Despite dangerous high winds, crews make progress on Palisades and Eaton wildfires

LOS ANGELES COUNTY

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ABOVE: Kyle McNicol, 25, of the California Conservation Corps and part of the Tahoe-Myers Cal Fire strike team stacks sandbags in Pasadena on Tuesday in preparation for possible rain and flooding in the Eaton fire burn area. LEFT: A holiday ribbon hangs at a home lost in the Eaton fire in Altadena on Monday. Photos by Sarah Reingewirtz Staff Photographer

Debris from destroyed property is strewn across a beach in Malibu along Pacific Coast Highway on Tuesday. Officials fear possible rain over the weekend may cause toxic materials to flow into the ocean. David Crane— Staff photographer

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By Nathaniel Percy

npercy@scng.com

With heavy winds contributing to small blazes elsewhere in Southern California, fire crews battling the Palisades and Eaton fires were able to make small gains in containment overnight into Tuesday.

The Palisades fire — which has invaded Pacific Palisades, Malibu and Topanga and Mandeville canyons — was 65% contained. Firefighters inched further on the Eaton fire — which has caused destruction in Altadena, Pasadena and Sierra Madre — achieving 89% containment, according to Cal Fire.

The most dangerous winds, which triggered a rare “particularly dangerous situation red flag warning” by the National Weather Service, signaling especially perilous fire-weather conditions, were to subside by Tuesday morning, Jan. 21. But dry conditions and Santa Ana winds were forecast through Thursday.

“Firefighters are making steady progress and officials are reassessing evacuation orders to ensure safe returns,” Cal Fire officials said of the Palisades fire. “Crews are working with utility providers to repair infrastructure and address hazards like fallen trees and downed power lines.”

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued an executive order for that fire on Tuesday, Jan. 21, to speed up fire-debris removal and install reinforcement barriers and sandbags with rain in the forecast for burn areas as early as this weekend.

The upcoming rainfall in the Los Angeles area beginning on Saturday morning is expected to be light, and probably will not cause debris flows or mudslides, according to meteorologists.

President Trump will visit Asheville, North Carolina and Southern California on Friday, the Associated Press reported. Asheville is still recovering from September’s historic flooding caused by Hurricane Helene.

He has criticized the federal response in both areas.

The two-week-old fires have combined to damage or destroy more than 17,000 structures, according to estimates from Cal Fire and the Angeles National Forest. Their causes were under investigation.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said that 11 deaths have been tied to the Palisades fire, with the known combined death toll at 28 for the two blazes.

For evacuation warnings and orders, shelters and road closures: fire.ca.gov/incidents

City News Service contributed to this report.