Topline:
Containment of the Eaton Fire has risen to 89% as firefighter take advantage of a slight break from Santa Ana wind conditions. Meanwhile, the death toll attributed to the fire has risen to 17, according to the L.A. County medical examiner.
What we know so far: According to authorities, the fire started near Altadena Drive and Midwick Drive, and quickly grew. The cause is under investigation.
Keep reading... for more on evacuations, damage and fire conditions.
This is a developing story and will be updated. For the most up-to-date information about the fire you can check:
Containment of the Eaton Fire has risen to 89% as firefighter take advantage of a slight break from Santa Ana wind conditions. Meanwhile, the death toll attributed to the fire has risen to 17, according to the L.A. County medical examiner.
As of Thursday morning, sheriff's officials said in areas they patrol they are still investigating 24 missing person reports related to the fire.
Pasadena also declared a public health emergency, banning the use of power air blowers, including leaf blowers, until further notice because the devices stir up ash and particulate matter, worsening air quality.
As of Tuesday, 14,021 acres have burned. Meanwhile, officials are mapping where homes and businesses have been lost. About 9,400 structures have been destroyed, more than 1,000 damaged.
L.A. County's medical examiner has confirmed 17 deaths in the Eaton Fire, all at addresses in Altadena.
The fire sparked Jan. 7 in Eaton Canyon and quickly spread out of control — making it one of the deadliest fires in state history. The wildfire has injured many others, including five firefighters, and destroyed whole neighborhoods.
L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna said Monday morning that 17 people have been reported missing. That number could change as more people were encouraged to make reports this weekend. Sheriff's deputies now have grid searches of the area underway, going door to door to determine damage and search for additional victims.
"It looks like a war zone. I’ve never seen anything like it," L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said of the Altadena burn area.
The L.A. County Fire Department has confirmed more than 9,600 structures have been damaged or destroyed, but that number could go up or down as mapping continues.
At one point earlier this week, flames reached Mt. Wilson — which houses many antennas for broadcasters throughout the region, including LAist 89.3. Officials said Friday that no structures had been damaged or destroyed there.
A curfew is in place from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. for evacuation zones. Sheriff's deputies are patrolling those areas.
We know that Southern California Edison is concerned that its transmission lines may be blamed for starting the Eaton Fire. Lawyers representing insurance companies have already asked the utility to preserve evidence related to the fire, according to a filing with the California Public Utilities Commission.
And Pasadena Now interviewed a couple who took photos of a fire breaking out beneath an SCE transmission line near Eaton Canyon.
SoCal Edison has already done its own preliminary investigation and says it did not cause the fire. The company says it de-energized its power lines in the area "well before the reported start time of the fire," according to a press release. And the company told the CPUC that it detected "no interruptions or electrical or operational anomalies" on its transmission lines in the 12 hours before the Eaton Fire began.
Multiple lawsuits have already been filed against the company.
Some parts of Pasadena are still being warned to not drink tap water or use it in cooking. You can check if your address is impacted here. All other areas are safe.
The city warns that boiling, freezing, filtering or treating tap water in any way would not make it any safer. Instead, bottled water should be used for all drinking — including baby formula and juice, teeth brushing, dish washing, making ice, and for any food preparation.
The tap water advisory also applies to pets.
Pasadena and Altadena residents can pick up bottled water from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday at 450 North Lake Ave.
The city of Glendale, which had some parts under evacuation orders earlier this week, said their water was safe to drink as their water facilities are covered.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have lost their homes and even their lives,” said Gordo, Pasadena's mayor. “We have experienced a tremendous tragedy.”
“This is an opportunity for us as a community, as a people, to band together to work to support one another,” he said.
Here are just some of the known losses:
Schools: Five schools in the Pasadena Unified School District suffered substantial damage, according to Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco. Eighty percent of Franklin Elementary burned, she said.
Nature Center: The Los Angeles County Parks Department issued a statement saying staff was “unable to activate our evacuation plan for the reptiles and valuable items at Eaton Canyon Nature Center.”
“We are devastated by the overwhelming impacts of these fires. Sadly, our beloved Eaton Canyon Nature Center, Farnsworth Park — Davies Community Center — on the National Historic Register, and the Altadena Golf Course Club House and adjacent buildings were destroyed in the Eaton fire. Currently, Charles White and Loma Alta parks in Altadena have fire damage,” according to the statement.
Pasadena City Manager Miguel Márquez promised this week that the city will rebuild.
“In this community we may get knocked down but we always get up,” he said. “We will heal.”
President Joe Biden approved a Presidential Major Emergency Declaration on Wednesday to support the response to the wildfires. He said on social media that he’s directed the Department of Defense to provide additional personnel, and 10 Navy helicopters with water buckets are on the way.
“To the residents of Southern California: We are with you,” Biden wrote on X.
Evacuation orders and warnings are changing fast, so check out the most up to date, interactive map here.
Residents are able to reenter some communities as of 3 p.m. Monday, including parts of Kinneloa Mesa. Officials warned that this process will take time, as all agencies have to be on board before an area is opened back up.
The city of Pasadena said on social media that it's receiving requests to check on family and friends who’ve been evacuated. You can call the Pasadena Police non-emergency line at 626-744-4241 — but only after you’ve tried to reach them in other ways.
You can also contact the Red Cross at 800-675-5799 or fill out an inquiry form.
Supervisor Kathryn Barger warned looters to stay out of the evacuation area. “To those who want to loot, the full weight of the county will come down on you,” she said.
Large animals:
Small animals:
Note: The Pasadena Humane Society said they had received more than 250 pets to shelter and said they were at near-capacity. It's also been collecting small animals who have to be sheltered elsewhere.
The organization said Thursday evening that it's received an "overwhelming" number of supplies, but now they need monetary donations most.
Pasadena Unified School District will be closed until at least January 17, Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco said in a statement Friday.
Most other districts in the area have also been shut down for days, due to a combination of bad air quality and a lack of staffing, as district employees themselves evacuate.
You can find a full list of school closures here.
Road closures are changing constantly, but Los Angeles County Public Works maintains an ongoing map: Here are all the road closures.
The Rose Bowl Stadium is currently being used by fire and police departments and other regional agencies for emergency response efforts, according to the city of Pasadena
All donations should be dropped off at:
Santa Anita Mall
400 S. Baldwin Ave, Arcadia
South Side, Lot B
Patricia Gerpheide evacuated from the Monte Cedric retirement community in Altadena early Wednesday morning with 200 other people.
She said when she woke up at 4 a.m. on Wednesday, the wind was blowing "dramatically hard" and she knew there would be problems.
"I looked out my window and across the street, there were two small fires burning and I thought it's so covered with smoke that no one will find them, so I thought I better get ready," she said. "By the time I had my things packed and ready to walk out the door, which was very quick, I looked out again and there were fires all over the place."
Michelle Zvonec, who lives in Sierra Madre, said the evacuation orders came quickly. She managed to take with her things of sentimental value, but said she didn't get as much clothes or even a jacket.
"I packed like I was going to go to a hotel room and come back and get more stuff tomorrow," she said. "It was really weird."
Part of Katie Fulford’s home was destroyed while her neighbors “lost everything.” She’s lived near West Grandview and Auburn Avenue for about a decade, but said she hasn’t been through a wildfire like this before.
“ That was my art studio, that was just about finished, and all my art for years and years and years is now pretty much gone,” she said. “ We all survived, that's the important part. I'll remind myself that when I'm feeling all the sadness.”
_
If you have to evacuate
If you have more time:
Things to consider
Navigating fire conditions
How to help yourself and others
Understanding how it got this bad
Topline:
More than a year-and-a-half after promising to provide up to 40 free carts to eligible street vendors, Long Beach hasn’t even made it halfway to that goal and now plans to cut funding for the program.
Low participation: As of late February, Long Beach has supplied 11 free carts, with six more applicants waiting for final approvals. Health officials say this is because out of the 123 applicants, the vast majority haven’t completed all the steps necessary. Applications are still open for vendors seeking a free cart, but city officials are reviewing “the application process and overall program,” Health Department spokesperson Jennifer Ann Gonzalez wrote in an email.
Why now: Long Beach originally allocated $429,500 for the free-cart program, but the City Council recently approved reducing that by $200,201, citing “low participation” and the need to balance a city budget that’s facing deficits.
More than a year-and-a-half after promising to provide up to 40 free carts to eligible street vendors, Long Beach hasn’t even made it halfway to that goal and now plans to cut funding for the program.
As of late February, Long Beach had supplied 11 free carts, with six more applicants waiting for final approvals. Health officials say this is because out of the 123 applicants, the vast majority haven’t completed all the steps necessary.
Long Beach originally allocated $429,500 for the free-cart program, but the City Council recently approved reducing that by $200,201, citing “low participation” and the need to balance a city budget that’s facing deficits.
Applications are still open for vendors seeking a free cart, but city officials are reviewing “the application process and overall program,” Health Department spokesperson Jennifer Ann Gonzalez wrote in an email.
Vendors, for their part, say the process was plagued by delays and complications.
Anita McCoy, who sells pastrami and hot dogs through her business Lucky Bee, said it took roughly eight months to receive a cart that was worth about $17,500. She was grateful but said it took countless emails and phone calls to the Health Department to finally get the finished product.
“I had to be diligent in my pursuit,” McCoy said.
De’Mon Tyndell, who runs The Quesadilla Calling, received his cart roughly a year after applying.
At one point, after months of email exchanges and “doing applications on applications,” Tyndell told city staff, “I don’t even want to do this anymore.”
Although he has the cart, Tyndell said he doesn’t use it for his various pop-ups throughout the week because the roughly 800-pound mobile kitchen is not “user friendly” to transport.
Moving it requires a trailer with a winch because the cart’s built-in wheels are too small for it to be towed around, Tyndell said.
As a result, the cart has been sitting in storage for the past six months while he uses a flattop grill and tables he can easily load in his van.
The free cart program was aimed at small-time entrepreneurs who needed help complying with new rules the city drafted on street vending. To qualify, applicants needed to live in Long Beach, have no more than two full-time employees and operate only one cart. If approved, they could receive one of four types: fruit carts, grilled food carts, tamale carts and ice cream carts.
But many people trying to run a low-margin business don’t have time for a complicated application process.
For McCoy, selling pastramis and hot dogs from a corner in North Long Beach is just one of her side businesses. That means she doesn’t have to be out every day to bring in enough cash to sustain her operation. That flexibility gave her the time to pursue the free cart with a sense of urgency.
“I was begging them [to give me a cart] because I knew the program was going to be cut,” McCoy said.
Meanwhile, since early last year, the city has begun penalizing street vendors who don’t comply with its rules.
Health Department officials say it’s a necessary step to prevent food-borne illness caused by vendors who haven’t gone through a health inspection.
From early last year through Feb. 23, city staff seized and discarded food from 72 vendors and issued 103 administrative citations against vendors without an active business license. In 71 cases, they’ve also impounded street vendors’ equipment.
Penalties for the citations range from $100 to $500, depending on how many times a vendor has been cited.
Enforcement is carried out based on complaints. The Health Department says its staff first tries to educate vendors on how to comply, then they issue a notice of violation and finally an administrative citation. If vendors don’t heed that citation, a team responds to discard food and impound equipment.
Starting in 2022, California banned cities from outlawing street vendors altogether, but municipalities are still allowed to regulate when, where and how they can sell for health and safety reasons.
Since Long Beach adopted its rules, the city has received 358 applications from vendors seeking a business license to operate legally. As of Feb. 23, the city has granted just 55 (15.4%).
Rather than risk being cited, Tyndell limits his selling to pop-ups at farmers markets, outside bars and various events around the city where he can more easily get permits. Recently, he got a spot selling inside Good Times Billiards — a pool hall in Lakewood — and hopes to add a second location inside another pool hall on Broadway in Alamitos Beach.
That business is awaiting city approval, but Tyndell said he aims to open by the end of the month. There, he says, he’ll finally use his free cart to serve up gourmet quesadillas.
Topline:
A Vietnam War memorial that became a symbol of government corruption was torn today in Fountain Valley. Former Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do had awarded $1 million in taxpayer dollars for the memorial in 2023 — to a nonprofit where his daughter was an officer. The project was never completed.
Why now? Authorities said the unfinished project was cracked and deteriorating. And it would have been too costly to repair it.
Why it matters: The memorial came to represent the scandal that forced Do from office. He is currently serving a five-year prison sentence after admitting to directing money to several nonprofit groups and businesses that then funneled some of that money back to himself and family members for personal gain.
Keep reading ... for a closer look at one of the biggest scandals in Orange County history.
A Vietnam War memorial that became a symbol of government corruption was torn down Wednesday in Fountain Valley.
Former Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do had awarded $1 million in taxpayer dollars for the memorial in 2023 — to a nonprofit where his daughter, Rhiannon Do, was an officer.
The project was never completed.
When LAist visited the memorial last year, it was unfinished and cracked. And an architect who visited the site with LAist estimated that the monument cost a fraction of the taxpayer money awarded to build it.
Do is currently serving a five-year prison sentence in Arizona after admitting to directing money to several nonprofit groups and businesses that then funneled some of that money back to himself and family members for personal gain. LAist has been investigating the alleged corruption since 2023.
Do was also ordered to pay $878,230.80 in restitution for his role in the bribery scheme that saw millions in taxpayer dollars diverted from feeding needy seniors, leading authorities to label him a “Robin Hood in reverse.”
Supervisor Janet Nguyen, who now represents Do’s former district, which includes the memorial site, said it would have been too expensive to repair or relocate it.
“Let’s restart and do it right,” she said at the time.
Here's a look at some of LAist's coverage of one of the biggest corruption scandals in Orange County history:
LAist investigates: Andrew Do corruption scandal
Ex-Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do is ordered to pay $878,230.80 in restitution
'Robin Hood in reverse.' O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do resigns and will plead guilty to bribery conspiracy charge
Former OC Supervisor Andrew Do turns himself in, begins 5-year federal prison term
6 questions we still have after disgraced former OC Supervisor Andrew Do’s sentencing
A quiet retreat for the judge married to disgraced OC politician Andrew Do
One of the best things you can do to hold officials accountable is pay attention. Your city council, board of supervisors, school board and more all hold public meetings that anybody can attend. These are times you can talk to your elected officials directly and hear about the policies they’re voting on that affect your community.
Topline:
In an open letter to campaigns published Tuesday, California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hick urged Democratic gubernatorial candidates to make an honest assessment of their chances before Friday — the deadline to file and officially appear on the ballot in June.
Why now: The chair’s plea comes weeks after Democratic delegates failed to agree on an endorsement at the state party convention in San Francisco. With nine major Democrats still vying for the state’s top job, party insiders have fretted for weeks about a splintered primary vote that could result in the two leading Republicans — commentator Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco — finishing first and second in the June 2 primary and ensuring a GOP victor in November. But candidates who have been mired in single-digits for months, including State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and former state Controller Betty Yee, showed no immediate signs of heading toward the exits.
Low-polling Democratic candidates for governor of California struck a defiant tone Tuesday in the face of mounting pressure from party leaders to drop out before a key deadline this week.
With nine major Democrats still vying for the state’s top job, party insiders have fretted for weeks about a splintered primary vote that could result in the two leading Republicans — commentator Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco — finishing first and second in the June 2 primary and ensuring a GOP victor in November.
In an open letter to campaigns published Tuesday, California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks called that scenario implausible but “not impossible” and urged Democratic candidates to make an honest assessment of their chances before Friday — the deadline to file and officially appear on the ballot in June.
“If you do not have a viable path to make it to the general election, do not file to place your name on the ballot for the primary election,” Hicks wrote.
But candidates who have been mired in single digits for months, including state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and former state Controller Betty Yee, showed no immediate signs of heading toward the exits.
At the Alameda County Registrar of Voters office in Oakland, Yee filed the paperwork to officially place her name on the ballot.
“When I was signing the declaration of candidacy, my hands were shaking because I just thought about my mother, who is 102, and how within a generation she’s able to see her daughter do this,” Yee told KQED. “We’re undergoing a process of constant assessment, and every time we do that, we just see that this is still a wide-open race.”
Thurmond, who is Black and Latino, accused the state party of “essentially telling every candidate of color in the race for governor to drop out.”
“Aren’t we supposed to be the party who embraces democracy — a party of, by and for the people?” Thurmond said in a video posted to social media. “Well, the establishment might not be, but our campaign is, and that’s why we’re in this race to win it.”
Hicks did not call on any specific candidates to leave the race but asked those who continue their campaigns beyond this week to “be prepared to suspend your campaign and endorse another candidate on or before April 15 if your campaign cannot show meaningful progress toward winning the primary election in the coming weeks.”
The chair’s plea comes weeks after Democratic delegates failed to agree on an endorsement at the state party convention in San Francisco.
Since then, polling in the race has been largely static, with investor Tom Steyer (who has spent tens of millions of dollars on television ads) being the only Democrat to see significant traction in recent surveys.
Rep. Eric Swalwell, former Rep. Katie Porter and Steyer were the top polling Democrats in polls released last month by Emerson College and the Public Policy Institute of California.
Below that trio is a crowded field of Democratic hopefuls that includes Thurmond and Yee, along with former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, San José Mayor Matt Mahan and former Assemblymember Ian Calderon.
Meanwhile, Hilton and Bianco have faced little competition for the Republican primary vote.
Jon Slavet, a GOP tech entrepreneur who was polling at around 1%, suspended his campaign Tuesday.
“The last few months have been a gift,” said Slavet, in a video posted on social media. “It’s also shown me that building a winning coalition, brick by brick, will take time.”
With Slavet out of the field, a primary election simulator created by Paul Mitchell, vice president of Political Data Inc., put the chances of a Republican vs. Republican general election at roughly 25%.
In his letter, Hicks said a Bianco-Hilton general election would not only upend Democratic leadership of state government but also depress Democratic turnout in the California congressional districts the party is hoping to flip in November.
“The result would present a real risk to winning the congressional seats required and imperil Democrats’ chances to retake the House, cut Donald Trump’s term in half, and spare our Nation from the pain many have endured since January 2025,” Hicks wrote. “We simply can’t let that happen.”
Topline:
At least nine Democrats are competing to succeed termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom in the 2026 general election, but first they'll have to get through the June primary. The crowded field has raised fears among Democrats that they could be entirely locked out of the November election.
Republican candidates leading the race: Polls have shown former Fox News commentator Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco leading the race, with the top Democrat — Bay Area Rep. Eric Swalwell — essentially tied. With such a wide-open field, Democrats at the party's February convention were unable to endorse a single candidate, meaning pressure is building on candidates with lower polling numbers and less ability to fundraise to drop out of the race.
Read on . . . for more on each of the nine candidates left in California's gubernatorial race.
Last updated: Feb. 24, 2026
At least nine Democrats are competing to succeed termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom in the 2026 general election, but first they'll have to get through the June primary. The crowded field has raised fears among Democrats that they could be entirely locked out of the November election.
Polls have shown former Fox News commentator Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco leading the race, with the top Democrat — Bay Area Rep. Eric Swalwell — essentially tied.
With such a wide-open field, Democrats at the party's February convention were unable to endorse a single candidate, meaning pressure is building on candidates with lower polling numbers and less ability to fundraise to drop out of the race.
The primary election is June 2. Here’s a look at the field right now:
Mahan, the mayor of San Jose, is the latest Democrat to enter the race after saying in the fall he wasn’t excited by the selection of candidates. Don’t expect him to join the other candidates’ jockeying to be the biggest opponent to president Donald Trump. A Silicon Valley moderate, he’s criticized Newsom for overly focusing on “resisting” Trump, especially on social media.
He says the state over-regulates businesses and fails to comprehensively address homelessness and crime. He broke with the party in 2024 to support Proposition 36, the ballot measure voters approved to increase penalties on some drug and theft charges. Mahan has honed in on reducing street homelessness with hundreds of tiny homes as well as a policy to arrest unhoused people who refuse repeated offers of shelter placements.
If former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra was looking for attention for his campaign, he found it in the form of negative headlines.
Last month, federal prosecutors indicted a Sacramento powerbroker in an alleged corruption scandal that rocked the state’s Democratic establishment. At its center? A dormant campaign account held by Becerra, from which prosecutors allege Gov. Gavin Newsom’s former chief of staff Dana Williamson conspired with other political consultants to steal $225,000. Williamson is charged with helping to divert the funds to the wife of Becerra’s longtime aide, Sean McCluskie, who has pleaded guilty in the alleged scheme.
Becerra was California’s first Latino attorney general before serving as a cabinet secretary for former President Joe Biden. He is running primarily on a platform of lowering health care costs.
He has not been accused of wrongdoing in the case and has said he was unaware of what was happening. But it’s still possible the association — and the implication he wasn’t paying attention — will taint his campaign, already polling at just 8% last fall.
The controversy is one of a few moments of intrigue in an otherwise quiet race.
In October, former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter, a Democrat, was caught on camera trying to walk out of a TV interview with a reporter who pressed her on whether she needed Republican support in the race. A second video followed, showing Porter berating a staff member during a Zoom call. At the time considered the front-runner, she rode out the news cycle and later said she “could have done better” about the behavior in the videos, but they appeared to have dropped her approval ratings. She is essentially tied with the top Republican candidate.
Porter made a name for herself as one of a “blue wave” of female, Democratic lawmakers elected to Congress during the first Trump administration in 2018. A law professor at UC Irvine who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate last year, she gained attention for her tough questioning of corporate executives using her signature whiteboard.
Joining a wide field of other Democrats, billionaire investor and climate activist Tom Steyer announced in November he is jumping into the race.
Steyer, who made his fortune by founding a San Francisco hedge fund, has used his wealth to back liberal causes, including the environment. He’s never held public office before, but ran a short-lived campaign for president in 2020. He has honed in on reining in Californians' second-highest-in-the-nation electricity bills, though some experts are skeptical of his proposals.
Pro-Trump Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco is neck-and-neck with Porter in the polls, though he is unlikely to last near the top of the pack in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly two-to-one and a GOP candidate hasn’t won a statewide seat in nearly 20 years.
The cowboy-hat-toting Bianco has heavily criticized Democratic governance. He argues for loosening regulations on businesses and says he wants to overturn California’s sanctuary law that restricts local police from cooperating with federal deportation officers.
Other Democrats have focused on their biographies and experiences in government to try to distinguish themselves in a race where name recognition is low across the board. All have said they want to make California more affordable and push back on the Trump administration’s impact on the state.
Swalwell, a former prosecutor and Bay Area congressman, will likely lean heavily on his anti-Trump bonafides. He was one of several members of Congress appointed by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to help lead the second Trump impeachment after the attempted Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection and is now the latest Democrat under attack by the Trump administration over his mortgage.
Former Los Angeles mayor and former Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa is among the more moderate of the Democratic field. He boasts of his time running the state’s largest city, during which he boosted the police force. He ran for governor unsuccessfully in 2018.
Former state Controller Betty Yee emphasizes her experience with the state budget and the tax system, having been a top finance office in ex-Gov. Gray Davis’ administration and having sat on the state Board of Equalization.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, a Democrat, is the only candidate currently in a statewide seat. He emphasizes his background as a social worker who grew up on public assistance programs in a low-income family. He has stated an ambitious goal of building two million housing units on surplus state land.
Ian Calderon, a former Democratic Assembly majority leader, is emphasizing his relative youth. He was the first millennial member of the state Assembly, and is part of a Los Angeles County political dynasty. He has some ties to the cryptocurrency industry and has name-dropped it in ads and debates.
Republican Steve Hilton, a Fox News contributor, was an adviser for British conservative Prime Minister David Cameron before pivoting to American politics. Before launching his campaign he released a book this year calling California “America’s worst-run state.”
This article was originally published on CalMatters, which is an LAist partner newsroom.
