Topline:
The Palisades and Eaton fires have now killed a combined 27 people as firefighters make progress on containment.
What we know so far: The rising death toll comes as authorities warn of potential flare ups as another Santa Ana wind event is in the forecast, bringing with it the potential for fire spread after firefighters made progress in containment over the weekend.
Keep reading... for more on the fires and conditions and the new health emergency.
This is a developing story and will be updated. For the most up-to-date information about the fire check the links under each fire.
The Palisades and Eaton fires have so far killed a combined 27 people as firefighters take advantage of a slight reprieve from the Santa Ana winds to increase containment.
Roughly 82,400 residents remain under evacuation orders or warnings across Los Angeles County.
The good news: The Eaton Fire is at 65% containment, burning at just over 14,000 acres. The Palisades Fire in the Santa Monica Mountains has grown to 39% containment, with just above 23,700 acres burned.
According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner, however, the death toll has increased to 27 — 10 in the Palisades Fire, 17 in the Eaton Fire. Authorities say they are carrying out search operations to survey burn areas, warning the death toll could rise.
Few details have been released about the fatalities and coroner's officials cautioned identification may take some time.
A curfew is in place in the Palisades and Eaton fire evacuation areas, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. until further notice.
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell says officers will no longer be accompanying residents into the area to collect things like essential medicine, as the department begins today to search the area for human remains.
"What we found was, uh, that was successful for those who we were able to accommodate, but the numbers became overwhelming," McDonnell said.
People looking for information on their loved ones can visit family assistance centers set up at Cheviot Hills Recreation Center (2551 Motor Ave., Los Angeles) and Pasadena Convention Center (300 E. Green St., Pasadena).
You can also call (800) 675-5799 or visit redcross.org to fill out an inquiry form.
The order includes a ban on the use of leaf blowers, because they stir up ash and other potentially toxic debris. And it asks county residents to stay indoors to avoid exposure to wildfire smoke.
Some simple steps: Keep your windows and doors closed and avoid using fireplaces, candles, or vacuums.
The L.A. County Sheriff's department said it has made some 30 arrests for people violating those curfews in the Palisades and Eaton fire areas, mostly on suspicion of looting. Specifically, 25 arrests in Eaton Fire area, and 5 in the Palisades area.
L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna said deputies arrested a man who allegedly posed as a firefighter with the intention to burglarize houses in the Malibu area.
Here's what we know about the latest fire, and others burning now.
Watch CalFire for new incidents ▶
For the most up-to-date information about the fire you can check:
Forward progress of the Auto Fire that erupted Monday night has been stopped at nearly 61 acres. Thursday evening, the fire was 85% contained, officials reported.
Strong winds fanned the flames as the fire ate up tall dry grass and brush in the Santa Clara riverbed in Ventura. Firefighters were able to knock down the fire and stop the fire's forward progress a little before midnight. They have remained on scene to mop up hotspots. The fire was confined to the river bottom.
For the most up-to-date information about the fire you can check:
The Eaton Fire has devastated whole neighborhoods of Altadena and forced mass evacuations from Altadena, Pasadena, Sierra Madre and Glendale. The fire is at 65% containment as of Friday evening.
Officials report 17 deaths due to the fire and said many others were injured as the fire spread. Some areas are also now under orders not to drink or use the water in the area for cooking due to debris from the fire.
For the most up-to-date information about the fire you can check:
The Palisades Fire that broke out in the Santa Monica Mountains Jan. 7 and sent thousands of residents fleeing, some of them on foot, as they tried to outrun advancing flames driven by extremely strong winds.
Ten deaths have been confirmed as of Thursday.
More than 23,000 acres have burned, and the fire is so far 39% contained.
For the most up-to-date information about the fire you can check:
The Kenneth Fire that broke out along the western edge of the San Fernando Valley has has been fully contained after growing to 1,052 acres, according to CalFire.
The fire started Thursday in the Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve and pushed toward dense developments in the cities of Calabasas and Agoura.
All evacuation orders and warnings issued shortly after the fire started have been lifted.
Note: there was initial confusion about both the name and location of this fire. The name was first given as Kennis and the the city alert listed the location as Woodland Hills, but mapped to the correct address in West Hills.
For the most up-to-date information about the fire you can check:
The brush fire started at 6:04 p.m. on Wednesday at around the 2300 block of Solar Drive in the Hollywood Hills.
The fire quickly burned about 60 acres between Runyon Canyon and Wattles Park. At 7:30 a.m. on Thursday morning, evacuation orders were lifted for the area and by the end of the day the fire was considered fully contained.
Resources stationed nearby and air support likely made a big difference. More than 150 firefighters were deployed to fight the Sunset Fire almost immediately, said Margaret Stewart, public information officer for the Los Angeles Fire Department, to our media partner KCAL News. Helicopters made water drops throughout Wednesday evening into Thursday.
For the most up-to-date information about the fire you can check:
The fire started the night of Jan. 7 above Olive View Medical Center and spread toward the 210 Freeway in Sylmar. The CHP received a report that a power line had exploded in the area and that the fire was moving toward homes in the area.
The fire grew to nearly 800 acres by Saturday. As of Thursday, officials reported the fire was 100% contained, aided by a break in Santa Ana wind conditions.
All evacuation orders and warnings have been lifted.
For the most up-to-date information about the fire you can check:
The Lidia Fire broke out shortly after 1 p.m. Wednesday off Soledad Canyon Road in the Angeles National Forest. It burned 395 acres, and was 100% contained as of early Saturday. The cause is under investigation.
The extreme fire threat prompted forest officials to close down the entire Angeles National Forest starting Wednesday, Jan. 8 at 5 p.m. through midnight Wednesday, Jan. 15.
For the most up-to-date information about the fire you can check:
The Woodley Fire was reported near North Woodley Avenue and the Sepulveda Basin shortly after 6 a.m. Wednesday. Fire crews were able to hold the fire to 30 acres, after initially reporting the size at 75 acres. It is now 100% contained. In the early hours of the fire, officials warned that it posed "a threat of crossing Burbank Boulevard."
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Topline:
A recent AirTalk segment highlights the decades-long debate over street vending in Los Angeles. Despite efforts by the City Council and statewide law, enforcement remains murky at best, even though it's a fixture of Los Angeles culture.
Why now? During a recent debate, Mayor Karen Bass made a series of comments that cast street vending in an unsavory light, prompting an almost immediate backlash from her opponent, Nithya Raman, who has devised her own nine-point plan to address street vending if elected.
Why is it important? Street vendors are as much a part of L.A.'s identity as its restaurants — but the system meant to support them is so broken that only a fraction operate with full legal standing. As this becomes a defining issue in the mayor's race, it's worth knowing the difference between political rhetoric and how the rules actually work on the ground.
Last month, street vending became a flashpoint during one of the recent debates for L.A. mayor when incumbent Karen Bass said, "I do not think that you should have a food vendor in front of a restaurant. Period," drawing a comparison to unhoused encampments.
The remarks set off an almost immediate backlash. Mayoral candidate Nithya Raman, who has her own 9-point plan to support street vendors, said Bass "took a shot" at the street vending community and reiterated her commitment to work toward regulations and legalizing their operations.
Bass's office later eased its stance, saying it had directed the LAPD to stop issuing criminal citations to street vendors — and to dismiss any that had been issued in error.
Street vending remains part of the Los Angeles landscape, and the backlash from the debate brought to light just how confusing its legality can be. To understand how we got here, it helps to start with the basics.
Yes. Since SB 946 in 2018, state law has decriminalized it. That means cities and counties can't criminally cite vendors or ban them from specific zones. They can, however, still enforce health and safety rules — things like sidewalk clearance and ADA access.
On a recent segment for AirTalk, Memo Torres of L.A. Taco pointed to a stark gap between L.A.'s vending population and its permitted vendors. According to an email from the California Restaurant Association reported by FOX 11, an estimated 50,000 street vendors operate across Los Angeles — yet only 53 hold permits specifically for food sales.
Vending requirements largely mirror restaurant-grade standards — large refrigeration units, multi-basin sinks — that don't fit the reality of most vendor setups: flat-top griddles, folding tables, pop-up tents.
That isn't to say there haven't been efforts by the city to address the permitting gap. In 2024, the City Council, with Raman's backing, voted to drop the annual permit fee from $541 to $27.51.
Raman's mayoral campaign has since proposed another potential fix: extending a state permit category — currently used by vendors at farmers markets who share equipment like a communal three-compartment sink — to street vendors, so operators wouldn't need their own restaurant-grade setup to qualify.
County health inspectors technically oversee street food vendors, but both industry and vendor advocates agree enforcement is inconsistent — leaving reliable data on violations hard to come by.
A 2015 Economic Roundtable study found that businesses located near street vendors were more likely to see job growth than those without nearby vendors.
Proposals like Raman's permitting reforms aim to close the gap — but for now, most of L.A.'s vendors remain outside the formal system.
Topline:
The longest road trip in NFL history has brought the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams to Australia’s sports capital for a season opener in front of more than 100,000 football-hungry fans packed into the Southern Hemisphere’s largest stadium.
Why it matters: The NFC West rivals are playing Australia’s first NFL game, and the starkly differing ways in which they made this epic journey have attracted almost as much attention as the two star-studded rosters preparing to put on a show.
The backstory: The 49ers have been Down Under for more than a week, adjusting their body clocks and winning over thousands of Aussie fans who appreciate their commitment to the historic moment. The Rams were only scheduled to arrive in Melbourne around dawn Thursday, roughly 28 hours before the Friday morning kickoff that’s necessary to play the game Thursday night in prime time in the U.S. That’s because head coach Sean McVay is convinced they can thwart jet lag and optimize their game readiness by staying home on California time.
What's next: The Rams and 49ers kick off at 5:35 p.m. Thursday night on Netflix.
The longest road trip in NFL history has brought the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams to Australia’s sports capital for a season opener in front of more than 100,000 football-hungry fans packed into the Southern Hemisphere’s largest stadium.
The NFC West rivals are playing Australia’s first NFL game, and the starkly differing ways in which they made this epic journey have attracted almost as much attention as the two star-studded rosters preparing to put on a show.
The 49ers have been Down Under for more than a week, adjusting their body clocks in the traditional manner and winning over thousands of Aussie fans who appreciate their commitment to the historic moment.
The Rams were only scheduled to arrive in Melbourne around dawn Thursday, roughly 28 hours before the Friday morning kickoff that’s necessary to play the game Thursday night in prime time in the U.S. That’s because head coach Sean McVay is convinced they can thwart jet lag and optimize their game readiness by staying home on California time.
Both teams agree this contrast in preparation is not a referendum on the best way to handle a pair of 16-hour flights with a football game in between — even if the rest of the world might see it that way after the final whistle.
Instead, this game is primarily a difficult early test for both the Super Bowl favorite Rams and the talent-laden 49ers, who also intend to be a title challenger. The coaching staffs and veteran players all know each other thoroughly after a decade of competition between Shanahan and McVay, who are both constantly looking for an edge.
“I don’t think there’s any right way to do it,” said defensive end Myles Garrett, who will make his Rams debut in Australia. “They have a plan, and I’m sure they consulted different teams and people to find out a way to combat jet lag and such long travel. We’ve done the same thing. I think we’re both riding our methodologies.”
Garrett will be joined by star cornerback Trent McDuffie and cornerback Jaylen Watson in their debuts with Los Angeles’ revamped defense.
But Garrett will not be joined at the MCG by Aaron Donald, who ended his 2 1/2-year retirement late last month. The Rams decided the 35-year-old Donald will stay home as he ramps up deliberately for his return — and that’s a beacon of hope for Shanahan, who was sure his old friend McVay would bring Donald to Australia.
“I’ve never been more excited to be wrong about something,” Shanahan said.
Topline:
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday that it has opened an investigation into the Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles, specifically looking into whether L.A. County has failed to provide environmentally safe, humane and habitable conditions for people held there.
The details: The jail has long been plagued by allegations of poor conditions. Monitors from the American Civil Liberties Union have documented problems including overcrowding, severe mold and mildew, and rodent infestations.
The context: The federal investigation is expected to focus on conditions within the facility and not the actions of the county sheriff’s deputies who staff it, according to the Justice Department. The new investigation is separate from a 2015 settlement between the county and federal government, which stemmed from allegations of inadequate mental health care provided at county jails.
What happens next: Investigators will determine whether the county has violated the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects against cruel and unusual punishment, and 14th Amendment, which guarantees equal protection under the law.
Reaction: L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger welcomed the investigation, and said she had said for year that the jail was “antiquated, inhumane, and unfit for our workforce and those incarcerated there.”
Topline:
Firefighters appeared to make quick progress against a brush fire the broke out Wednesday near the Getty Center.
What we know so far: As of 5 p.m., evacuation warnings had been issued for zones LFD-0895 and LF-0967, although the LAFD said no structures were immediately threatened as the water-dropping helicopters attacked the fire from above.
Read on ... for more on evacuations and weather conditions.
This story is no longer being actively updated. For the most up-to-date information about the fire you can check:
Firefighters appeared to make quick progress against a brush fire the broke out Wednesday near the Getty Center.
As of 5 p.m., evacuation warnings had been issued for zones LFD-0895 and LF-0967, although the LAFD said no structures were immediately threatened as the water-dropping helicopters attacked the fire from above. Forward progress of the fire was reported stopped shortly after 6 p.m. at a little over 20 acres.
The fire broke out as Southern California endures high heat and record-breaking humidity.
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