana winds are expected to come roaring back, wreaking more havoc through Wednesday.

"Yesterday we started a search and rescue operation out in the Eaton area, where in the first day of this operation, grid searching, we searched approximately 364 properties in the Altadena area, and unfortunately during that search we did locate three deceased," Luna said. "As these searches continue, I unfortunately anticipate that those numbers will increase. We will start a similar operation in the northern side of the county here very soon."

One of the victims was identified as 66-year-old Victor Shaw of Altadena, who died in his residence after suffering from smoke inhalation and thermal injuries, according to the Los Angeles County Office of Medical Examiner.

Luna said the sheriff's department has 12 missing persons reports in the Eaton Fire area. The sheriff's department announced that family assistance centers were available for people looking for missing loved ones.

Containment of the Eaton Fire, which has burned 14,117 acres, was at 27%. More than 7,000 structures have been destroyed or damaged, many of them homes and nearly 40,000 structures were said to be threatened. Those numbers were expected to rise after further evaluation.

An army of firefighters worked overnight clearing more lines of vegetation around the fire while cutting down falling trees that were making it dangerous for firefighters and the public to get around.

"In my career, I've never seen the amount of devastation and destruction that exists here," Section Chief Ernie Villa.

Owing to fast-spreading fires, SoCalGas officials said the utility had temporarily shut off natural gas service to 16,700 customers Saturday in the Pasadena, Altadena and Sierra Madre communities. SoCalGas was working with contractors and mutual aid from San Diego Gas and Electric, Northwest Natural, and Pacific Gas and Electric to restore service, the company stated, adding it could take days or even weeks to restore service due to the large number of impacted customers.

SoCalGas Senior Vice President and Chief Infrastructure Officer Rodger Schwecke said residents could see utility restoration as early as the start of the week. Schwecke said restoration of gas service will start on the eastern side of the area and will slowly move to the west.

Minimal growth was expected Sunday for the Eaton Fire “with continued smoldering and creeping” of flames, an LA County Fire Department incident report said.

High wind warnings were in place until 2 p.m. Sunday for the San Gabriel Mountains and western Santa Monica Mountains, with gusts of 60 mph or more. Winds were expected to weaken into Sunday afternoon, but a stronger offshore wind event will likely develop between Monday night and Wednesday, with gusts up to 60 mph.

"In my career, I haven't seen as many Red Flag days in a row as what we're seeing here since the Thomas fire a few years ago," Fire Behavior Analyst Kevin Burns said. "

Officials said most evacuation orders for the Pasadena area had been lifted. California National Guard troops arrived on the streets of Altadena before dawn Friday to help protect property in the fire evacuation zone, and evening curfews were in effect to prevent looting after several earlier arrests.

A curfew and area-wide evacuation order was still in place for the entirety of Altadena on Saturday, amid dangerous conditions in the aftermath of the fire. Downed power lines, smoldering telephone poles, falling branches, and choking ashes are among the hazards plaguing the area. The unincorporated community has a population of more than 42,000.

On Friday, authorities told residents that Altadena would be closed off until further notice.

"I promise you, we are going to make it a priority for the residents to be able to get back and do an assessment in terms of their property," county Supervisor Kathryn Barger said at a Friday afternoon press conference.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Capt. Jabari Williams said that residents will be turned away even if they provide ID because the area is still not safe due to debris in the road, active fires and wires down throughout streets.

Supervisor Barger described the scene on the ground: "It looks like a warzone. I've never seen anything like it."

A Family Assistance Center was opened in Pasadena to help residents whose loved ones are still missing. The center is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Pasadena Convention Center Visitor’s Bureau. LA Sheriff Robert Luna on Saturday also said residents who have lost their identification or other important identifying paperwork can seek help at the center. The convention center has been serving as a place of refuge for evacuees and a donation center.

On Friday, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan visited the Pasadena Convention Center to help hand out food to evacuees. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who live in the Montecito area, also listed organizations supporting fire victims on their website.

Here's an interactive CalFire map of the evacuations in place for the Eaton Fire.

Survivors return to the wreckage of their homes

On Friday, many residents returned in a state of shock. For some, it was a first look at the stark reality of what was lost as the region of 13 million people grapples with the ominous challenge of overcoming the disaster and rebuilding.

Bridget Berg, who was at work when she watched television coverage of her house in Altadena erupt in flames, came back for the first time with her family two days later “just to make it real.”

Their feet crunched across the broken bits of what had been their home for 16 years.

Her kids sifted through debris on the sidewalk, finding a clay pot and a few keepsakes as they searched for Japanese wood prints they hoped to recover. Her husband pulled his hand out of rubble near the still-standing fireplace, holding up a piece of petrified wood handed down by his grandmother.

“It’s OK. It’s OK,” Berg said as much to herself as others as she took stock of the destruction, remembering the deck and pool from which her family watched fireworks. “It’s not like we just lost our house — everybody lost their house.”

While some residents sifted through rubble for keepsakes, officials urged them not to, warning that the ash can contain lead, arsenic, asbestos and other harmful materials.

“If you’re kicking that stuff up, you’re breathing it in,” said Chris Thomas, a spokesman for the unified incident command at the Palisades Fire. “All of that stuff is toxic.”

Residents will be allowed to return — with protective gear — after damage teams have evaluated their properties, Thomas said.

Evacuation orders lifted

On Saturday, evacuation orders for the Eaton Fire were lifted for the following areas:

• The city of Bradbury, and Bradbury estates
• The city of Duarte.
• In La Canada Flintridge, from Angeles Crest Highway east to Oakwood Avenue, north of Angeles Crest Highway at the curve West to Haskell Street, north of Foothill Boulevard to Knight way and the intersection of Gould Canyon Trail at Crown Avenue, east to Varo Road.

Evacuation orders were changed to evacuation warnings for the following areas:

• In La Canada Flintridge, north of Knight way/Gould Canyon Trail and east of Oakwood Avenue/Angeles Crest Highway at the curve, to Gould Mesa Road and Starlight Crest Drive.
• NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
• In Altadena, south of New York Drive and east of North Hill Avenue to Altadena Drive.

Officials continued to warn people of highly unhealthy air quality in the region, and said drinking water in evacuation zones is not safe to drink.

Some 3,155 personnel were assigned to the firefighting effort, with the U.S. Forest Service, Los Angeles County Fire Department, Pasadena Fire Department, Arcadia Fire Department, Sierra Madre Fire Department, Pasadena Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department working under a unified command.

As a result of the fire, the Pasadena Unified School District, which includes Altadena, closed its campuses until Jan. 17. The Glendale Unified School District said its schools would re-open Monday with the exception of Rosemont Middle School, where a tree fell on campus.

All schools in the La Canada Unified School District were closed until Tuesday.

Pasadena City College was set to re-open on Monday.

The entire Angeles National Forest has been closed for public safety and the protection of natural resources through at least Wednesday.

The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens was closed at least through Tuesday.

A few miles to the east, Santa Anita Park in Arcadia canceled racing this weekend due to the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles County. Morning training continued as scheduled both days and Santa Anita remained open for simulcast wagering.

Track property was being used to support several relief efforts, including the large charity drop-off that was set up at the Rose Bowl and relocated to Santa Anita Park's south parking lot Friday afternoon. Southern California Edison is using the entire north parking lot as its base camp to restore power to those in the affected areas and Santa Anita Park is working with additional response organizations requesting space.

The Eaton Fire was reported at about 6:20 p.m. Tuesday in the area of Altadena Drive and Midwick Drive in the hills above Altadena amid hurricane- force Santa Ana winds, according to Cal Fire. The cause of the fire has not been determined.

Among the structures destroyed in the fire was the Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center. The Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation reported that the Eaton Canyon Nature Center, Farnsworth Park's Davies Community Center, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Altadena Golf Course Club House and adjacent buildings were destroyed.

Also destroyed in the blaze was The Bunny Museum in Altadena.

Here are the open evacuation centers for the Eaton Fire:

• Ritchie Valens Recreation Center – 10736 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Pacoima, CA 91331
• Calvary Community Church - 5495 Via Rocas., Westlake Village, CA 91362
• Pan Pacific Recreational Center – 7600 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036
• Westwood Recreation Center – 1350 Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025
• Stoner Recreation Center - 1835 Stoner Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90025
• Pomona Fairplex (Gate 3) – 601 W McKinley Ave, Pomona, CA 91768

City News Service and the Associated Press contributed to this report.