As a disastrous fire continues to burn on the city’s west side, some are calling Chief Kristin Crowley to account: Why wasn’t the city better prepared?
Dozens of people are believed to have died in the Palisades and Eaton fires, which have burned down whole swaths of communities
Credit rating agency S&P placed a credit watch warning on Los Angeles’s general obligation and municipal improvement lease revenue bonds, signaling at least a one-in-two chance that the agency could “take a negative rating action during the next 90 days.
Palisades Fire initially started 10:30 a.m. Jan. 7 in Los Angeles County. It has burned 23,713 acres after being active for 10 days. A crew of 4,471 firefighters has been working on site and they managed to contain 31% of the fire by Friday morning. The blaze's cause remains under investigation.
A CNN analysis of the 10 largest US cities and other comparable departments shows the Los Angeles Fire Department is less staffed than almost any other major city, leaving it struggling to meet both daily emergencies and larger disasters such as wildfires.
About 1,600 policies for Pacific Palisades homeowners were dropped by State Farm in July, the state insurance office says.
Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley said Tuesday that “life-threatening and destructive and widespread winds” are in the region, which could fuel the growth of new or existing wildfires in Los Angeles County and Ventura County.
Firefighters are making progress, officials said, but residents must be ready for a return of powerful winds that could spread flames.
Inmate firefighters responding to the ongoing Los Angeles fires and working 24-hour shifts are earning $26.90 per day, according to the California Dept. of Corrections.
New questions are being raised about whether the City of Los Angeles and its fire department did enough to prepare in the days ahead of the deadly Palisades Fire.
Those looking to assist residents affected by the Los Angeles County firestorm have a number of options to donate money, materials or their time.