exact origin of the blaze also weren’t known.

Beyond the fatalities, there also “a number of significant injuries” due to the fire, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said during a Wednesday news conference of the four fires burning in the county.

The Eaton fire took hold over a wide swath of territory that includes the Angeles National Forest and the cities of Altadena and Pasadena, Marrone said.

“There’s a lot of damage out there. We’re still in the process of doing these assessments, trying to still save lives so this information is going to change,” L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna said.

Fire officials said that between 200 to 500 structures had been damaged or destroyed as of late Wednesday.

Deputies arrested two people for looting Wednesday morning, Luna said.

Residents of Altadena’s Christmas Tree Lane held their breath Wednesday as the fire tore through the area, threatening homes in a neighborhood home to one of the region’s longest-running holiday traditions.

Charles Jones, 22, three family members and two dogs evacuated from their home Wednesday morning.

“I’ve never been around any sort of natural disaster, so this is kind of crazy,” the college student said.

The family came back to the house to retrieve a few items before heading back to a hotel.

Dangerous fire conditions, including high and potentially damaging wind gusts, continued through Wednesday afternoon, with isolated gusts of 80 to 100 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

The continued red flag weather event with strong winds and low humidities place all Los Angeles County residents in danger, Marrone said.

“Los Angeles County firefighters will remain on the frontline until we reach full containment and we ask that you keep all of Los Angeles County in your thoughts and prayers,” he said.

The evacuation order for all of La Cañada Flintridge was issued at about 5 a.m. Wednesday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said. Those orders were added to already existing evacuation orders for parts of Altadena, Pasadena, Sierra Madre and Arcadia.

There were 52,314 residents and 20,890 structures under evacuation orders and 46,847 residents and 18,051 structures under evacuation warnings, the Angeles National Forest posted on X early Wednesday morning. Authorities said that the number swelled to more than 100,000 people under evacuation orders.

Jim Villena, an IT director at Parson’s Engineering in Pasadena, was at his home on Westlyn Place in Pasadena when he got a call from a neighbor.

“I knew we had the winds all day, but my friend called and I met him outside,” Villena said. “He was pointing up our cul de sac and I turned and saw a small flame. Within 10 minutes, it became an inferno. We took 10 minutes to pack, and as we were leaving, they shut off the power.”

Villena, his wife Stella, a teacher, their son Brendan and year-old golden retriever Charlie drove to her mother’s home a mile away on Allen Avenue. They met fire engines on the way down, maneuvered around downed tree branches and joined a traffic jam of other evacuees.

“We all stayed in one guest room; didn’t get much sleep,” he said.

At 5 a.m. they got a text from a neighbor: The fire had jumped their block. Their home was safe. The drive back to their neighborhood was surreal, Villena said.

“Our block was fine, but we saw some homes burned on the corner,” hew said.

By Wednesday afternoon, Villena had returned to their home to pick up documents and food. A neighbor who evacuated to San Diego asked him to shut off the gas and water in her house and save the photos on her fridge. He and his son hosed down their roof.

Villena and two other neighbors planned to spend the night at their homes, without power, but with a realization of the random fury of fire.

“I think unless the winds pick up, we’re OK,” Villena said, “I am just amazed at how random everything is, trying to figure out why three homes on Galbreth Road are gutted but everything else around them is OK.”

Sylvia Warwick, 87, evacuated her 1927 Craftsman home on Braeburn Road in Altadena when the police came about 8 p.m. Tuesday.

She and her 65-year-old son Kevin packed a change of clothes, grabbed important papers and their cellphones, but not much else.

They sat in the parking lot of Stater Bros. on the corner of Washington and Allen avenues until police told them the fire was coming their way. They found their way to the Pasadena Convention Center in the early morning hours and sat side-by-side on plastic chairs in the exhibit hall.

“We haven’t had much sleep because the wind was keeping us up at home and now we’re just hoping our house will be there when we get back,” said Warwick, who used to work in antiques. “I’ve been praying a lot.”

Warwick and her husband Sandy moved to Altadena in 1959 and raised three children there. They moved to their Braeburn Road home in 1971 and it’s there where her husband spent his final days.

Warwick, originally from England, married Sandy, a Scotsman, before the couple moved to California in the 1950s.

“We were married for 37 years when he passed,” Warwick said. “His family didn’t like it when they found out I was English, but we worked on it. You just have to roll with things, don’t you? We love our home. We’ll be all right.”

She frets about a decorative plate showing Lafayette’s landing in Manhattan, made in 1812.

“I should have picked it up,” she said.

At the convention center, which has turned evacuation center, people spoke in hushed tones. Many of the elderly stationed outside the main exhibit hall huddled in white Red Cross blankets staring blankly ahead or sleeping.

Children sitting on the ground played cards or lined up to pick up fruit snacks and granola bars from one station. Another table held diapers (adult and infant sizes), water bottles and wipes. A nurse from Pasadena’s health department watched over the offerings. Nearby, staff from the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health stood ready to offer their services.

David Curry, 58, of the lower Hastings Ranch area sat on a cot pushed up against a wall of the hall, his Pyrenees Australian cattle dog Wila (“like Wiley Coyote, but she’s a girl”) at his feet.

Curry said he had just topped his bacon cheeseburger dinner with cheese when he heard Pasadena police on loudspeakers urging residents to evacuate.

“I’d already gotten a lot of warnings, so my neighbor was ready to help me, and my brother arrived just in time,” Curry said. “It’s not easy to find a place when you have a dog.”

The disabled U.S. Navy veteran said he’s mostly bored now.

“I’m a news junkie and I’m in the dark here,” he said. “I want to know the status of my apartment.”

One woman wept as she spoke on the phone. The back of her Pasadena home already was on fire when she and her son evacuated last night.

“The embers were flying around and I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t believe it,” she said, saying she was too distraught for an interview. “Oh my God.”

Leah Campbell’s belongings were stacked neatly on one cot: a purse, a blue backpack, a blanket. The Pasadena woman and her 9-year-old son each lay on cots between. The nurse thought about lining up for snacks and coffee, but worried about leaving her son and belongings alone.

“It’s been calm here and people have been helpful,” she said. “I didn’t even think we needed to evacuate because we didn’t see any fire.”

In the two hours they’ve been at the evacuation center, she said people have been cheerful. Even the dogs are behaving.

“I hope we all get to go home soon,” Campbell said.

The fire was first reported 6:12 p.m. near Altadena Drive and Midwick Drive in the Eaton Canyon area. With heavy wind gusts, the fire quickly spread, prompting evacuations.

Regional resources already were stretched thin with the raging Palisades fire in Pacific Palisades at the time the Eaton fire started.

Nurses, firefighters, paramedics and others hustled away hundreds of patients from nursing homes near the fire. At least one was driven away in a SWAT vehicle while city buses arrived to move others to safety.

The sheriff’s Altadena station was evacuated, Luna said.

“There was some fire at the Altadena station. We did have to clear out our employees there,” he said.

As deputies are trying to evacuate the station, he said residents were running from different directions to the deputies asking for help in getting out of structures.

“From what I understand, they were barely able to get people out before the structures started burning,” Luna said.

All Pasadena Unified School District and Arcadia Unified School District schools were closed Wednesday because of extreme winds and potential fire hazards, both districts said.

Citrus College officials said the Glendora campus was closed Wednesday with all classes canceled out of an abundance of caution due to surrounding wind and fire conditions as well as power-service interruptions.

Evacuation shelters were set up at the Pasadena Convention Center, 300 E. Green St.; at the Westwood Recreation Center, 1350 S. Sepulveda Blvd. in Los Angeles; and at El Camino Real Charter High School, 5440 Valley Circle Blvd. in Woodland Hills.

Pasadena Humane at 361 S. Raymond Ave. in Pasadena is accepting small animals. Residents can take large animals to Pierce College Equestrian Center at 6201 Winnetka Ave. in Woodland Hills.

Angeles Crest Highway is closed from La Cañada Flintridge to Angeles Forest Highway. Angeles Forest Highway is closed at Big Tujunga Road.

The sheriff warned would-be looters to stay away from the evacuated areas.

“And it’s always sad when I have to say this but part of our responsibility is to make sure no one loots or steals from our residents, our community members already being impacted,” Luna said. “You’re going to be caught, you’re going to be arrested and you’re going to be prosecuted.”

Fire details

Numbers as of Wednesday:

Acres burned: 10,600

Containment: 0%

Structures destroyed: More than 100

People evacuated: More than 52,300 people and nearly 21,000 structures

Fire personnel: 702

Cause of fire: Unknown

When it started: Tuesday