What happened Saturday through Monday, Jan. 18-20: Southern California braces for latest threat of extreme weather

Four days after airborne contamination from wildfire smoke prompted the closure of its Altadena station, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Monday the facility is once again fully operational.

The station narrowly escaped the flames of the Eaton fire, which on the morning of Jan. 8 came so close to the building on East Altadena Drive that deputies were forced to evacuate with whatever they could carry.

All of the 17 deaths confirmed so far in the Eaton fire occurred in areas of western Altadena that received emergency evacuation orders many hours after the fire started.

The fire roared out of Eaton Canyon around 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 7, pushed west by intense Santa Ana winds. Many neighborhoods in eastern Altadena and surrounding areas got evacuation warnings and orders that Tuesday night.

Los Angeles police arrested a man Monday on suspicion of arson after a small brush fire broke out in Griffith Park under the observatory.

The man was allegedly seen by a witness setting a fire in the area, police sources said. No other details were available.

During his inaugural address on Monday, President Trump blasted what he called a government unable to protect its own citizens in times of crisis — including the people of Southern California impacted by the still-burning Palisades and Eaton fires, which have destroyed thousands of structures and killed at least 27 people.

Trump used the examples of Southern Californians and “the wonderful people of North Carolina, who were treated so badly” after Hurricane Helene this fall.

In Los Angeles, he said, “we are watching fires still tragically burn from weeks ago without even a token of defense.”

“They’re raging through the houses and communities even affecting some of the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in our country, some of whom are sitting here right now,” he said. “They don’t have a home any longer. That’s interesting.”

“We can’t let this happen. Everyone is unable to do anything about it. That’s going to change.”

Trump said, “we now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home while at the same time stumbling into a continuing catalogue of catastrophic events abroad.”

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Los Angeles is a place that feels physically and emotionally fractured these days. For tens of thousands who are displaced, routine is a near impossibility. Others carry on with little visible change to their daily life.

Yet that doesn’t mean there isn’t a heavy inner struggle.

Bracing for another round of extreme fire weather conditions, Los Angeles Fire Department officials on Monday had staffed all of its available extra engines and staged 30 engines in fire risk areas, measures they failed to take before the deadly Palisades fire, according to internal records and officials.

Fire officials told reporters Monday that the agency also ordered the outgoing shift of about 1,000 firefighters to remain on duty to staff the extra engines.

Travelers flying into Los Angeles last weekend were greeted by an apocalyptic sight: billowing clouds of smoke and the red-orange glow of flames against the glittering expanse of city lights.

The stark panorama, and shocking, ubiquitous video of the wildfires, were at sharp odds with images of sun-kissed beaches and glamorous Hollywood that L.A. relies on to draw the flocks of tourists who pump billions of dollars into the local economy each year.

Mayor Karen Bass said she would “absolutely” meet with President Trump during his expected trip to Los Angeles later this week. She also said she would work with him on rebuilding after Trump on Sunday night said he would use the “best builders.”

“I’ll say, welcome to Los Angeles,” she said.

“I think the invitation to the president is going to be, please come and join in. If he wants to bring the best builders, that’s great,” she said.

Trump, at a rally Sunday night, said he would rebuild Los Angeles “more beautiful than ever before.”

“We have the best builders in the world,” he said, according to CNN.

“It’s the only people that could do it. Nobody else knows what the hell they’re doing. And in 2028, the Los Angeles Olympics will be one of the great sporting events and patriotic celebrations in history.”

Bass said that the city is already working with the federal government, including FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers, and her hope is that Trump will be supportive. She also said that she worked in Congress with members of his administration during his first term in office.

“I think we have to move forward and not anticipate that there’s going to be a negative interaction,” Bass said.

There’s a 50% to 70% chance of rain starting Saturday and lasting for the following two days — but also a 20% to 30% chance of thunderstorms. That could bring heavy rain in some isolated areas, and the risk of flooding near recently burned areas.

The good news is that there’s a chance of mostly beneficial showers, which could help dampen the fires. And it’s a cold storm, which would bring snow levels down to 4,000 feet above sea level, which would bring snow to some mountain communities.

More on the forecast here.

Officials reported more progress Monday on the Palisades and Eaton fires.

The Palisades fire was mapped at 23,713 acres, 59% contained.

The Eaton fire was mapped at 14,021 acres, 87% contained.

With containment of the Palisades and Eaton fires improving, some residents are now returning to their neighborhoods to sift through the rubble. But the thousands of victims whose homes or businesses have burned down or been damaged are now facing a thicket of post-fire paperwork.

That may include navigating confusing web portals, frustrating phone-tree systems and other soul-crushing bureaucracy. Some will have to file insurance claims and possibly submit an itemized inventory of every object that was in their house. Others will have to register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and apply for housing assistance grants, while others may have to apply for loans to fill insurance gaps or GoFundMe assistance. Amid all that accounting, there will be new mortgages, rental agreements or other temporary housing paperwork.

New drone video over Altadena shows the extent of the destruction from fires that raged through the city.

It was a typical sunny Sunday afternoon in Santa Monica, with scores of people enjoying the beach, having brunch and walking their dogs.

But just up Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades and eastern Malibu, authorities were preparing to wage a ground war on any conflagrations that might rise up as fast and excessively dry winds were expected to whip across the region in the coming days.

Mike McGrew estimates his family has more than 320 years of cumulative experience in police and firefighting work.

His dad was chief of the Santa Barbara Fire Department. His grandfather was with the L.A. city fire department. He was a police officer for 31 years.

As the devastating wildfires began to sweep across Los Angeles on Jan. 7, frightened residents were not turning to Netflix.

Local TV news broadcasts were the video go-to for residents seeking immediate information on the crisis that engulfed the region. Anchors and correspondents have spent hours in the field and on the air providing lifesaving details about evacuations and damage, along with a generous helping of emotional comfort.

Five major banks are offering homeowners up to three months of mortgage payment relief in areas devastated by the Southern California wildfires, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Saturday.

In a statement, Newsom’s office said the banks will have a streamlined process that will not require submitting forms or documents and when the forbearance period ends, there will not be an immediate repayment or late fees. The 90-day pause on mortgage payments for homes that were destroyed or damaged by the fires will not be reported to credit agencies, Newsom’s office said.

The Santa Ana wind forecast for Southern California has worsened, with officials saying the conditions will bring the “risk of large fire growth” beginning Monday.

The National Weather Service office in Oxnard on Sunday issued the most extreme version of its red flag fire weather warning, known as a “particularly dangerous situation” alert.

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta on Saturday warned landlords that price-gouging rules in effect because of the Los Angeles County fires apply even in cases where bidding wars break out over their property.

Under those rules, which kicked in when the governor declared a state of emergency, local landlords generally can’t charge more than 10% above what they were charging or advertising before the crisis.

The descendants of the Los Angeles Basin’s first people had not had land of their own for nearly 200 years.

Two years ago, a 1-acre property in suburban Altadena dotted with oak trees and shrubs became the first parcel of land returned to the Tongva people. They finally had a space to host traditional ceremonies, community gatherings and other events.

The kitten’s paw pads were raw and red.

Her whiskers, mostly gone. Her ears, singed. Her eyelids, swollen.

They were drawn to the Altadena foothills for the hummingbirds and the bats and the peacocks. It was the view of the canyon, downtown skyscrapers, and Santa Catalina Island, somehow all in one frame.

Everyone on Leilani Way knew the risks of living in the San Gabriel Mountains’ fire-prone foothills. The benefits just outweighed them.

Night had fallen on the Pasadena temple.

The community had braced for high winds; Hebrew school had been canceled earlier. But no one had prepared for a fire to erupt and tear their synagogue apart.

Why was so much of Altadena burned? To understand the path of the Eaton Fire, The Times made an extensive review of firefighter radio transmissions and interview residents and firefighters. So findings:

• The fire immediately threatened hillside homes around Eaton Canyon. Firefighters got to the scene quickly and saved homes, but winds were by then pushing flames and embers west toward the heart of Altadena.
  
• As the blaze grew, firefighting resources were no match. Aircraft were grounded almost immediately amid intense wind, and fire operations became more about saving lives than protecting structures.
  
• Embers traveled up to two miles to the west, passing over some neighborhoods but hitting central Altadena hard. Within hours, entire blocks were on fire.
  

Read the full investigation here.

When residents first saw flames on a hillside in Eaton Canyon, the fire itself was not that large.

But with gusts clocked at 59 mph, the fire quickly started pushing a shower of sparks across the canyon.

Firefighters are taking advantage of a lull in the wind to make steady progress against the massive fires that have ravaged Los Angeles since Jan. 7.

Officials are also easing evacuation orders and lifting curfews across the region as residents of burned neighborhoods return to face the damage.

President-elect Donald Trump, who is scheduled to be sworn into office on Monday, has announced that his first official trip as the nation’s leader will be to Southern California to tour the devastated areas.

Trump has spent much of the last 10 days hurling abuse at California’s leaders for what he sees as their mismanagement of the crisis sparked when hurricane force winds flames tearing through multiple locations in greater Los Angeles.

“One of the best and most beautiful parts of the United States of America is burning down to the ground,” Trump posted to Truth Social on Jan. 8. “It’s ashes, and Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!”

Trump is expected to arrive late next week, according to a story published by The Hill.

The California FAIR Plan Assn., the state’s property insurer of last resort, was born of smoldering ashes — not of a wildfire, but of one of the worst urban disturbances in U.S. history.

The Watts riots in 1965 damaged or destroyed more than 600 buildings, causing insurers to flee and highlighting the need for a new type of carrier to step in.

Another round of extreme fire weather is expected next week with gusts of up to 80 mph in Southern California, bringing new dangers as Pacific Palisades, Altadena and surrounding communities struggle to assess the damage of devastating wildfires earlier this month,

“The bottom line is: we’re in uncharted territories this deep into the winter, or rainy season,” in having barely any rain, said Alex Tardy, a National Weather Service meteorologist in San Diego.

The locker rooms where the teams from Oregon and Ohio State dressed for the College Football Playoff quarterfinals are now a command center and a briefing room. Outside, firefighters and National Guard troops mill about the wide concourse where, less than three weeks ago, more than 90,000 football fans gathered.

And the sprawling grass fields that were recently home to dozens of tailgate parties now hold hundreds of tiny pup tents.

Squeals of joy can be heard from the playground at Eagle Rock Recreation Center. A group of 30 children is huddled into groups according to their favorite breakfast item.

“I like pancakes better than waffles,” one child announced.

The fire refugees arrive with regularity at the checkpoint on Pacific Coast Highway. They come alone or in pairs, lining up behind the clutch of police cruisers and a National Guard Humvee, pleading to get back to homes inside the Palisades wildfire perimeter.

They want medicines and other necessities, sure. But they also want a sense of knowing: What has the great Palisades wildfire done to their homes and to their lives?

The union that represents more than 3,000 Los Angeles city firefighters renewed its support for Fire Chief Kristin Crowley on Friday, denouncing an anonymous letter that accused her of mishandling the response to the massively destructive Palisades fire.

United Firefighters of Los Angeles City Local 112 condemned a letter circulated this week — one that claimed to be from “retired and active LAFD chief officers” but contained no names or signatures — saying Crowley had “failed” the residents of Los Angeles and lost the confidence of Mayor Karen Bass.

Every other day, Joseph McKinney, Joseph Sevilla and Sal Almanza wake up around 4 a.m. and eat breakfast at their base camp at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena before heading up the San Gabriel Mountains to do battle with one of the most destructive fires in Los Angeles County history.

Their firefighting tasks, which are assigned each day by their captains, could include containment work, structure defense or removing dry vegetation to try and stop the spread of the blaze. The men work either 12- or 24-hour shifts and if they work the latter, they get the next day off to recuperate at base camp.