Death Toll Rises to 11 in Eaton Fire as Santa Ana Winds Return

Loved ones were trying to cope Sunday with the deaths of at least 11 people in the wildfire across Altadena and Pasadena as the search continued for more victims and forecasters warned that the Santa Ana winds will pick back up again and gain strength going into this week.

Calfire listed the Eaton Fire containment at 27% on Sunday morning.

County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said Friday that roughly 7,000 structures had been damaged or destroyed in the Eaton Fire.

There was a significant decrease in wind velocity Saturday, giving firefighters a chance to try to beat down active flames on the ground and from the air and clear more containment lines by digging vegetation or dropping fire retardant from tankers.

The National Weather Service expected the next burst of offshore flow and wind to begin Sunday morning.

The weekend wind event “seems generally focused on the San Gabriel Mountains but probably at least some advisory-level winds down into some of the valleys and Santa Monica Mountains.”

The NWS issued a high wind watch that will be in effect for the San Gabriel Mountains through Sunday afternoon. Those areas could see winds ranging from 30 to 50 mph, potentially gusting up to 60 mph.

And more powerful winds are anticipated to hit the region early next week.

“Right now, it looks like Tuesday will be the strongest day,” forecasters said. “Unlike this week’s very dangerous event, which was more of a northerly wind event, this one is very likely to be a traditional (northeast) Santa Ana event. Still, the low humidities and the winds will combine to bring enhanced fire danger to the area.”

Another massive brush fire in the Eaton Canyon area above Altadena claimed at least 11 lives, the County Medical Examiner’s Office stated.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna declined on Thursday to provide more specific updates on possible fatalities, saying he was “not satisfied with some of the information” he was receiving.

“At one point, we’ll be able to do a more thorough search of these impacted areas — some of them look like a bomb was dropped on them — where we will be able to bring in canines and other things to help us hopefully not discover too many fatalities,” Luna said. “That’s our priority. But this is a crisis and we don’t know what to expect but we’re ready for everything.”

AccuWeather, which on Wednesday estimated the total damage and economic loss from the fires would be between $52 billion and $57 billion, issued a revision on Thursday, raising the estimate to between $135 billion and $150 billion. Such a cost would make it “one of the costliest wildfire disasters in modern U.S. history,” AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said in a statement.

According to Luna, as of Friday morning, 153,000 people in the area were under mandatory evacuation orders from the various fires, and 166,800 others were under evacuation warnings.

Evacuation orders for the Eaton Fire were lifted for the following areas:

• In La Cañada Flintridge, from Angeles Crest Highway east to Oakwood Avenue, north of Angeles Crest Highway at the curve West to Haskel 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 Cañada 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.

The county has implemented a curfew that will be in effect nightly from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. in the mandatory evacuation areas in the Eaton and Palisades fire zones to deter looting

The California National Guard also began deploying to the Los Angeles area Friday, with members deployed to the Eaton Fire area and into cities including Santa Monica and Pasadena. They were also expected to be stationed at locations in Arcadia and Azusa, as well as at the Palisades Fire. Luna said Guard members will be deployed to the area to assist with traffic control, patrols and other duties.

President Joe Biden approved a Major Disaster declaration for the state on Wednesday in response to the fires — some of which he was able to witness firsthand while wrapping up a short visit to the L.A. area. He received a briefing from fire officials before he left the Southland Wednesday afternoon.

During a fire briefing at the White House Thursday, Biden announced that federal assistance that was previously approved to help pay for the costs of the firefighting efforts and recovery — which normally covers only 75% of expenses — will now cover 100% of costs for 180 days.

As is standard during high-fire-danger conditions, Southern California Edison customers in some areas could have their power turned off under the utility’s Public Safety Power Shutoffs program. The program is designed to de- energize power lines that could potentially be damaged and spark a wildfire during red flag conditions.

Edison officials said that as of Sunday morning, 18,444 SCE customers in Los Angeles County had their power cut due to the program, along with 1,857 in Orange County. Another 104,630 customers in Los Angeles County were under consideration for power cuts, along with 17,798 in Orange County.

Updated information about power cuts is available at www.sce.com/outage-center/outage-information/psps.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power reported that as of Sunday morning, 16,091 of its 1.5 million electricity customers were without power.

Updated information is available at findenergy.com/providers/los- angeles-department-of-water-power/power-outage.

FEMA has deployed officials at seven county libraries near the impacted areas to assist residents through fire damages. They will be available between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday and Monday.