Fires in Los Angeles: Situation in Pacific Palisades critical again

Bei den katastrophalen Bränden rund um Los Angeles ist die Zahl der Todesopfer auf mindestens elf gestiegen. Jedoch befürchten die Behörden, dass sich die Zahl weiter erhöhen könnte, sobald Ermittler die teilweise völlig verwüsteten Gebiete gefahrlos erreichen können. Drei Feuer waren weiterhin außer Kontrolle, darunter das besonders heftige „Palisades Fire“ im Stadtteil Pacific Palisades. Die Feuerwehrbehörde weitete dort die Evakuierungsanordnung am frühen Morgen auf weitere Gebiete aus. Der Bezirk Los Angeles rief kurz zuvor wegen der gefährlichen Rauchentwicklung den örtlichen Gesundheitsnotstand aus, wie der Fernsehsender CNN berichtete.

Der kalifornische Generalstaatsanwalt Rob Bonta hat vor Preiswucher, Betrug und Plündereien gewarnt. In Notsituationen wie dieser träten erfahrungsgemäß böse Akteure auf, „die versuchen, das Trauma und das Chaos solcher Momente für ihren eigenen Vorteil zu nutzen“, sagte Bonta und versprach, rigoros dagegen vorzugehen. 

“We have seen businesses and landlords take advantage of increased demand during emergencies to drive up prices for essential goods and services such as gas and water, batteries, first aid supplies, building materials and accommodation, including hotels and short-term rentals drift,” he complained. This is illegal and will be punished.

Authorities are also currently on the lookout for fraudsters posing as charities and falsely claiming to be raising money for victims of the fire disaster. There is also the scam where fraudsters act as if they are representatives of the government or the disaster control authority in order to access sensitive data or collect fees for alleged services.

There are also reports of looting, said Bonta. “The thought of invading a disaster zone to take advantage of people who have been forced to evacuate and steal their property is unimaginable – but it is happening.” The authorities would not let any of it go, he assured.

The dangers for the Pacific Palisades district, which is inhabited by many celebrities, have increased again. Residents were warned on Saturday of possible worsening weather conditions over the next 72 hours, which could further fuel the fire. By Saturday night, the flames had already spread through another 1,000 hectares in Pacific Palisades. Cal-Fire Fire Department representative Todd Hopkins said the Palisades fire was 11 percent contained. So far, over 8,900 hectares have burned.

Although the fire-fighting work progressed thanks to a brief decrease in winds, weather experts are expecting stronger gusts again this weekend. “The situation remains very dangerous,” said Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) chief Deanne Criswell. Only the “Hurst Fire” and the “Lidia Fire” have so far been largely contained, the “Kenneth Fire” is now at least 50 percent contained, as the fire protection authority Cal Fire announced.

The authority estimates that more than 12,000 buildings have already been destroyed or damaged by the fires. Around 58,000 others are at risk. Since Tuesday, around 15,000 hectares of land have gone up in flames. An evacuation order remained in effect for more than 100,000 residents, and tens of thousands more people have been warned.

The Getty Center has also been in an evacuation zone since late Friday evening. The famous museum, which cost a billion dollars to build and is partly made of fireproof travertine stone, houses 125,000 works of art.

Meanwhile, victims of the fires accuse the authorities of failing. “We didn't see a single firefighter while we were dragging buckets of water to save our house from the flames,” said 40-year-old Nicholas Norman, describing the situation when the fire broke out on Tuesday evening. “They were too busy saving the estates of the rich and famous over in Palisades. They let us mere mortals burn,” complains the teacher.

But there is also strong criticism of the authorities in the wealthy Pacific Palisades district, which was the first to be hit by the flames: “The city administration has completely abandoned us,” says stylist Nicole Perri in her anger that the fire hydrants were on fire There was no water or insufficient water pressure on the day of the fire. Governor Gavin Newsam had already announced a “comprehensive independent review”.

Perri's luxury villa in Pacific Palisades burned to the ground. “There should have been precautions that could have prevented this,” says the 32-year-old. “We have lost everything and I simply see zero support from our city, our terrible mayor and our governor,” she criticizes.

The head of the Los Angeles Fire Department, Kristin Crowley, made serious accusations against the city administration. The $17 million (16.5 million euros) cut in the fire department's budget is now having a negative impact on her agency's ability to fight the fires, she complained to CNN. “We can no longer maintain the current situation. We don't have enough firefighters.” A meeting with Mayor Karen Bass is said to have taken place on Friday afternoon (local time).

Meanwhile, thousands of emergency services continue to fight tirelessly against the flames. The causes of the fires remain unclear. “If any of the fires are found to have been deliberately set, those responsible will be arrested, prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law,” said Dominic Choi of the police department. In addition to arson, defective power lines are being investigated as a possible cause.

It's about a fallen cable that was discovered near a mast, as the Californian company SCE announced on Friday. The fire protection authorities checked whether this might have triggered the so-called Hurst fire in the Sylmar district. SCE, which is a subsidiary of Edison International, said it did not know whether the line damage occurred before or after the fire broke out. The Hurst Fire is now under control.

The fires could become the costliest conflagration in U.S. history, analysts said. California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara called for quick payment of insurance benefits for those affected. Some major providers had reportedly already limited or withdrawn insurance coverage in high-risk areas in the spring, which could leave many homeowners unprotected.

The US actor and declared climate denier James Woods meanwhile reported that his house is still standing. Previously he had been convinced that it had not survived the fire. “A miracle has happened,” wrote the two-time Oscar-nominated film star (“Once Upon a Time in America”) in a post on the online platform X.

“We managed to get to our property and our house, which we were told was lost forever, is still standing,” he wrote. He also posted a video of the completely burned area around his villa in the particularly affected Pacific Palisades district and spoke of a “hellish landscape”.

At the same time, just a few days ago, Woods claimed on social media that the fires had nothing to do with climate change and instead blamed California Governor Gavin Newsom and Mayor Bass, both Democrats, for the disaster.

The future US President Trump also railed against the governor a few days ago. Newsom now invited the Republican to personally see the extent of the wildfires in Los Angeles. Trump could see the devastation with his own eyes, thank the heroic firefighters and meet affected citizens at the same time, the Democrat wrote in a letter that he published on X.