LA fires live updates: some areas ravaged by blazes will reopen to residents, officials say

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LA officials announce repopulation of several communities in Southern California

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has announced the repopulation of communities impacted by the Palisades Fire, effective at 12:00 pm on Thursday, January 16, 2025.

These zones will be reopened to residents:

  • The areas north of Topanga Canyon Boulevard and south of Mulholland Drive.

  • Encompassing areas north of Old Topanga Canyon Road and south of the Summit to Summit Motorway.

  • Areas north of Mulholland Highway and south of Stokes Canyon Road.

  • Sectors north of Red Rock Road and south of Calabasas Peak Motorway.

All other road closures and evacuated areas for the Palisades Fire remain in effect.

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Key events

Here are some pictures coming in from the wires as the wildfires continue to burn around Los Angeles:

The site where a house was burnt down by the Palisades Fire is cordoned off with police tape, in Malibu, California, U.S., January 16, 2025. (REUTERS/Mike Blake)
A drone view shows a site where beachfront houses were burnt down by the Palisades Fire, in Malibu, California, U.S., January 16, 2025. (REUTERS/Mike Blake)
A house unscathed by the Palisades fire is seen split in half by a landslide in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on January 16, 2025. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP)
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SoCalGas, a natural gas distribution utility that provides service to over 21.1 million consumers, said it was “working tirelessly to restore service” to areas impacted by the wildfires “as quickly and safely as possible”.

“We will have mutual assistance arriving in the coming days to help support restoration efforts,” the company said on X.

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As the firefight continues, the names of people who lost their lives in the blaze are being released. One of the most recent people identified is 84-year-old Zhi-feng Zhao, an Altadena resident who immigrated from China in 1989. His remains were found by his son Shaw Zhao, who flew from Portland, Oregon, to Los Angeles to see his father–who he describes as “smart and talented”– and was worried to see the neighborhood was in an evacuation zone. Zhao said he had trouble getting to his father’s house and had to walk an hour on foot.

His son Shaw Zhao told reporters that he bought the Altadena home in 2003. His mother, a local Chinese schoolteacher, died from cancer in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“He just loved the peace, the fresh air above Altadena,” Zhao said of his father, noting that he was an avid hiker, active and strong until his wife passed away. He’d since required the help of a caregiver, who was out of town when the fires started.

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‘A flood of disinformation’: rumors and lies abound amid Los Angeles wildfires

Rachel Leingang

The Hollywood sign was not on fire. Firefighters weren’t using women’s purses to put out fires. A fish is not responsible for the blazes. The Los Angeles fire department didn’t see big budget cuts. The fires were not started deliberately as some kind of mass plot related to high-speed rail or the 2028 Olympics. Firefighting efforts did not include spraying a mood stabilizer into the air to put locals into a trance. Diversity measures are not to blame.

“Misinformation can kind of rush into that void and give people explanations for why this is happening, and typically those explanations fit into kind of their existing beliefs or narratives that they want to perpetuate,” said Lisa Fazio, a professor of psychology and human development at Vanderbilt University.

After Hurricane Helene devastated North Carolina just before the election last November, misinformation similar to the claims circulating about Los Angeles emerged. Donald Trump, Elon Musk and others used the disaster to attack the Biden administration and spread unfounded claims.

Read the full story by The Guardian’s democracy reporter focused on misinformation, Rachel Leingang:

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Some California residents lost fire insurance before devastating wildfires

Katharine Gammon

My colleague Katharine Gammon brings us this story of California residents who lost their fire insurance before the blazes erupted last week:

When James Borow realized last Tuesday that his Palisades house was on fire, he was 300 miles away in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show. The power was out at his house but a friend suggested he remotely turn on his Tesla and see if the cameras showed anything.

From the car camera, he watched in a panic as his house burned. As he drove home from Vegas to LA, he called his parents and told them: “You’ll see it on the news tomorrow, but the house is totally gone. I just watched it.”

Borow’s first concern was securing a place for his family to live. His second was insurance. Three months ago, he had received a letter from his insurer, State Farm, that his fire policy wasn’t being renewed. The letter advised him to get fire insurance through California’s Fair plan, created by lawmakers 50 years ago to help people who had no other options for insurance. “The end result was that my insurance increased 400%,” says Borow. “It was expensive, but it wasn’t complicated.”

Borow was one of 1,626 State Farm customers in the Palisades neighborhood whose fire insurance was not renewed at the end of 2024, according to California’s insurance office. They represented about 70% of State Farm’s market share in Pacific Palisades, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Some of the people dropped by insurance, like Borow, found insurance with Fair. For others, the steep prices, or certain fireproofing requirements issued by new insurers, were prohibitively expensive.

Francis Bischetti told the Los Angeles Times that Farmers Insurance, another major provider, had told him last year that his homeowners insurance for his house in the Pacific Palisades was going to increase from $4,500 to $18,000, which was out of reach for his budget. He was unable to get a Fair plan because he would have to cut down 10 trees around his house, another huge cost, he said. His house burned down, and he had no insurance.

Finding fire insurance for homes in areas with high fire risk is a challenge that will only increase for Californians, experts predict. Michael Coffey, an insurance defense litigator who works on large, global insurance cases, says he expects more insurance companies to leave the state – forcing prices up for everyone.

Read the full story here:

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Robert Luna, sheriff of Los Angeles county, said earlier today that the fatalities related to the fires in Southern California went up by two people on Wednesday – one in the Eaton area and one in the Palisades area.

The death toll remains at 25 people, according to the LA County coroner.

“We continue to work with multiple partners, not only in the recovery of remains, but then, ultimately, the notification or identification of the deceased, and then the notification to the next of kin with our partners at the Los Angeles county medical examiner’s office,” he said at a news conference on Thursday.

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Governor issues executive order to provide temporary housing for displaced people

Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order today to provide temporary housing for those displaced by the Los Angeles firestorms.

“We are expediting the creation of new temporary housing by removing roadblocks and strengthening protections against exploitation,” said Newsom in a statement.

The order directs state departments to support local governments in creating temporary housing plans for fire victims, fast-tracks the construction of accessory dwelling units on affected properties by extending California Environmental Quality Act and Coastal Act exemptions, and allows temporary trailers and housing on properties during rebuilding efforts.

It waives mobile home park fees for three years, opens fairgrounds to provide emergency shelter, and extends protections against price gouging for hotels, motels, and rentals in Los Angeles county through 8 March 2025.

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Fema’s assistance application deadline is 10 March.

Residents affected by the Los Angeles-area fires have until 10 March to apply for Fema assistance.

Before applying, individuals must file a claim with their insurance company. Applications can be submitted by calling 800-621-3362 or visiting DisasterAssistance.gov.

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Lauren Aratani

Lauren Aratani

The extreme winds behind the disastrous fires in Los Angeles are forecast to calm the rest of the week into the weekend, making it easier for firefighters to further efforts to put out the massive Palisades and Eaton fires that have been ablaze for over a week.

The National Weather Service said on Thursday that the “nine-day wind siege has finally ended” and the weekend will bring a “significant cooling trend” with higher humidity in the region. But it warned that high winds could pick up again early next week.

Los Angeles region braces for elevated fire risk with return of Santa Ana winds. Photograph: Caroline Brehman/EPA
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The deadline for businesses impacted by the firestorm to file their business taxes has been extended.

“It’s the right thing to do — that’s how we will rebuild LA Strong,” Los Angeles mayor, Karen Bass, said in a post on X.

Taxpayers in LA county will have their date to file California tax returns on their 2024 income postponed to 15 October. They will also have until that date to make any tax payments that were due on 7 January through 15 October.

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