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Eaton Fire Destroys 8,690 Buildings, Officials Allow First Residents Return to Their Properties

Fire reaches 65% containment while FEMA reports $23 million in aid distributed

Published on Saturday, January 18, 2025 | 5:46 am
 
[Eddie Rivera / Pasadena Now]

Los Angeles County fire and law enforcement officials provided updates on the Eaton Fire during a virtual community meeting on Friday afternoon, detailing progress on containment and plans for allowing some residents to return to their homes.

The fire, which has burned 14,117 acres, is 73% contained with over 3,000 personnel working to establish and maintain 60 miles of control lines and eight miles of hand line around the blaze.

“Currently we have ground and air resources that have been working the fire all day. You can see on the map in the area of Winters Creek Mount Lowe and they’re just below Mount Wilson,” said Operations Section Chief Joe Walton. “It’s steep terrain and it’s hard to get access for crews in there.”

Damage inspection teams have completed over 15,680 inspections within the fire area.

“Of that 8,690 structures have been confirmed, destroyed, and 938 damaged,” reported Unified Incident Commander Jonathan Cox. He added that “we still have over 3000 personnel on the Eaton fire working around the clock, focused on bringing full containment to the incident as well as ensuring that we make those areas safe so that repopulation can happen.”

Officials announced new access rules for some evacuated areas east of Lake Avenue and south of Mendocino.

“That area is still considered evacuation ordered area, but we’re calling it a soft closure, which means that only residents that live there can show their ID and get in. It is not open to the public,” explained LA County Sheriff’s Captain Jabari Williams.

Weather conditions remain a concern.

“There remains very high confidence that conditions are going to be very, very dry. We’re looking at relative humidities dropping down below 10%, maybe even into the six to 8% range that’s exceptionally dry,” said meteorologist James White.

FEMA Public Affairs Specialist Nicole Wilson reported “$23 million in the hands of wildfire survivors in Los Angeles County who were impacted by those fires that began January 7th.”

Two disaster recovery centers have opened at the Pasadena City Community College Education Center and UCLA Research Park West.

Regarding utilities, L.A. County Fire Department Acting Assistant Chief Pat Springel told residents: “If you [want to] return and are not comfortable without utilities, we ask that you stay out until utilities are restored. In that case, please grab medications, valuables and such, and exit the fire area until the utilities are restored.”

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