Fire crews in Los Angeles brace for more heavy winds; at least 24 killed, thousands of buildings lost

The owners of the Malibu restaurant "Moonshadows," which was completely destroyed by the intense flames of the Palisades Fire last week, are now trying to raise money to support the employees who once made it so popular.

The beloved eatery, which has been a staple along the coast for more than 40 years, is one of many landmarks along the Pacific Coast Highway that were razed after the blaze erupted last Tuesday.

"The restaurant meant an incredible deal to this community," says JD Slajchert. "I feel like I've only begun to even realize that myself."

In the days since the news broke, he says, they've reached an outpouring of messages and support from the community.

The Palisades Fire isn't the Slajchert family's first run in with devastating wildfires: His childhood home was destroyed in the Woolsey Fire in 2018. 

"We know first hand how devastating these wildfires can be," he said. "My first thought was about all the staff that are like brothers and sisters to me and my family."

He immediately took to social media, working to try to raise money for the people who helped make their business run so well, many of whom have been there since it opened back in the 1960s. Information on the fundraising efforts can be found on the restaurant's Instagram page.

- Josh Sanders, Dean Fioresi

Now that almost all of the nearly 800-acre the Hurst Fire in Sylmar has been contained, authorities say they're investigating whether downed Southern California Edison equipment sparked it.

The blaze was first reported at about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, hours after both the Palisades and Eaton fires had erupted elsewhere in Los Angeles County.

On Friday, SCE officials said a preliminary investigation revealed that a circuit in the Eagle Rock/Sylmar area experience a glitch in power at 10:11 p.m, just before the fire was reported. They also said a downed conductor was found near an electrical tower. The company says it's unsure if the damage occurred before or after the fire broke out. 

Thousands of people were forced to evacuate in the wake of news that the fire had broken out. All related evacuation orders have since been lifted. There was no structural damage sustained in the fire, crews said. 

Several Los Angeles power companies have started to try to get ahead of the potentially volatile and erratic wildfires, working to mitigate risks by clearing dry vegetation and protecting valuable power lines.

They've been at work for days, stopping at as many power poles as possible along the edges of the Palisades Fire along the Los Angeles coast and the Eaton Fire in the mountains above Pasadena and Altadena. 

"We are way ahead from the fire," said Connor Norton, one of the PG&E employees working in North Hollywood on Sunday.

First, they clear dry shrubbery from the area surrounding the poles, using hoes and power tools to clear as much vegetation as they can that may pose a risk to the power grid.

"Our job is to get out along the fire's edge where the fire may go," said Rob Cone, also of PG&E. 

Afterwards, they use their trucks to douse each power pole with fire retardant, the same thing that's dropped by firefighting aircraft from above. 

They try to spray the substance as far up the pole as they can and into the cracks of each pole, so embers can't latch inside and start a fire.

- Dillon Thomas, Dean Fiorisi

Crews battling the Los Angeles-area wildfires have received an offer of help from Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy.

"I instructed Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs and our diplomats to prepare for the possible participation of our rescuers in combating the wildfires in California," he said a message posted on X. "The situation there is extremely difficult, and Ukrainians can help Americans save lives. This is currently being coordinated, and we have offered our assistance to the American side through the relevant channels. 150 of our firefighters are already prepared."

The California National Guard took to X on Sunday to laud Zelenskyy's offer. 

"Ukraine's offer of support to California during these devastating wildfires is nothing short of extraordinary," the post said. "President Zelenskyy's leadership and the preparation of 150 Ukrainian firefighters are a testament to the power of global partnerships. @TheCalGuard is proud of our 30+ years of working with Ukraine through the State Partnership Program. Together, we stand stronger."

The L.A. County Unified School District — the nation's second-largest after New York City's -- says it's reopening all but a handful of its schools Monday. The only exceptions will be the ones "in the highest impact areas that will remain closed due to mandatory evacuation orders."

The Santa Monica Malibu district says it's reopening all Santa Monica schools except one elementary school, but keeping Malibu schools shut through at least Wednesday "due to ongoing safety concerns of the Palisades Fire and the need for campus assessment, cleaning and road reopenings."

And the Beverly Hills district says it's "fully reopening" Monday. The district's superintendent, Dr. Michael Bregy, says in a letter on the district's website that the decision "was not made lightly."

The National Weather Service Los Angeles office has posted "particularly dangerous situation" (PDS) red flag winds warnings for 4 a.m. (local time) Tuesday through noon Wednesday.

The office says winds during that span won't be as strong as last week's but will still be strong enough to cause "explosive fire growth."

Gusts could be in the 45-70 mph range, with some "locally damaging," the office says, adding that the relative humidity is forecast to be relatively low, in the 8-15% range. Higher humidity helps firefighters.

The Palisades Fire was 13% contained Sunday night, up from 11% containment a few hours earlier, the city of Los Angeles said. The Eaton Fire remained at 27% containment, the city said.

The fires burning in the Los Angeles area have also brought with them political battles. California officials have been pushing back on attacks and claims of incompetence from President-elect Donald Trump and some of his allies.

The L.A. County coroner's office said Sunday night it is investigating at least 24 deaths related to the wildfires in the Los Angeles area.

Eight suspected deaths were linked to the Palisades Fire while 16 were attributed to the Eaton Fire.

Only two of the victims were identified as of Sunday night. Charles Mortimer, 84, was killed in the Palisades Fire and Victor Shaw, 66, was killed in the Eaton Fire. Both died on Wednesday, according to the coroner's office.

Cal Fire has released maps showing homes that have been inspected, damaged or destroyed by the Palisades and Eaton fires. 

"Field damage inspections are ongoing and will continue until every structure within the footprint of each fire is inspected. Initial aerial assessments estimate 5,316 structures for the Palisades Fire and over 7,000 structures destroyed from the Eaton Fire, CAL FIRE said Sunday night. "These initial numbers make the Eaton and Palisades fires likely the second and fourth most destructive fires in California's history respectively."

The Palisades Fire inspection map can be found here.

The Eaton Fire inspection map can be found here.

A community of mobile homes tucked in between luxury mansions has been devastated by the Palisades Fire in Southern California. Maurice DuBois gets a birds-eye view of the wreckage.

Officials said Sunday that evacuation orders would remain in place until Thursday at the earliest because of ongoing fire conditions.

Heavy winds are expected to pick up again Monday and last until Wednesday night. In addition, humidity will remain low and the vegetation in the area will stay dry without any rain.

As of Sunday afternoon, the Palisades Fire had burned over 23,000 acres and was 11% contained.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Sunday he is deploying another 1,000 members of the California National Guard to help fight the wildfires burning in the Los Angeles area. 

Newsom said the additional deployment brings the number of National Guard service members helping with the fire response to about 2,500. 

President Biden will convene a virtual briefing with "key officials" on Sunday to discuss the ongoing response to the Los Angeles wildfires, the White House said.

They will discuss the "efforts to suppress the wildfires across Los Angeles and how the Federal resources he has directed are supporting the State and local response," the White House said.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who is from California and whose Los Angeles home was included in one of the evacuation zones, is expected to join the briefing. 

Also expected to attend the briefing are Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell, FEMA Region 9 administrator Bob Fenton, U.S. Forest chief Randy Moore, White House chief of staff Jeff Zients, Homeland Security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall and deputy Homeland Security adviser of resilience & response Caitlin Durkovich.

Last week, Mr. Biden approved a major disaster declaration for Los Angeles County.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new executive order aimed at helping Los Angeles rebuild from the ongoing devastating wildfires that have killed at least 16 people.

Newsom's new order will suspend permitting and review requirements under the California Environmental Quality Act and the California Coastal Act that will allow victims to rebuild their homes and businesses faster.

"When the fires are extinguished, victims who have lost their homes and businesses must be able to rebuild quickly and without roadblocks. The executive order I signed today will help cut permitting delays, an important first step in allowing our communities to recover faster and stronger," Newsom said.

Read more here.

The wildfires have scorched tens of thousands of acres of land in less than a week, forcing more than 100,000 residents of Los Angeles County to evacuate and leaving some of their neighborhoods in complete ruin. 

While President Biden approved a major disaster declaration for California on Wednesday in response to the blazes, humanitarian groups and nonprofit organizations also began working to provide food, water, shelter and supplies to people affected by the fires. Anyone in need of assistance can apply through the Federal Emergency Management Agency at DisasterAssistance.gov.

Several initiatives to support victims of the wildfires are currently accepting donations and volunteers. They include the American Red Cross, World Central Kitchen, the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, the California Fire Foundation and the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. 

Learn how to get involved here.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has arrested nearly 30 people in areas affected by the Palisades and Eaton fires, as concerns of looting remain.

At a news conference on Sunday, Sheriff Robert Luna said 25 people have been arrested in the Eaton Fire area and four people in the Palisades Fire area. In response to the increase in arrests, Luna has requested additional assistance from the National Guard.

"I saw a gentleman who looked like a firefighter, and I asked if he was okay because he was sitting down, and I didn't realize we had him in handcuffs," Luna said. "We were turning him over to the LAPD because he was dressed like a fireman and was not. He just got caught burglarizing a home."

Read more here.

Rep. Judy Chu, who represents areas devastated by the Los Angeles wildfires, explained on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" that fire agencies have assured her there is "enough water" to continue fighting fires amid concerns over water pressure in the area.

"This is not an ordinary incident, and many fire hydrants were going on at the same time, and also the electricity used to pump the water had been turned off so that there would not spark any more fire," Chu said. "So that happened at that point, but I believe that we're in a good place right now."

Officials said the wildfires ripping through communities in Los Angeles in recent days have killed at least 16 people, destroyed more than 12,000 structures, and displaced thousands. And the high winds are expected to pick up again this week. Meanwhile, questions are swirling around how Californians can rebuild when the wildfires cease.

Read more here.

Days after an inferno razed the Pacific Palisades, Maya Lieberman is desperate to find somewhere to live. But unscrupulous landlords who are jacking up prices are making it hard.

"The price gouging is going haywire, it's obscene," the 50-year-old stylist told AFP. "I can't find anywhere for us to go."

Huge fires that have torn through Los Angeles since Tuesday have leveled whole neighborhoods, turning swaths of the city to ash. More than 105,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes, while another 87,000 are under additional evacuation warnings, as authorities try to keep down a death toll that has already reached 16.

Read more here.

An investigation is underway to find the operator of a private drone that collided with a firefighting aircraft battling the blazes in Los Angeles on Thursday, the FBI said. 

The unauthorized drone damaged the aircraft, known as a "super scooper," as it was working to suppress the massive Palisades Fire that has so far engulfed more than 23,000 acres of land in western L.A. County.

Laura Eimiller, a spokesperson for the FBI's Los Angeles field office, said in a statement to CBS News on Sunday that the drone violated temporary flight restrictions enacted by the Federal Aviation Administration in the wake of the blazes.

Read more here.

FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell said Sunday that L.A. officials were "very prepared" for devastating wildfires, noting that the area is prone to fires. But "they have never seen 100-mile-an-hour winds that are fueling the fire," she said.

"Those winds and that weather condition is what really impacts, you know, where this fire is going to go, but more importantly, how they're able to try to contain it in those first few hours and days," Criswell said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."

The FEMA administrator said she doesn't have any information on the cause of the wildfires at this time, though she noted that will be investigated. She urged as the winds are expected to return, she wants people to "make sure that they are listening closely to what local officials are saying" to stay out of harm's way.

Read more here.

Authorities have received at least 16 missing person reports in the wake of the wildfires, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said at a briefing Sunday morning. Twelve of those reports came from areas around the Eaton Fire, and four came from the Palisades Fire.

"If there's any good news, there's no juveniles missing within those numbers," said Luna.

The sheriff's office may have recently received "dozens and dozens more" reports of missing people, he added, but the numbers will need to be checked before the office shares them at a later time.

Regardless, Luna said he expects the number of missing people "will absolutely go up."

He and other L.A. officials reiterated at the briefing the importance of heeding evacuation orders and warnings, as roughly 105,000 county residents remain under evacuation mandates and another 87,000 are under warnings. Some have tried to return to their neighborhoods since evacuating last week.

"Driving through some of these areas, they literally look like war zones," Luna said, referencing downed electric lines and smoldering flames continuing to burn in and around the Pacific Palisades and Altadena. "It's not safe." 

Crews battling the Eaton Fire in Los Angeles made progress on controlling the blaze, which is now 27% contained, as of Sunday morning, officials said. It has burned at least 14,117 acres.

A Red Flag Warning is in effect for the upper elevations of the fire area through next week as gusty and dry Santa Ana winds are expected.

More than 7,000 structures have been destroyed or damaged since the fire broke out last week. The L.A. County Medical Examiner's office said Saturday that 11 of the 16 wildfire-related deaths are attributed to the Eaton Fire.

Almost a week after the wildfires began to erupt across Los Angeles, some 40,000 acres continue to burn and the scope of the disaster is becoming shockingly clear. At least 16 people have died in the blazes and more than 12,000 structures, including homes, are destroyed, while tens of thousands remain under evacuation warnings.

Startling footage shows houses up in flames and a red haze setting in shortly after the fires broke out Tuesday. 

"This entire mountain is covered in flames, the wind pushing them up to 50 feet into the sky," said "CBS Sunday Morning" correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti, who reported on the ground in Los Angeles last week.

An updating map created by CBS News' data team is documenting the spread of the Los Angeles wildfires in real time, as two massive blazes continue to burn on opposite ends of the county.

The Palisades Fire is the larger of the two. It has engulfed at least 23,654 acres of land since first exploding out of a brush fire last Tuesday in the Pacific Palisades, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. Trailing that wildfire in size is the Eaton Fire, which now covers at least 14,117 acres in northern L.A. County.

Crews have contained 11% of the Palisades Fire and 15% of the Eaton Fire as of Sunday morning, Cal Fire said.

Video footage recorded Friday shows the moment a so-called "firenado" took shape while the Palisades Fire moved quickly toward the Mandeville Canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Also referred to as a fire whirl or fire devil, the phenomenon can happen when a wildfire is so intense that it essentially creates its own weather system, said CBS News Los Angeles meteorologist Dani Ruberti.

"The heat is so incredibly intense that the air starts to rise and it starts to pull in the surrounding air … kind of creating that spinning vortex," Ruberti said. "The particles in there, they're moving faster than on the outside, and that's what causes the air to spin faster and give that look of a tornado."

Fire tornadoes only last for a few minutes but can grow to be hundreds of feet tall in that short time, the meteorologist added.

President-elect Donald Trump again blamed Los Angeles officials for the destruction caused by the ongoing wildfires, calling them "incompetent" in a Truth Social post shared early Sunday.

"The fires are still raging in L.A. The incompetent pols have no idea how to put them out," Trump wrote. "Thousands of magnificent houses are gone, and many more will soon be lost. There is death all over the place. This is one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our Country. They just can't put out the fires. What's wrong with them?"

His post came after California Gov. Gavin Newsom invited Trump to Los Angeles to see the damage in person. Newsom — who refutes the president-elect's allegations that he refused to sign a restoration order that would direct millions of gallons of water to the current fires — asked Trump to join him in meeting with firefighters and victims.

Andrea Pasinetti was in San Francisco for work and his wife, Sixuan, was overseas when the Palisades Fire broke out on Tuesday, devastating neighborhood after neighborhood — including their own. Their dogsitter was stuck in the roads leading to their block, leaving the Pasinettis' three dogs waiting at home as the flames began ravaging their street, Lachman Lane.

Bundled with anxiety and not knowing the fate of his beloved pets, Pasinetti said he jumped on a flight to Los Angeles, hoping to make it home in time to get Alma, Archie and Hugo out of danger. 

"It's this feeling of helplessness and devastation and also just the unknown," he told CBS News. "Wanting to maintain hope, but also kind of bracing for the worst."

While on the phone with his wife, Pasinetti said he determined there were two options they could move forward with — either he finds a way to the house, or someone else needs to.

That's when Sixuan saw CBS News' Jonathan Vigliotti reporting from Palisades Charter High School, which was a short distance from their residence.

Read more here.

Cal Fire says its firefighting efforts in Southern California are receiving additional support from crews from Texas, Canada and Mexico. Teams from eight states are now assisting, the agency said.

"These reinforcements are crucial not only for containment efforts but also to provide much-needed relief to the brave firefighters on the frontlines," Cal Fire tweeted.

With every hot meal, hope and humanity were the focus at a makeshift donation operation in the parking lot of Santa Anita Park, a racetrack in the city of Arcadia in Los Angeles County's San Gabriel Valley, where community members are feeding and clothing their neighbors who have lost everything in the wildfires.

Joceline Taveres came here to look for basic needs after she lost her home in the fires and was unable to save anything.

"Nothing, just the paperwork, one pair of tennis shoes, a couple of clothes," said Taveres, a single mother. 

"This all started with me and my friends," said Juan Diaz, who helped start the donation site. "We have a team, we had two hot dog carts and 500 hot dogs."

The love shown from just those hot dogs grew to a large donation operation after Diaz put out a call to action on social media. He believes hundreds of volunteers have come out to help at least 1,000 people find clothes, shoes, bedding and household necessities.

"I just want people to know that you don't have to be rich to come out here and help," volunteer Amber King said. "I feel like I'm God's soldier. This is what I should be doing."

"Materials come in and out but lives don't," said Elizabeth Nuno, who lost her home in the fires. "We'll come up again. It's going to take a while. It's going to take a process. But we're together as community, family. We're all here and they're all here for us."

The site is one of many across L.A. which is taking donations. For information on how to help, click here. 

The L.A. County coroner's office announced Saturday night that it is investigating at least 16 deaths related to the Southern California wildfires.

Eleven of the deaths were attributed to the Eaton Fire and five to the Palisades Fire, the coroner's office said in a statement on its website.

The name of only one of the victims was released, 66-year-old Victor Shaw, whose cause of death was determined to be smoke inhalation and thermal injuries. Another of the victims was a man in his 80s who died at an area hospital.

The identities of several of the victims remains unknown, officials said. 

Video footage showed goats Friday night being shepherded down a hillside in the affluent Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood with flames from the approaching Palisades Fire in the background. 

The video shows bleating goats being loaded — at first quite docile – into a blue truck when a sudden noise or lights startles them.

A dozen or so goats start running into the street toward cars and trucks, quickly multiplying. Drivers got out of their vehicles to try to help grab the goats as handlers started running after them, working to bring them into blue trucks.

Goat herds, with their ability to clear underbrush and create fire breaks at low cost and without detriment to the environment, have long been seen as a key tool for wildfire mitigation.

California has implemented targeted grazing statewide as part of its strategy to reduce wildfire risks – even though recent skirmishes around labor laws and overtime payments could hold up some programs.

Firefighters battling the flames from above air tankers are dumping thousands of gallons of flame retardant, as super scoopers and helicopters drop massive amounts of water to slow the fast-moving Palisades Fire.

But complicating the attack are drones. 

"Over the last few years have we seen an increase in personal drone activity," CAL Fire spokesperson Chris Harvey said. "The message we try and get out to the public is, if you fly, we can't."

California state officials say there've been at least 40 incidents involving drones, forcing firefighters to temporarily ground air operations. One drone even hit a super scooper, putting a hole in the wing and taking it out of commission.

"It's very significant," Harvey said of the incident. 'There's no excuse for flying a drone, it's just willful misbehavior at this point, which is hard for me to fathom in an incident like this." 

While the Federal Aviation Administration has issued a warning for drones to stay out of the skies , firefighters still battle to control the flames and the airspace.

"There's no proven method to stop these drones that we can deploy on an incident like this in a real blanket fashion to keep all the drones down, that technology just doesn't exist yet at that level," Harvey said. 

A day after reports surfaced saying the Los Angeles fire chief had been fired, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and L.A. Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley put on a united front during a news conference.

When asked by CBS News correspondent Tom Hanson how Angelenos can be sure that Bass and Crowley are on the same page, Bass responded: "Well, I think first of all you have heard it directly from me. I'll give her an opportunity to repeat it again, that we have one mission, and that is going to be  our sole focus. Now, prior to this,  the chief and I have always been in regular communication and we will continue to do that."

Crowley followed up by saying that Bass, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell and herself "are all on the same page."

Both offices released statements Friday night confirming that Crowley is still leading the agency as chief as speculation mounted following a meeting the two held Friday hours after a television interview in which Crowley expressed frustration over budget cuts to her department. 

Bass said Saturday: "The fire chief and I are focused on fighting these fires and saving lives. And any differences that we might have will be worked out in private."

Read the full story here.

Some residents have been venturing back to see what can be salvaged after wildfires destroyed their homes, sifting through rubble for keepsakes. But officials on Saturday urged them to stay away, warning that the ash can contain lead, arsenic, asbestos and other harmful materials.

"If you're kicking that stuff up, you're breathing it in," said Chris Thomas, a spokesman for the unified incident command at the Palisades Fire. "All of that stuff is toxic."

Residents will be allowed to return — with protective gear — after damage teams have evaluated their properties, Thomas said.

Residents in Los Angeles County affected by the wildfires should expect more public safety power shutoffs with high Santa Ana winds in the forecast, officials said at a Saturday afternoon news conference.  Power shutoffs are crucial to preventing new fire starts, L.A. County Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone said at the news conference.

Santa Ana winds, coupled with dry conditions, have created the perfect storm for the fires to spread since starting last week. Winds are expected to hit the L.A. region Sunday through Tuesday, the National Weather Service said in an alert.

As of Saturday afternoon, more than 27,000 SoCal Edison customers were affected by public safety power shutoffs, the utility provider said.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Saturday he has doubled the number of California National Guard personnel assigned to assist with wildfires raging through the Los Angeles region. 

About 1,680 service members have now been deployed to the region, the governor's office said. 

About 1,000 members are assisting local law enforcement with traffic stops and control. The remaining 680 service members are helping with wildfire suppression through the CalGuard's Task Force Rattlesnake, additional handcrews training at Camp Roberts, and aviation resources, officials said.

More than 16,000 people have registered for FEMA assistance as of Saturday morning amid L.A. wildfires, the White House said. President Biden approved on Wednesday a Major Disaster Declaration to supplement recovery efforts.

Eligible survivors can apply for assistance with essential items like food, water, baby formula, breastfeeding supplies, medication and other emergency supplies. They can also apply for housing needs if they can't return home due to the wildfires such as rental assistance, basic home repairs for their primary home, personal property losses and other eligible expenses related to the wildfires.

If those in affected communities have insurance, they must file a claim first with their company before applying for federal assistance, officials said.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta warned residents on Saturday if people engage in price gauging, looting, and scamming amid the ongoing response to the wildfires ablaze in Los Angeles, they are breaking the law and they will be held accountable.

He said businesses and landlords should not be raising prices by more than 10%  and anything excessive is illegal and punishable by up to a year in jail and fines. He said California has laws in place to protect people suffering from a tragedy. 

Bonta said some business owners and landlords use algorithms based on demand and supply to set their prices, but ignorance is not an excuse for violating the law. 

 "If you know someone who's been a victim of price gauging please report it," Bonta said.

He also addressed looting and fake organizations masquerading as legitimate aid providers.

Read more here.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will lead a newly created Los Angeles regional wildfire investigative task force that will investigate the cause of the massive wildfires ablaze, Los Angeles police Chief Jim McDonnell announced at a news conference on Saturday.

The federal agency will lead a collaborative effort from agencies including teams from the Los Angeles Fire Department, arson counter-terrorism section, Los Angeles police, and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department.

"They have tremendous resources and expertise and can bring in resources from across the country to do their investigation," McDonnell said. 

He added determining the causes of these fires was critical. 

The NBA said two games scheduled for Saturday are being postponed due to the Los Angeles wildfires now moving east, according to officials. The Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers game at the Crypto.com arena and the Charlotte Hornets and LA Clippers at Intuit Dome are to be played at a later date.

"The game postponements ensure no resources will be diverted from the wildfire response efforts," the NBA said in a statement, adding dates for the rescheduled games will be announced at a later date. 

Organizers for the Rose Bowl Half Marathon & 5K scheduled for January 19 announced they decided to postpone the races due to the fires, the impact on air quality and the strain on local resources. A new date has yet to be announced, organizers said.

"The well-being of our participants, volunteers, and community is at the heart of every decision we make," organizers said.

Santa Anita organizers announced Saturday to cancel horse racing this weekend, citing the growing impact of fires throughout Los Angeles County, the Associated Press reported.

Gov. Gavin Newsom invited President-elect Donald Trump to California to survey the destruction of the deadly Los Angeles County wildfires, penning a letter Friday asking Trump to join him in meeting with victims and firefighters. 

With two massive blazes still burning on opposite sides of the county, Newsom reached out to Trump while referencing the federal assistance already granted so far by the Biden administration. The letter comes after the president-elect blamed the governor and Los Angeles leaders for the natural disasters, claiming they made policymaking decisions that have worsened the crisis.

Read more here.

Pope Francis expressed his sadness on Saturday over the ongoing wildfires in and around Los Angeles.

"Saddened by the loss of life and the widespread destruction caused by the fires near Los Angeles," Francis expressed his "spiritual closeness" with the victims, Vatican No. 2, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said in a telegram to the Archbishop of Los Angeles, the Most Rev. Jose H. Gomez.

"Entrusting the souls of the deceased to the loving mercy of almighty God, his holiness sends heartfelt condolences to those who mourn their loss," Parolin said. "He likewise prays for the relief efforts of the emergency services personnel and imparts his blessing to all as a pledge of consolation and strength in the Lord."

Among the thousands of buildings destroyed in the Los Angeles wildfires were a mosque, a synagogue, a Catholic parish and a half-dozen Protestant churches, the Associated Press reported. Many members of these congregations were among the thousands of Angelenos who lost their homes.

Throughout the stricken areas, faith leaders were concerned about congregation members who lost their homes and have found temporary shelter with friends or in hotels. But they are finding hope in their faith and their communities.

"Nothing in my faith has been rocked by this," Melissa Levy of the Pasadena Jewish Center, told the AP. "If anything, it's been bolstered by the support we have received and we can give."

When real estate agent Jenna Cooper decided to turn a home goods store she owns into a clothing donation center, she never expected the outpouring of support she received. 

Cooper started asking friends for help, and the request quickly reached some of Los Angeles' most well-known residents.

Celebrities including Sharon Stone and Halle Berry responded, providing sweaters, shoes, clothing, handbags, belts, pajamas and more. They've also shared information about donating to Cooper's store online. Now, people can come and take what they need from Cooper's store, +COOP, on Beverly Boulevard in West Hollywood. 

"Actresses, very famous people, are clearing out their closets. That is what you're seeing," Cooper told CBS Los Angeles. "It is a community who will do anything to help."

Cooper said that people who lost everything have been "bursting into tears" when they see the items available to them. In addition to the clothes, they've been "getting hugs" and other moral support from those on site, she said. 

"We're shopping for them and helping them get what they need," she said. 

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said his department has 40 members of its specialized search and rescue teams to work jointly with the Los Angeles County Fire Urban Search and Rescue Team, the coroner's office, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Office of Emergency Services to search for remains and missing persons. 

Luna said teams will conduct systemic grid searches, beginning Saturday morning. Cadaver dogs will be part of the search, he said. Searchers will only be able to do this work during the daylight because it's too dangerous to do so in the dark, he said. 

A Family Assistance Center has been established in Pasadena, he said. Deputies will be on-site to meet members of the public and provide them with additional resources, if necessary. 

"If you believe someone is missing, go there," Luna said. "Talk to the deputies. We will assist you in any which way that we can." 

Firefighters have made progress in fighting the Eaton and Palisades fires, Los Angeles officials said in a news briefing Saturday morning. 

Los Angeles County Fire Department chief Anthony Marrone said the Eaton Fire is estimated to be 14,117 acres, with over 7,000 structures damaged or destroyed. It is 15% contained, a sharp jump from Friday when it was just 3% contained, Marrone said.

Cal Fire incident manager Todd Hopkins said the Palisades Fire has now burned 21,596 acres and is 11% contained. On Friday, it was 8% contained, though firefighters have been battling the blaze as it turns towards the Brentwood and Encino neighborhoods. About 5,316 structures have been destroyed. 

Hopkins highlighted that structures are a wide umbrella term that may mean homes, outbuildings, sheds, RVs, or automobiles. 

Actor James Woods says his Pacific Palisades home, which he had previously said burned, "is still standing" amid wildfires in the area. 

"A miracle has happened," he wrote on social media. "We managed to get to our property and our home, that we were told is gone forever, is still standing." 

"In this hellish landscape 'standing' is relative, but smoke and other damage is not like the other destruction around us,'" he added. He also included a video that he said was taken from his porch, which showed smoldering ruins in the valley below his home. Later Friday, Woods said that the area "looks like the dark side of the moon." 

Many other celebrities, including Paris Hilton and Diane Warren, have taken to social media to share stories of losing their own homes during the blazes. 

Dramatic photos from the fires in Los Angeles show firefighters on the ground and in the air working to stop the spread of the blazes.

Orly Israel documented his harrowing escape from the Palisades Fire online. His video garnered eight million views, and though the family home he had tried to save was destroyed in the flames, a recent visit back with "CBS Saturday Morning" led to the discovery of hope in the ashes. 

He and his father returned to their home of nearly 20 years. David Israel said he wanted to "mourn it in person." 

"I love this house. This house was really a member of the family," David said. "To see the destruction is just gutwrenching." 

Hidden in the rubble, they found pottery handcrafted by Israel's mother and other sentimental items that had been in the family for decades. 

"A piece of my family that went into the house is coming out of the house," Israel said. "Cracked, charred, smoky, but it's whole, and it's ours, and we could hold it and we can cherish it. And that's really amazing to me." 

The company behind Los Angeles' emergency alert technology said it has added safeguards to prevent further inaccurate wildfire evacuation alerts from being sent to residents.

The first erroneous alert was sent on Thursday. It was meant for people near the Kenneth Fire but was instead sent to all 10 million residents of Los Angeles County, sparking panic. Other erroneous alerts telling people to evacuate when they weren't in fire zones were reported later Thursday and on Friday. City officials said they were investigating the issue.

Genasys, the company that provides the alert technology to the county, said it has "not been able to replicate this error." The company also said it has "added safeguards into the software to ensure it doesn't happen again." 

Click here for information on how the alerts are meant to work.

Two dozen people have been arrested inside evacuation zones, Los Angeles police said, even as the National Guard has been brought in to bolster security.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Friday that a curfew was in place in all mandatory evacuation zones in an attempt to deter looters. 

In Altadena, Pete Villani stayed back to fight the massive firestorm, saving his home and five others from the flames. Since then, he said he and a neighbor have chased off two groups attempting to break into the surviving homes. 

"What kind of person, what kind of human being, would take advantage of somebody like that?" Villani said. 

Jonathan Eshom evacuated his home as the Eaton fire raced towards it. The fire stayed out - but it appears someone tried to break in, he said, pointing to a broken window and what looked like efforts to pry another open. 

"It's horrifying. I don't even want to imagine it," Eshom said.

The Palisades Fire is continuing to burn east in Los Angeles. The fire's movements Friday night prompted more evacuation orders and warnings in Brentwood and Encino. 

In a status report released just after 1 a.m. local time, Cal Fire said the fire continued to "burn actively," with critical fire weather conditions possible on Saturday night.

Cal Fire said there is "no truth" to a social media post circulating on Facebook that suggests people can come to California and work as part of a clean-up crew. 

The department said there is "no need to call and inquire" about the post, which it also described as inaccurate. Los Angeles officials have previously directed people looking to help the city recover to a government website of verified aid organizations.

CBS News has also compiled a list of ways to help. 

A new set of evacuation orders were issued Friday night for the Palisades Fire, indications that the blaze is pushing further east.

The Los Angeles Fire Department said the order applies to an area roughly bordered by the 405 Freeway to the east, Sunset Boulevard to the south, Mandeville Canyon to the west and Encino Reservoir to the north.

The area includes portions of Brentwood and Bel-Air — affluent neighborhoods on L.A.'s Westside — and Encino, which is located in the San Fernando Valley.

The Palisades Fire has burned more than 32 square miles since it erupted Tuesday morning and is only 8% contained. 

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, visited the Pasadena Convention Center on Friday, where evacuees of the Eaton Fire are sheltering. 

The couple comforted volunteers and handed out food to the roughly 1,200 evacuees.

Celebrity chefs José Andrés of World Central Kitchen and Roy Choi were also on hand serving meals.

The California insurance commissioner issued a mandatory one-year moratorium on nonrenewals and cancellations of homeowners coverage for Southern California residents affected by the fires.

At a news conference Friday, Commissioner Ricardo Lara said his primary concern is to make sure residents who are affected by the fires get the full insurance benefits they are entitled to.

The moratorium applies to the ZIP codes around the Palisades and Eaton fires as well as adjacent areas.

Read more here.

At least 12 schools have been destroyed by the wildfires, displacing more than 5,600 students.

In Altadena alone, almost 2,000 students have nowhere to go to school. They include 7-year-old Lucy Van Voorhis, who can't wrap her mind around losing her school, Odyssey Charter School, to the Eaton Fire.

"I'm just really sad at that, because I love that school," she told CBS News. "… I loved my friends there. I loved my teacher. I loved the playground in PE, all those monkey bars that we could play on, and the basketball court that we had."

She says evacuating her family's home felt like a bad dream.

"I was really scared," she said. "I mean, it was in the middle of the night when it was happening. So I'm still a little bit scared of the dark."

Hudson Yu, 10, and his brother Atticus, 7, who attend the Pasadena Waldorf School, also evacuated their home.

"We were sitting at our dining room table, and we could see the glow of the fire over our courtyard wall," Hudson said.

Hours later, their father, a firefighter, saw their home of seven years engulfed in flames.

"We are trying not to show them some of the images because it is so heartbreaking," their mother, Kim Yu, said.

She added, "School is a big part of it because that is really where, it is their foundation of a family's daily life, and now we do not have that."

The Los Angeles Fire Department issued a new evacuation warning Friday for the Palisades Fire.

California Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel said the new warning affects parts of Encino, Tarzana and Woodland Hills in Los Angeles.

"We encourage everyone - especially those in hillside communities - to remain vigilant and be prepared to evacuate," Gabriel said on social media.

In the weeks ahead, officials and residents will examine whether local authorities' warnings and early responses for the wildfires adequately prepared Los Angeles for the escalating crisis.

CBS News examined public statements and warnings to trace how authorities sounded the alarm as conditions worsened.

See the full timeline here.

The wildfires are leaving many of those unaffected feeling a sense of "survivor's guilt."

On "CBS Mornings Plus" Friday, Dr. Sue Varma, a psychiatrist and author of "Practical Optimism," said it's normal to feel both grief and gratitude in these types of situations.

"You can have grief for the people around you — doesn't have to be that you personally experienced it. We know that people who witness wildfires and were not impacted beyond just the witnessing still have symptoms later on," she said. "We really are a society that is social and for the most part, caring and empathic."

Read more here.

The Los Angeles County coroner's office is investigating 11 deaths related to the wildfires, officials said Friday.

Six of the deaths are from the Eaton Fire, and five are from the Palisades Fire, the agency, officially known as the Department of Medical Examiner, said in a statement.

The agency identified one of the people who died as 66-year-old Victor Shaw. None of the other people had been officially identified.

Dr. Annie Harvilicz runs two animal facilities in the L.A. area, and at one point had taken in more than 40 animals after the wildfires started.

Harvilicz said she is receiving hundreds of emails each day from people who have or are evacuating. She wants people to know they can evacuate with their pets.

"I basically took this abandoned veterinary hospital and opened it up thinking that I was going to be inundated with animals," she said in an interview with "CBS Mornings." "Really, what's going on is, people are contacting me, thinking they're going to have to put their animal with us, but I tell them, 'No go ahead and go to the hotel you're going to or the Airbnb or the shelter because they're all accepting animals now."

The majority of the animals that ended up staying at her facilities were from families who had multiple pets.

Read more here.

CBS News national correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti and producer Christian Duran helped a family rescue their three dogs from the Palisades Fire.

The dogs' owner posted on social media that she and her husband were traveling for work when the disaster struck and their dogsitter wasn't able to get back to the house fast enough as evacuation orders were issued.

"For nine hours, we were in despair, regret, and fear, trying everything we could possibly think of," she wrote. Then, they were able to get in contact with Vigliotti and Duran, who were able to enter the house and rescue all three of her dogs on Wednesday, "when most of Palisades had already turned into an inferno," she wrote. 

"It was nothing short of a miracle," she wrote.

As the Palisades and Eaton fires continue to burn homes and businesses, they're also making their way up Los Angeles County's list of its largest fires.

As of Friday, the Palisades Fire sat at No. 5 with over 20,000 acres burned — nearly seven times the size of Los Angeles International Airport. The Eaton Fire ranked at No. 8 after it scorched more than 13,000 acres.

Early estimates show that the total damage and economic loss due to the Los Angeles wildfires could be between $135 billion and $150 billion.

Read more about five of the worst fires in California history here.

Kierra Frazier and Taylor Johnston contributed reporting.

The NFL said it will donate $5 million to communities devastated by the wildfires.

The NFL Foundation and ownership groups from Los Angeles' teams – the Chargers and the Rams – as well as the Minnesota Vikings and the Houston Texans contributed to the fund, the league said in a statement.

The Rams said its $1 million portion of the donation will go to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation.

The Chargers on Wednesday said it was providing $200,000 to the American Red Cross; the fire department foundation; Team Rubicon, an international nonprofit organization; and pet rescue organizations.

"We are heartbroken over the devastating losses experienced by so many in the Los Angeles area and inspired by the heroism of first responders and residents who have supported their neighbors," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said. "The NFL family is committed to working with the Los Angeles Charges and Los Angeles Rams to support their local communities in their time of need."

Read how you can help here.

The Archer Fire's forward progress has been stopped at 31.5 acres, the Los Angeles Fire Department said Friday. Evacuation orders were downgraded to evacuation warnings. Previous evacuation warnings have been lifted, the department said.

Photos show more of the aftermath of the Eaton Fire, which has devastated much of the Los Angeles area's Altadena community.

One image shows destroyed cars at an auto dealership.

Another shows a ruined auditorium, with the frames of chairs still standing but much of the rest of the structure turned to ash.

In a third picture, a member of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department stands in front of a street of burned buildings.

The Los Angeles Fire Department issued new evacuation orders and warnings after a new brush fire sparked Friday. 

The blaze, called the Archer Fire, is in the Granada Hills neighborhood, the department said, near Los Angeles' Bee Canyon Park. It started near 17278 W. Sesnon Blvd. and no homes are exposed, according to CBS News Los Angeles. 

No other details were immediately available. 

The two largest Los Angeles County wildfires, which tore through more than 34,000 acres in four days, are now among the 20 most destructive fires recorded in the state of California.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection on Friday added the Eaton and Palisades fires to the state's list of most destructive wildfires, which began its record in 1932.

No other blazes in Los Angeles County appear on the state's list of 20 most destructive in California history.

Read more here.

The food relief organization World Central Kitchen is among the groups providing aid in California, with chef and CEO José Andrés posting photos and videos of their efforts on the ground on social media. 

Andrés said the organization has multiple set-ups feeding first responders battling the Palisades and Eaton fires. WCK is also providing food to people who have evacuated or lost their homes. 

Read more here on how to help those affected by the L.A. fires.

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra issued a public health emergency Thursday for the Southern California wildfires.

"HHS stands ready to support the health and well-being of all Californians impacted by these devastating fires, and to help aid the emergency medical response," Becerra said on X, posting an image of him signing the declaration. 

These declarations are usually done after natural disasters to offer health care providers and the medical supply chain with greater flexibility to respond to the emergency, easing requirements.

Following the devastating wildfires in Hawaii in 2023, the HHS' public health emergency declaration enabled its Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response to deploy a number of resources, including responders from the NDMS Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team to support emergency response efforts.

Alexander Tin contributed reporting.

Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management Director Kevin McGowan said he "can't express enough how sorry" he was for incorrect alerts being sent to residents and urged people not to disable emergency messages.

"I implore everyone to not disable the messages on your phone," McGowan said. "This is extremely frustrating, painful, and scary, but these alert tools have saved lives during this emergency. Not receiving an alert can be a consequence of life and death." 

Emergency evacuation alerts were sent to residents across Los Angeles County on Thursday, although they were only meant for people in the evacuation order and warning zones for the Kenneth Fire. Other erroneous alerts have been reported, with L.A. County Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger saying during the briefing that she had received two false alerts. 

The City of Beverly Hills said some residents may have received another evacuation alert from the L.A. County Fire Department at 4 a.m. Friday in error.

McGowan said the system is automated and that "there is no one sitting at a desk right now initiating emergency alerts." He said fixing the system is his team's top priority, and said that they are working with FEMA's Integrated Public Warning and Alert Team to "resolve this issue and find the root cause." 

McGowan suggested that people who receive an alert go online and verify it at LAcounty.gov/emergency or dial 211 for assistance. In later remarks, Barger criticized that advice, pointing out that many in Los Angeles are without power. 

"To tell people to go on a website when they may not have access to internet is absurd and not something I'm recommending," she said, calling the issue "unacceptable" and "frustrating" and emphasizing the need to fix it as soon as possible. 

CBS News national correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti pressed Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on how she would restore residents' trust in the alerts. 

"We want to see Los Angeles come together," she said, in part. "I want the residents of Los Angeles region to have faith in what we're doing 24 hours a day."  

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hockman said that some wildfire survivors have already been subject to scams. 

Hockman said malicious actors have created fake fundraisers, taking money from donors. He said that if a person wants to donate, they should ensure they know who they're giving money to. People can also find a verified list of organizations at Recovery.LACounty.gov, he said. CBS News has also collated a list of how to help. 

He said his office is prepared for future scams around insurance and government benefits. Those who attempt scams will be arrested, prosecuted and "punished to the maximum extent possible," Hockman said. 

"They are going to target the people who have been tragically affected and you cannot allow them to do it," he said. 

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara also said he directed his office's enforcement team to protect Los Angeles residents "from fraudsters targeting wildfire survivors." 

A curfew order in place in the Palisades and Eaton Fire mandatory evacuation zones, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said at a news conference Friday morning.

The curfew was in place last night from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., and will be in effect again Friday from 6 p.m. on. Those in the area after 6 p.m. will be subject to arrest, Luna said. The curfew will be used to secure and protect the houses people left, Luna said, and prevent burglaries and looting in the area.

Only disaster workers and credentialed media members will be allowed in these areas, Luna said. Violating the curfew will result in an arrest for a misdemeanor offense. Luna said he had given direction that anyone caught violating the curfew would be arrested and jailed.

"I am not screwing around with this, we don't want anyone taking advantage of our residents that have already been victimized," Luna said.  

Over 153,000 residents are under mandatory evacuation orders, and another 166,000 are under evacuation warnings as of Friday morning, Los Angeles County sheriff Robert Luna said at a news conference.

The Palisades Fire is now at 8% containment, according to fire officials.

KCAL's Mark Liu says this is a positive sign. The blaze has scorched over 20,000 acres, including much of the Pacific Palisades neighborhood and parts of Malibu.

"It looks like firefighters may be starting to get the upper hand here on the Palisades Fire as the air attack continues," Liu said, referencing efforts made by aircraft to drop water and fire retardant on the flames. 

Liu said that when the fire is 10% contained, it will mark a major milestone. 

"There's still a lot for firefighters to do, but the active flames at 10% containment are usually very, very small," he said. 

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the National Guard has been activated to aid the city's wildfire response. 

National Guardsmen will "back up and free up our firefighters and police officers," Bass said. They will conduct duties including securing evacuation zones and protecting "against anyone thinking of taking advantage of this tragedy," Bass said, seeming to reference looting arrests in recent days.

The Los Angeles County Coordinated Joint Information Center said it was "aware of the reports of erroneous messages" for evacuation orders and warnings amid the wildfires. 

At least one alert told people who were not in danger zones to evacuate. The alert was only meant to be sent to people in the area of the Kenneth Fire on Thursday. 

The information center apologized for the disruption in a statement Friday morning, noting that it was "working with FEMA to investigate the issue." The center said the most up-to-date evacuation orders and warnings could be found on AlertLA.org.

"High end" Red Flag Warning are in effect Friday for much of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, the National Weather Service says. They are in effect through 6 p.m. local time as strong winds and low humidity persist in the region.

A Red Flag Warning means warm temperatures are expected to combine with very low humidities and strong winds to create an increased fire danger risk, the weather service says. 

"Critical fire weather conditions will continue across Southern California through at least this morning," forecasters say, noting that wind gusts could reach close to 60 mph.

While wind gusts are forecast to weaken into Friday afternoon and evening, dangerous conditions will persist Friday — and the threat doesn't end there. Forecasters say "an extended period of elevated to potentially critical fire weather conditions are in the forecast for Sunday through Wednesday due to moderate to locally strong offshore winds, likely peaking on Tuesday."

The fires in the Los Angeles area have destroyed more than 10,000 structures, according to Cal Fire. 

"Structures" is a term that includes homes as well as apartment buildings, vehicles, businesses and outbuildings, the Associated Press reports. 

Cal Fire's fire map shows the Kenneth Fire covering 960 acres in Los Angeles as of Friday morning. 

"The Kenneth Fire is burning in West Hills in Los Angeles County and rapidly spreading," Cal Fire says.

"Fanned by strong Santa Ana winds, the fire threatens nearby communities and infrastructure, prompting swift evacuation orders," it says. "The challenging terrain and persistent winds complicate suppression activities, necessitating heightened vigilance from residents and adherence to directives from local authorities."

An updating map from CBS News' data team shows the fires burning in the Los Angeles area.

Readers can zoom in or out to see where the fires are. The map will be updated hourly with data from Cal Fire.

The Palisades Fire is the largest of the wildfires in Los Angeles.

There was a flare from the Kenneth Fire early Friday morning. Firefighters previously appeared to have stopped the forward progress of the blaze, and evacuation zones were lifted, but a CBS News Los Angeles SkyCal helicopter spotted flames. 

The fire is in a canyon, though CBS News Los Angeles reported that at least one home appears to have burned. 

The Ventura County Fire Department had an aircraft on the scene doing water drops. 

Though the Palisades Fire continues to rage, residents are beginning to return to their fire-stricken neighborhoods. 

On Thursday evening, those neighborhoods were unrecognizable, giving an eerie and apocalyptic vibe to the laidback and affluent area tucked into the Santa Monica Mountains, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Two full days of intense fire transformed the Palisades into what looked like a war zone, with row after row of razed homes as the flames began moving farther into the mountains. 

"You think of all the memories and hangouts with friends as a kid," said Augie Sylik, one of thousands of people who lost their homes in the massive inferno. "It's absolutely devastating. I'm heartbroken."

But while most residents will face losses like Sylik's others, such as Dirk Michel, returned to find his home unscathed on Thursday. 

"I literally got on my knees and I sobbed. It was, it was devastating," he recalled. "And then I got around the corner and I said, 'How is this possible?'"

While happy that is home was one of five in a row still standing, Michel said it's hard to feel joy when surrounded by the devastation of his neighbors.

-- Dean Fioresi, Michele Gile, Tom Wait

At the peak of wildfire-linked power outages, more than 200,000 homes and businesses had no electricity in areas serviced by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and SoCal Edison. Though officials say power has been restored to most customers, more than 90,000 remained in the dark as of Friday morning.

LADWP trucks could be seen working through the night on Thursday, trying to restore power to everyone impacted. They say the estimated timetable to restore power to most customers remains between 24 and 48 hours. 

A CBS Los Angeles SkyCal helicopter flew over a portion of the Pacific Palisades Thursday, giving a birds-eye view of some of the areas impacted by the Palisades Fire.

One of the station's photographers overlaid a street map to give some people the chance to see their neighborhoods for the first time since the fire erupted on Tuesday morning and grew to consume nearly 20,000 acres by Thursday evening:

With hazardous levels of smoke lingering over Los Angeles County from the wildfires burning throughout the region, county officials are urging people to use masks.

The air quality led Los Angeles Unified School District officials to close all campuses through at least Friday.

Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said  during a press conference Thursday that, "Fires may be far away from some communities where we have schools. However, winds are transporting particulate matter, smoke and ashes across the entire district."

A wildfire smoke advisory is in effect until at least Friday evening for swaths of Southern California because of the dangerous air being produced by the fires. It was first issued by the South Coast Air Quality Management early in the week.

Current Air Quality Index readings show most of Los Angeles County in unhealthy-to-hazardous levels as of Thursday. 

Wildfire smoke typically carries high levels of PM2.5, or fine particulate matter that's especially dangerous when inhaled, and officials advise that if residents must absolutely be outside, they should consider wearing a P100 respirator or properly fit N95 mask. 

A number of local businesses are offering free masks and other services to help families in need.

Here's a map of air quality in the L.A. area

The Los Angeles County coroner's office announced Thursday night that it has confirmed at least 10 deaths from the wildfires burning in Southern California. 

"The Department of Medical Examiner received notification of 10 fire-related deaths as of 9 p.m. on January 9," the agency said in a statement on its website. 

The update comes after Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said in a news briefing earlier Thursday evening that at least five people had died in the wildfires: three in the Eaton Fire and two in the Palisades Fire.

Officials did not immediately publicly identify the victims or their exact causes of death. 

A firefighting plane struck a drone Thursday while battling the Palisades Fire, officials confirmed.

The aircraft landed safely and nobody was injured, CAL Fire spokesperson Christopher Thomas told CBS News.

The Canadair CL-415, nicknamed a "Super Scooper," had two people on board, a pilot and a lookout, Thomas said.

The drone put a hole in the left wing of the plane, causing it to be indefinitely grounded, he disclosed.

Following the collision, CAL Fire grounded all firefighting aircraft in the area for 15 to 30 minutes to ensure the airspace was safe.

The FAA confirmed in a statement it was investigating the incident and reminds pilots that interfering with firefighting efforts is punishable by up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $75,000.

— Jared Ochacher 

Actor Milo Ventimiglia, known for "This is Us" and "Gilmore Girls," revealed Thursday that his family's Malibu home was destroyed in the Palisades Fire. 

Ventimiglia, a 47-year-old father to be, spoke to CBS News while returning home for the first time after evacuating to survey the damage on his scorched street.

Although neighbors had already told him his home had been destroyed, seeing it in person made it real.

"You start thinking about all the memories in different parts of the house and what not and then you see your neighbors houses and everything kind of around and your heart just breaks," Ventimiglia said.

Ventimiglia and his pregnant wife, Jarah, evacuated Tuesday and watched on security cameras as the flames from the Palisades Fire took over. The couple grabbed everything they could think of — but not everything, like the crib and other belongings in their baby's nursery.

Read more here. 

At least two people have died in the Palisades Fire, Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley announced at a news conference Thursday.

Later in the same news conference, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said five people in total had died in the wildfires, three in the Eaton Fire and two in the Palisades Fire.

"But even as I'm telling you that, it's leaving my lips, I'm nervous about that number," Luna said. "And the obvious question, 'Do you think that's going to grow?' I am praying it doesn't. But based on the devastation that is clear — it looks like an atomic bomb dropped in these areas — I don't expect good news. And we're not looking forward to those numbers."

The NFL has announced that Monday night's scheduled wild-card playoff game between the Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings has been moved from Inglewood, California, to Arizona due to the wildfires.

The game, which was slated to be hosted by the Rams at SoFi Stadium, will instead be played in State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

The league announced earlier this week that it had created a contingency plan for the game to be played in Glendale if the wildfire conditions continued.

On Wednesday, the Vikings shared a message of support for their opponents on social media, saying, "We're thinking of our Rams friends, their community and the first responders during this time."

Read more here.

The wind-fueled Eaton Fire has rained destruction on the northeast Los Angeles County cities of Pasadena and Altadena and killed at least three people.

Among the victims was 66-year-old Victor Shaw, who stayed behind in an effort to save his Altadena home.

"When they found him he had a garden hose in his hand," his sister Shari Shaw told CBS News. "… He wasn't in the best of health, but I know that he probably fought with all his will."

Another was 82-year-old Rodney Nickerson, who died in his bed. His daughter, Kimiko Nickerson, said he wanted to stay.

"He said Altadena has been through some stuff, and I'm going to be all right," Kimiko said.

It was an emotional return for many who returned home to find only rubble, such as Nira Chow.

"I've lost everything, pictures, memories," Chow said. "… Ten years ago when my husband passed, we bought this house so we could start again, and now, it's almost like déjà vu."

As firefighters battle the Palisades Fire, an army of people have their backs at a command center that was built in less than 24 hours. From lodging to laundry and logistics, this small makeshift city is supporting a massive firefighting machine.

The incident command post has dozens of support vehicles, hundreds of personnel and multiple local, state and federal agencies, all camped out to fight the massive fire.

In the middle of it all is Rich Thompson, an incident meteorologist for the National Weather Service. Thompson is specially trained to provide crucial support to the front lines of wildfires.

"That's all I'm here for," Thompson told CBS News. "I'm here for nothing else, other than to keep these people safe."

Thompson deciphers weather changes in the fire zone, making elaborate forecasts that determine where firefighters go to fight the flames while also staying safe.

"People are making some pretty significant decisions, both in terms of evacuations, in terms of resources, based on what I'm forecasting," Thompson said.

A wireless emergency evacuation alert was sent to residents across Los Angeles County on Thursday. However, it was only meant for people in the area of the Kenneth Fire in Woodland Hills.

Read more here.

The Kenneth Fire sparked in the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon.

The Los Angeles Fire Department said the fire is burning toward the south, relatively close to homes.

A mandatory evacuation order has been issued in the area, the LAFD said. Several evacuation warnings have also been issued for areas that border the fire, according to Cal Fire.

Read more here.

Forecasters extended a red flag warning until 6 p.m. Friday for much of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, as firefighters fight to control blazes that were fanned by hurricane-force winds.

The National Weather Service predicted gusty offshore winds Thursday night, though the winds are expected to be 40-55 mph with isolated gusts up to 70 mph, lower than the 80-100 mph gusts at the height of the windstorm.

Areas like Lake Arrowhead, San Bernardino, Riverside and Acton could experience some of the strongest winds, said KCAL News meteorologist Alex Biston.

See full coverage from Chelsea Hylton on CBS Los Angeles.

The Palisades Fire was estimated to have destroyed about 5,316 structures, fire officials said Thursday.

Cal Fire announced the new figure in a statement following an aerial survey that was conducted Wednesday.

The number includes residential and commercial properties as well as RVs, sheds and other minor buildings, according to Cal Fire.

President Biden announced Thursday that, for the next six months, the federal government will pay for 100% of the disaster response costs from the wildfires.

Speaking from the White House during a briefing on the fires, the president said federal funding will cover things like removing debris, setting up temporary shelters, and paying first responders. Mr. Biden said he's surging all federal resources possible to Southern California, including 400 federal firefighters and 30 federal firefighting planes, among other assets. 

"I told the governor and local officials, spare no expense," Mr. Biden said, calling the damage "catastrophic."

Read more here.

None of the Los Angeles fires have reached the famed Hollywood sign, despite viral fabricated images and videos circulating on social media showing the historic landmark ablaze.

The Hollywood sign's official social media accounts confirmed that it "continues to stand tall" and that the images are fakes. One of the images contained a logo for X's generative AI program, Grok.

The Sunset Fire, which broke out Wednesday evening in the Hollywood Hills, is the closest blaze to the famous landmark, and has burned about 43 acres, according to Cal Fire.

The destruction in Los Angeles has been captured in before-and-after photos put together by CBS News Confirmed. The slider tools can be used to show more of either side of the images.

The full set of before-and-after photos can be found here.

Los Angeles officials have confirmed at least five deaths in the wildfires, but the actual death toll continues to be uncertain with nearly 180,000 residents still under evacuation orders.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said he received preliminary information about the death toll Wednesday night, but he wasn't fully satisfied with the details when he reviewed them Thursday morning.

"And it's not the fault of our people. The people that are working under very difficult conditions are doing their best to do what they need to do," Luna said during a news conference. "At one point we'll be able to do a more thorough search of these impacted areas. Some of them look like a bomb was dropped in them."

The sheriff asked for patience from reporters on the number of total lives lost in the wildfires. 

"Right now, frankly, we don't know yet," he said.

Flames and smoke aren't the only threats to lives, Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Adam VanGerpen told CBS Los Angeles as he urged people to follow evacuation orders.

"We have open gas lines. There's a lot of hazards that are in the debris," VanGerpen said. "We have people who've been riding their bicycles into there. We've had injuries from that. We still have firefighters trying to get in here and put fires out. So we don't want that to be hindered."

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the Sunset Fire that ignited Wednesday has been fully contained.

In a post on social media, Bass thanked firefighters for their bravery and urged people returning home to be careful on the roads.

"If you are returning home, please drive SLOWLY and watch the road," Bass said. "Firefighters are still working in some damaged areas."

The game between the Charlotte Hornets and Los Angeles Lakers scheduled for Thursday night has been postponed, the National Basketball Association announced.

The NBA said the game at Crypto.com Arena, located approximately 20 miles east of the ongoing Palisades fire, will be rescheduled at a later date.

"The entire NBA family sends its thoughts and support to the community of Los Angeles during this challenging time. We are grateful for the thousands of local firefighters and first responders who have demonstrated enormous bravery. Our prayers remain with those affected by the unimaginable devastation caused by the wildfires," it said in a statement to CBS News. 

A woman told CBS News Los Angeles reporter Amanda Starrantino that her Altadena home was gone, leaving herself, her husband and their two young children with just the clothes on their backs. She was trying to see her home and learn if anything inside had survived, but police have blocked access to the area, citing looters and dangerous conditions. 

"It's all burned down, everything, my kid's school, our community, our neighbor's houses," the woman said tearfully. "Everything is just gone." 

She said her family was having dinner when she spotted the flames. 

"I told my 3-year-old and my 1-year-old, I told them that we're having a fancy candlelight dinner, because the power went out, and then we looked outside and we saw a huge fire," she said. Leaving was "chaos," but she and her husband thought they'd be back the next day. 

"We didn't even pack anything. We have nothing. We left everything," including sentimental items like her late mother's belongings and photo albums, the woman said. They've been wearing the same clothes for the past two days while staying at a friend's house, and she said she's not sure what the future looks like. 

Her 3-year-old keeps asking when they'll go home, she said. 

"I'm trying to figure out how to tell my 3-year-old we don't have a home, we don't have a school," she said. "We don't know where to go, what to do next." 

Pacific Palisades, the Los Angeles neighborhood that's been devastated by the Palisades Fire, is emblematic of the insurance nightmare increasingly facing homeowners residing in regions prone to climate disasters.

About 1,600 policies in Pacific Palisades were dropped by State Farm in July, California Department of Insurance spokesman Michael Soller said in an Thursday email to CBS MoneyWatch. An analysis of insurance data by CBS San Francisco last year found that State Farm also dropped more than 2,000 policies in two other Los Angeles Zip codes, which include the Brentwood, Calabasas, Hidden Hills and Monte Nido neighborhoods.

In an email to CBS MoneyWatch, State Farm said, "Our No. 1 priority right now is the safety of our customers, agents and employees impacted by the fires and assisting our customers in the midst of this tragedy."

Read more here.

Climate change is contributing to weather conditions that make wildfire season longer and more intense.

"Fire weather" is created by hot, dry and windy conditions that make the Los Angeles landscape prime for extreme wildfires. Changing climate increases the number and the size of fires, according to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, a nonprofit based in Arlington, Virginia.

The organization's projections show that for every 1°C/ 33.8°F of warming, the median burned area would increase by as much as 600% per year in some forests.

Retired Los Angeles County fire captain Bob Goldman told CBS News that the Los Angeles wildfires are going to "surpass anything we've seen in the past." 

More fires have occurred in the past 13 years than in the previous 20 years, and fire events are up to four-times the size and triple the frequency, according to a study funded by the National Science Foundation.

"It's just unbelievable seeing fire being blown sideways like a blowtorch," Goldman said, referring to the intense Santa Ana winds that contributed to the fires' spread.

Tracy Wholf contributed reporting.

Fabian Herrera, a lifeguard and firefighter, said he was on a beach in Malibu Tuesday when he saw a "plume of smoke with flames" that he later learned was the origin point for the Palisades Fire. Within an hour, the situation had quickly escalated, he said.

"As the wind started picking up and kind of raging in a northwesterly direction, the fire just kind of exploded," Herrera said. He said he watched the fire climb to the top of the Palisades neighborhood.

Now, thousands of homes have been destroyed by the fire, including houses on the opposite side of the Pacific Coast Highway. Surveying the damage in Malibu, Herrera noted that the roadway usually serves as a "large perimeter" for fires, but it "stood no chance to the flames being delivered by the wind," which blew embers across large distances.

"Now you have areas like this .... These beachfront homes, all destroyed or affected in some sense," said Herrera, whose own home has not been in the path of the fires.  

At least 20 people have been arrested for looting amid the Southern California wildfires, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Thursday.

Luna said he expects that figure to rise and emphasized he will order deputies to step up enforcement in evacuation zones, saying looting is "absolutely unacceptable."

"When we have any evacuation order, by law, if you remain in that area, you're guilty of a misdemeanor," Luna said during a news conference. "If you commit certain crimes, it could jump up to a felony."

L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman also warned looters, as well as those seeking to scam victims, to expect "maximal punishment." 

"The reason I want to send this warning now is that I don't want any mistake later, that somehow they thought it's not a huge deal," Hochman said. "These acts are despicable."

Officials are calling the Los Angeles fires historic.

"It is safe to say that the Palisades Fire is one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history of Los Angeles," Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said Thursday.

Los Angeles fire captain Adam VanGerpen told "CBS Mornings" that the fire was historic and "unlike anything" he had seen in a quarter-century with the fire department.

President Biden said he will deliver remarks on the Los Angeles wildfires on Thursday.

He said the remarks will be about the federal response to the fires, which have forced tens of thousands of Los Angeles residents to evacuate and burned thousands of acres of land.

Mr. Biden said his comments would follow former President Jimmy Carter's funeral.

Shortly after the remarks were announced, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the U.S. military "stands ready to assist in any way it possibly can to help the people of California." He said "few requests have been made so far," but that the military will "stand ready to surge capability in."  

The Sunset Fire, which ignited in Hollywood Hills Wednesday and prompted a wave of Los Angeles evacuations, "was stopped" and evacuation orders were lifted, an official says.

Los Angeles Fire Department chief Kristin Crowley said at a news briefing Thursday morning that the fire was "rapidly and aggressively attacked" with coordinated air and ground fire suppression efforts. 

Crews were working to "put out spot fires within the perimeters to keep the wind from spreading any additional embers" which could spark further blazes, Crowley said.

The fire burned over 40 acres and threatened iconic landmarks.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called out two ways people can help city residents amid the devastating fires.

During a news briefing on Thursday morning, Bass said people can support the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation as its employees battle multiple blazes. People can also donate to the California Community Foundation Wildfire Recovery Fund, Bass said, which helps rebuild homes and provide other aid in the aftermath of wildfires. 

"This, as we know, is a regional crisis, so working together is the only way we will get through this," Bass said. 

Bass has been criticized for being on a trip to Ghana as part of a U.S. presidential delegation when the fires broke out on Tuesday. She flew back to Los Angeles on Wednesday, and said Thursday that she has been in "constant contact" with state, local and federal partners. 

Photos show that parts of Malibu have been devastated by the Palisades Fire, with images capturing homes burned to the ground and palm trees charred in the coastal neighborhood. 

One image shows a burned-out car on the highway, with burned vegetation and buildings visible in the background. 

Another shows the spiral staircase of a home still standing, even as most of the structure was destroyed.

 A third photo shows a home on a dock over the ocean completely burned. 

The damage continued inland. A photo taken in Pacific Palisades shows the destruction of the Sunset Boulevard House, known as the Bridges House, which was built by architect Robert Bridges in the 1970s. 

CBS News' data team has created an updating graphic showing the containment rate of the various Los Angeles-area wildfires as firefighters battle the flames. 

Evacuation orders that were in effect for Hollywood Hills due to the Sunset Fire were all lifted as of 7:30 a.m. local time Thursday, fire officials said. 

Residents had been ordered or warned to evacuate after the Sunset Fire broke out on Wednesday evening. The fire burned about 43 acres of vegetation. 

Firefighters will continue working in the area, the Los Angeles Fire Department said, and residents are urged to use caution while returning home.  

Roughly 179,700 Los Angeles County residents were under evacuation orders as of early Thursday and about 199,600 residents were under evacuation warnings, the county's Office of Emergency Management said.

In the mandatory evacuation zones, 60,120 structures were at risk. Another 61,288 structures were at risk in areas affected by evacuation warnings, the office said.  

The largest wildfires in the Los Angeles area are burning so hot that their heat signatures can be detected by NASA satellites in space, CBS Los Angeles reported. 

Heat signature maps can be viewed online on NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management website. CBS Los Angeles' Matt Liu explained that the lighter colors on the map are older. As the colors get darker, they're more recent, with red blocks as the most recent. 

"You would never want to see a heat bloom over a populated area, and these heat signatures match almost exactly the populated areas that burned in Pacific Palisades," Liu said, talking about the damage wrought by the Palisades Fire. "You can really see how that heat affected the area, those flames destroyed homes." 

Heat signatures from the Eaton Fire showed a massive impact over Altadena and the surrounding areas. 

"It was putting up so much heat from the burning homes there that it was being detected by satellites in orbit," Liu said. 

Even as the NASA FIRMS site tracks the fires, the agency has had to close its Jet Propulsion Lab, which is within the mandatory evacuation zone for the Eaton Fire. It will remain closed until Monday, Jan. 13, NASA said online. Some space operations have been moved to a back-up operations site offsite, the agency said. 

A spokesperson for Los Angeles Unified, the city's school district, said three schools sustained "significant damage" because of the Palisades Fire. 

The schools are Palisades Charter High School, Palisades Charter Elementary School and Marquez Charter Elementary School. The Palisades Charter High School has about 2,900 students, according to state statistics, and the Palisades Charter Elementary School has about 400 students. The Marquez Charter Elementary School has about 300 students. 

"We are currently working with local authorities and emergency response teams to assess the situation and determine next steps," the spokesperson said. "Plans are being developed to minimize disruption to instruction." 

An interactive map created by CBS News' data team shows the active fires that are burning in the greater Los Angeles area. 

A number of iconic Hollywood landmarks were threatened by the Sunset Fire burning in Los Angeles' Runyon Canyon. 

The Hollywood Bowl was within the mandatory evacuation zone, as was the historic TCL Chinese Theater, maps show. Other landmarks inside the zone included the Academy Awards site the Dolby Theatre, The Magic Castle, the Capitol Records Building and the Hollywood Heritage Museum, which is in the building that was Golden Age director Cecil B. DeMille's former office. 

The Hollywood sign and nearby Griffith Observatory were near the mandatory evacuation zone, maps showed. 

Fire officials said they're continuing to experience some "erratic winds" and extreme conditions that have fueled the wildfires in the L.A. area.

"This is unlike anything that I've ever seen in my 25 years on the fire department," Capt. Adam Vangerpen with the Los Angeles Fire Department said on "CBS Mornings."

Amid issues with some fire hydrants, Vangerpen said they have to adapt and overcome the challenges.

"As we arrive on scene we expect there to be water in the hydrants," he said. "If there's not then we have to shuttle water sometimes. We have to use water tenders that can bring water to us or we have to do relays to get water there."

Vangerpen said their top priority is saving lives and helping people evacuate.

"Then we do as much good as we can for what resources we have on scene," he said. 

The Hollywood Hills fire, called the Sunset Fire, is a "very dangerous and explosive" brush fire, firefighters said. A map shows which parts of the residential neighborhood are under evacuation orders and warnings as of early Thursday morning.

People in red zones are required by law to leave, Cal Fire says. Yellow zones mean there is a potential threat to life and/or property in those areas, and that people who need additional time to evacuate — and those with pets and livestock — should leave immediately. 

The Sunset Fire burned 43 acre and was 0% contained as of Thursday morning, Cal Fire said.

The Hurst Fire, which erupted in the Sylmar neighborhood of Los Angeles late Tuesday night and has burned more than 800 acres, was 10% contained as of Thursday morning, Cal Fire said.

The Lidia Fire, which started late in the day Wednesday and grew to 348 acres as of late Wednesday night, was 40% contained, according to Cal Fire.

The Palisades, Eaton and Sunset Fires — which combined burned more than 27,000 acres so far — were 0% contained as of early Thursday, Cal Fire said.

Santa Monica has issued an emergency order due to the impact of the Palisades Fire.

City Manager David White signed the order late Wednesday. The city council has to call a special meeting within a week to certify it.

The order includes a sunset-to-sunrise curfew in areas of the city where mandatory evacuation orders are in effect.

Mayor Lana Negrete said the order is intended to aid firefighting efforts and prevent looting.

It "helps us ensure nobody enters impacted areas who is not supposed to, particularly those with nefarious intentions attempting to take advantage of the mandatory evacuations," she said.

Just weeks after having their lives threatened by the Franklin Fire in Malibu, one couple was forced to literally run for their lives when the Palisades Fire descended on their home. 

Alec Gellis and his girlfriend, who lives in Carbon Canyon, were among the thousands of people forced to evacuate on Tuesday when the fire erupted that consumed large swaths of the Pacific Palisades, destroying homes and well-known businesses.

Video on his phone shows embers and thick smoke flying across the screen as he runs for safety on Tuesday. 

"It was like a vortex of embers," he said. "There was no oxygen. I couldn't breath. I barely even made it to my car."

He narrowly escaped as he had just a month ago, when he fended off the flames from the Franklin Fire that were threatening his and his neighbors' houses.

"It's just not real. I mean, a month — less than a month, my lungs weren't even better from the last time. I'm still coughing from the last time," Gellis said. 

Both were able to get out unscathed, though Kelly Lauren lost a lifetime worth of her writing. 

"It's just hard," Lauren said, fighting back tears. "Everything I'd, like, written for my whole life. I journal and write a lot, it's just the little things you remember afterwards."

She says that despite the loss of her home and collection of writings, she's happy that she and Gellis got out when they did. 

"It reminds me of, like, the value of what is not tangible," she said.

- Dean Fioresi, Laurie Perez

The Academy Awards nomination voting process and announcements have been delayed by two days each because of the wildfires  ravaging large parts of Los Angeles County, according to a letter sent Wednesday to members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that was obtained by CBS News. 

According to the letter from Academy CEO Bill Kramer, voting for nominations for the 97th edition of the Oscars was extended until Jan. 14. The nominations announcement show has been pushed back to Jan. 19. 

"We want to offer our deepest condolences to those who have been impacted by the devastating fires across Southern California," the letter said. "So many of our members and industry colleagues live and work in the Los Angeles area, and we are thinking of you."

Academy officials also canceled a number of other events that were slated to take place in coming days. Among them was a series of talent "bake-offs" that included Los Angeles makeup visual effects and sound branch crews, as well as hairstylists and makeup artists. 

The Oscars are scheduled to be handed out on March 2 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

The entire Angeles National Forest will be closed to the public through January 15 as the area is impacted by the Eaton Fire, according to a statement released by the United States Department of Agriculture's Forest Service.

It will be closed "for public safety and the protection of natural resources," said an alert posted on the USDA website.

Officials issued a number of actions that will also be prohibited in the ANF and San Gabriel Mountains National Monument areas.

State, federal and local officers and people working with organized rescue or firefighting forces are exempt from the order, as are people who have a Forest Service Permit that lets them use roads, trails or areas restricted by regulations.

Officials say violations of the prohibitions are punishable by a up to six months in prison or a fine of up to $5,000 for individuals and up to $10,000 for an organization.

A full list of the areas impacted by the week-long closure can be found here. 

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department issued an unsafe water alert for Pasadena residents in Eaton Fire evacuation areas. 

Deputies advised residents to refrain from drinking tap water if they live within areas impacted by evacuation orders or warnings.

"Failure to follow this advisory could result in illness," deputies said.

Authorities recommended that residents only drink bottled water until further notice and use it for baby formula and other mixed drinks as well as for washing dishes, making ice and food preparation.

The alert applies to animals, including pets and livestock. 

Residents should not try to treat the water. Authorities said boiling, freezing, filtering adding chlorine or other disinfectants will not make the water safe. 

Pasadena Water and Power will perform tests and announce when the water has been found to be safe again. The timeframe will depend on the Eaton Fire, wind and related conditions. 

The White House announced Wednesday night that President Biden has canceled an upcoming diplomatic trip to Italy because of the wildfires burning in Southern California. 

The decision came after Mr. Biden met with fire officials and California Gov. Gavin Newsom in L.A. earlier Wednesday and was briefed on the wildfire response. 

"After returning this evening from Los Angeles, where earlier today he had met with police, fire and emergency personnel fighting the historic fires raging in the area and approved a Major Disaster declaration for California, President Biden made the decision to cancel his upcoming trip to Italy to remain focused on directing the full federal response in the days ahead," press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. 

Mr. Biden's trip was to include meetings with Pope Francis, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Italian President Sergio Mattarella. 

A beloved staple of Altadena for nearly three decades was burned to the ground on Wednesday, as the devastating Eaton Fire continues to ravage the area in northeast Los Angeles County.

The Bunny Museum, which touted nearly 50,000 bunny-related items and was marketed as "the world's only museum about everything bunny," was one of many buildings destroyed by the massive blaze that has consumed more than 10,000 acres and killed at least five people since igniting on Tuesday evening. 

Steve Lubanski, the co-owner of the museum, said that though he was able to save their pets and a few select items, the building and most of their collection were completely consumed by the flames. 

"It took my wife and I almost 40 years to put it together, but the way it is, so, it will still go on," Lubanski said.

Read more here. 

The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings' home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area.

The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play Wednesday night at the Kings' downtown arena. The NBA's Los Angeles Lakers are scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena on Thursday night.

The NFL is paying close attention to the potential impact of the fires on the two playoff-bound Los Angeles teams' preparations and the Rams' wild-card postseason game against the Minnesota Vikings scheduled for Monday night at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

The NFL said Wednesday evening if the game had to be moved, it would take place at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, the home of the Arizona Cardinals.

In 2003, the league moved a Monday night regular-season game between the Miami Dolphins and San Diego Chargers to Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, due to wildfires.

A new brush fire broke out in the Runyon Canyon area in the Hollywood Hills Wednesday evening, prompting a fresh set of evacuations for some residents. 

The Sunset Fire was first reported just after 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time near Wattles Park, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The fire has burned at least 20 acres of vegetation, officials said.

Multiple water-dropping helicopters could be seen dropping liquid near the spot of the fire while several ground crews with both LAFD and Los Angeles County Fire worked below.

"We cannot emphasize enough: We need people to adhere to our immediate evacuation," LAFD spokesperson Margaret Stewart said. "We are asking people to evacuate early in the warning zones because this has the potential to move quickly."

Read more here.

The Palisades Fire has threatened or destroyed landmarks many Americans have come to know from television and in the movies.

Flames crept dangerously close to the Getty Villa, located right off the Pacific Coast Highway and home to more than 40,000 priceless works of art.

The museum was spared by an extensive effort to clear brush.

Meanwhile, the normally stunning PCH that runs through Los Angeles and Malibu was unrecognizable as flames raged on both sides, destroying businesses and homes.

That included the Reel Inn, a Malibu seafood destination for celebrities, locals and visitors alike, now gone after nearly four decades.

Further east, CBS News cameras captured the flames that engulfed and destroyed Palisades Charter High School, which had served as the backdrop for movies like "Freaky Friday" and "Carrie."

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences told members in a letter Wednesday that the nominations announcement for the upcoming Oscars has been delayed from Friday, Jan. 17, to Sunday, Jan. 19, because of the wildfires.

The academy also noted that in a corresponding move, it has extended the voting window deadline by two days, until the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 14.

Several academy events scheduled for this week have also been canceled or postponed, the group said.

"We want to offer our deepest condolences to those who have been impacted by the devastating fires across Southern California," the academy told its members in the letter provided to CBS News. "So many of our members and industry colleagues live and work in the Los Angeles area, and we are thinking of you."

America's military has sent resources to Los Angeles to help contain the wildfires.

President Biden posted on social media that 10 Navy helicopters with water delivery buckets were sent to help firefighting efforts. The helicopters left from the naval base in San Diego, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told CBS News.

The California and Nevada Air National Guards activated their Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System units and were expected to drop fire retardant on the Palisades and Eaton fires, according to Singh.

Wildfire smoke can be harmful to health, especially for children, the elderly, those who are pregnant and people with respiratory or cardiovascular issues.

Hazardous air quality can affect people's health in multiple ways, ranging from headaches and eye irritation to trouble breathing and even heart failure. Here's how to tell if you're in an area at risk.

The Air Quality Index, often referred to as AQI, is a federal measure of the amount of air pollution, reported on a six-color spectrum from green (good) to hazardous (maroon). There are five pollutants evaluated as part of the index: ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide.

Read more here.

As dawn broke in Pacific Palisades, a CBS News crew found a scene that can only be described as apocalyptic.

A once vibrant coastal community off the iconic Sunset Boulevard had been reduced to ash. The destruction to downtown Pacific Palisades was overwhelming. Aside from Palisades Village, a popular outdoor mall, most businesses in the area had been destroyed.

Fire officials reported at least 1,000 structures have been destroyed by the blaze. Many evacuees will return to homes that are lost and, even more important, a community that is completely gone.

At least 37,000 Palisades residents remain under mandatory evacuation orders. And for some, the orders came too late. As flames moved in, people panicked and abandoned their cars on gridlocked roads, thinking their only option was to flee on foot.

Firefighters battling the Palisades Fire have dealt with water shortages, a fire official told CBS News on Wednesday.

Along with erratic Santa Ana winds that have helped fuel the fire, Los Angeles Fire Capt. Erik Scott told "CBS Evening News" anchor and managing editor Norah O'Donnell on Wednesday that crews faced water pressure issues while battling the blaze.

"We did experience some challenges with water pressure while battling the Pacific Palisades fire, particularly yesterday," Scott said. "We worked real closely with the Department of Water and Power, and they did proactively fill all of the available water storage tanks. But the problem is, the water availability was impacted at the higher elevations. The pressure wasn't quite what we needed, and so it affected some fire hydrants."

When pressed whether water would be available when needed by a firefighter, Scott responded, "Yes."

"We're using maybe four times the normal amount of water because we're having to use so many hose lines to put out the fires," Scott added.

Three large water tanks designed to hold a million gallons each ran out, Janisse Quinones, CEO of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, told reporters. The first ran out at 4:45 p.m. Pacific time Tuesday, the second by 8:30 p.m. and the third was dry by 3 a.m. Wednesday.

"We had a tremendous demand on our system in the Palisades, we pushed the system to the extreme," Quinones said.

Santa Ana winds coupled with dry conditions have created the perfect storm for the fires to spread.

The winds flow east to west through Southern California's mountains, according to the National Weather Service. They begin when winds from the desert flow westward toward an area of low pressure, near the coast, like L.A. 

The winds usually originate in the Great Basin of the United States between September and May. This area, east of California, is at a higher elevation than L.A., and as the air drops, its temperature rises, according to Dr. Robert Fovell, a UCLA professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences.

Read more here.

Timelapse satellite video taken from space shows the rapid expansion of the California wildfires, offering a harrowing look at how quickly the blazes exploded over the last two days.

Footage published by the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere shows an aerial view of the Palisades Fire breaking out Tuesday morning along the coast in Los Angeles County.

Read more here.

At least five people have died in the Eaton Fire, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department confirmed to CBS Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Wind gusts that fanned the Los Angeles fires peaked at over 75 mph Wednesday, according to CBS Los Angeles meteorologist Paul Deanno, but conditions are expected to soon improve.

Localized wind gusts carried embers "at near highway speeds" through the day, Deanno said, but they are expected to slow down as the sun sets on the West Coast. 

"The winds are going down. I know they ramped up quickly. They're not going to lower that quickly," the meteorologist said. Even though winds in some areas have slowed down to about 35 mph, they're still a challenge for firefighters and conditions are still ripe for new fires to start.

The Santa Ana windstorm was forecast to be the worst since 2011, but the wildfires couldn't have been predicted.

"In the middle of 70-80 mph wind, there's nothing that any human, or any plane, or any firefighter can do to stop that. Mother Nature wins that battle whether we're prepared or not," Deanno said.

President Biden approved a major disaster declaration for California on Wednesday.

The approval will allow residents impacted by the wildfires to immediately access funds and resources for their recovery, the White House said in a statement.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency also approved a fire management assistance grant to reimburse California for firefighting costs on Tuesday.

"President Biden and Vice President Harris are praying for those who lost loved ones, had property damaged, were injured, and for everyone affected by this and other devastating fires in the area," the White House said.

When David Hansen was driving Tuesday morning, he didn't pay much attention to early reports about the Palisades Fire. In less than half an hour, though, it became apparent to him that the fire had grown in scale and that his mother, who lived in the Palisades Highlands, needed help evacuating from her home. 

The neighborhood has about a thousand homes, Hansen told CBS News, but only one road in and out. A neighbor tried to help his mom evacuate, but the two were told to turn around and shelter in place because burned cars and trees at the foot of the road had blocked traffic. Luckily, Hansen remembered a fire access road and drove down it to get to his mother's house. 

"I was probably the last car to cross the fire road as the flames were about to touch it," Hansen said.

He was able to get to his mom's house, but when he and his mother, followed by friends, tried to use the fire road to leave, it was "completely engulfed in flames," he said. They were again instructed to shelter in place, and spent two stressful hours at his mother's house until the Los Angeles Fire Department was able to use a bulldozer to clear burned cars off the road. They left the area around 3 p.m. local time, he said. 

"She was in shock then, she's in shock now," Hansen said of his mother. "I think she thought this was never going to happen. She's experienced fires, she's experienced evacuations … this was an inferno that none of us foresaw." 

Hansen said they don't know if his mother's home is still standing. His sister's Malibu home was destroyed, he said. 

"I've never seen anything this extreme. Everybody thought they were in a war zone," he said.

At least four TV productions in Los Angeles have been delayed amid wildfires.

Productions for "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," "Grey's Anatomy" and "Dr. Odyssey" will not take place Wednesday, a company spokesperson confirmed to CBS News. The taping for CBS gameshow "After Midnight" has also been canceled.

Kimmel broadcasts from El Capitan Entertainment Centre in the heart of Hollywood, just 15 miles away from the Palisades fire.

Meanwhile, the NFL said it is monitoring the wildfires with a playoff game between the Minnesota Vikings and L.A. Rams scheduled for Monday at SoFi Stadium, which is located approximately 22 miles southeast of the Palisades fire.

It appears the Palisades Fire has more than tripled in size from around 2,900 acres earlier Wednesday. 

Cal Fire says on its website the fire is now 11,802 acres. However, Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said at a briefing Wednesday the fire was 10,802 acres.

The blaze has already burned at least 1,000 structures. Tens of thousands of residents are under evacuation orders related to the fire.  

President Joe Biden and California Gov. Gavin Newsom were briefed about the California wildfires at a Santa Monica firehouse on Wednesday afternoon.

Biden had been visiting Los Angeles earlier in the week. His trip home was canceled on Tuesday.

During the briefing, fire officials updated the two leaders on the status of the wildfires and the efforts being made to battle the blazes. While the briefing was ongoing, the White House announced on social media that Mr. Biden has directed the Department of Defense to provide additional firefighting personnel and capabilities, including air support, to the state. 

"We're in it, here to stay," Mr. Biden said. 

During the briefing, Mr. Biden offered his support to the state. He also announced that his great-grandchild had been born at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. 

The Eaton Fire has jumped in size to burn at least 10,600 acres, Cal Fire said Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, the fire had burned just over 2,000 acres. Fire officials announced the jump in size shortly after 10 a.m. local time. 

The fire has caused two deaths and a number of injuries, officials said during a news briefing Wednesday. The two fatalities were civilians. There is zero percent containment of the blaze, officials said. 

Nearly 400,000 customers were without power in California as of mid-morning Wednesday, according to poweroutage.us.

That includes 260,000 without power in Los Angeles County amid the fires. Tens of thousands of customers in neighboring counties were also out of power. 

"Under current conditions, customers experiencing outages should expect crews to respond between 24-48 hours from the time the outages are reported," the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said on its website, alongside an outage map. "Restoration of outages may take longer."

A California man told CBS News Los Angeles that his home was saved from the flames of the Eaton Fire, but said that many of his neighbors in the tight-knit community of Hastings Ranch, near Pasadena, lost theirs.

"I keep going from not crying to starting to cry again, because I know a lot of these people and they've lost everything," the man, Michael, said.

Michael said he had left his home around midnight, "when the house just above me was burning," and returned around four in the morning. He said the Ring camera device at his home was offline, so he believed he'd "come home to ashes." He found the home was still standing, and said he believed it was saved by firefighters' efforts to save a nearby school.

"A lot of people are praying for us, but I know there's people that other people are praying for and they weren't so lucky," he said. "It really hits you hard."

Michael said the tight-knit neighborhood will have to work together to recover. He said he had already been able to text some neighbors to let them know what condition their homes were in.

"I guess calamity brings people together, right?" he told CBS News Los Angeles.  

CBS News national correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti posted a video online showing the devastation in Pacific Palisades, which is a residential neighborhood in Los Angeles.

Images of the area before the fire show a bustling street lined with shops and palm trees. Vigliotti's video showed destroyed structures and some flames still burning amid the charred wreckage.

"This is what's left," Vigliotti wrote on social media, noting that while the mall survived, "most everything else is gone."  

Vigliotti said the damage is "beyond comprehension." He also said, while reporting on-air, that he is "overwhelmed by the scale of loss."

"Many people are going to return to homes that were lost," Vigliotti said.

CBS News Los Angeles' Mark Liu said the video shows the extent of the spread of the wildfires, even in areas like Pacific Palisades, which are not usually threatened by wildfires. The site is thousands of feet from the Palisade Fires' fire line, but hurricane-force winds have carried embers "so far through these communities," Liu said.

"Everyone needs to know that they are in danger because of these embers that are blowing from these just once-in-a-decade winds that are coming through our area, and they're still blowing," Liu said.

Firefighters are coming from Nevada, Oregon and Washington to support the fight against multiple wildfires in Southern California, Los Angeles County Fire Department chief Anthony Marrone said.

CBS News Los Angeles previously reported that firefighters from Arizona and northern California were coming to support the firefighting efforts. The Los Angeles Fire Department asked its firefighters to call and report their availability to assist in firefighting efforts. It's the first time such a call has been put out in 19 years, CBS News Los Angeles reported. 

California officials are urging the state's residents to pay attention to evacuation orders and warnings.

Those who aren't under evacuation orders but are under evacuation warnings should be prepared to leave at any time, officials said. Those who will need more time to evacuate should leave immediately, they said.

"You need to be prepared," Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said at a news briefing on Wednesday. "If you are in a warning area, make sure you have your essentials; Your important paperwork, your medications, things that you can take, your phone charger, to survive for at least a week. But if you are told to evacuate and given an order, there is nothing worth your life."

"Please listen to the police and fire officials that are out there, and be prepared to evacuate," Luna added.  

CBS News Los Angeles reporter Joy Benedict was on the scene Wednesday in a residential area in Altadena, California – where black smoke billowed as flames raged.

"We're just watching this city burn, and it's absolutely devastating," Benedict said. 

The area is under a mandatory evacuation order because of the Eaton Fire. Vehicles could be seen driving on the road, navigating through the smoke near flames.

Benedict said people should not attempt to drive through the area. The roads are not blocked because fire officials do not have the resources to do so, she said, but cars could bar fire trucks and other emergency vehicles. 

"Do not come to check on your home, do not block roadways," she said, adding later that "if you are not familiar with how to handle yourself in a fire, you do not need to be here." 

Benedict said the scale of the destruction was beyond belief. Strong winds are blowing embers, and houses are burning quickly, she said. The fire is at 0% containment. Fire officials said during a news conference that multiple simultaneous blazes are pushing resources to their limit. 

At least 70,000 residents have been ordered to evacuate as wildfires threaten several areas across Los Angeles County, officials said Wednesday. That figure includes 30,000 residents ordered to evacuate near the Palisades Fire.

The fires threaten at least 28,000 structures.

CBS/AP 

Two arrests have been made for looting amid the raging wildfires in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert G. Luna said at a news briefing Wednesday.

Luna did not give any more information on the arrests, such as when they were made and if the two people were arrested together or in separate locations.

"If you are thinking about coming into any of these areas to steal from our residents, I'm going to tell you something: you're going to be caught, you're going to be arrested, and you're going to be prosecuted," Luna said. "Don't do that."

Luna said the sheriff's office is aiding in fire efforts. He said a sheriff's department vehicle had been "lost to the fire," but that the deputy using the vehicle was OK.  

The Palisades Fire has destroyed 1,000 structures, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said at a news conference Wednesday.

Extreme winds are challenging firefighters, according to a Cal Fire status report. Wind gusts are expected to continue through Tuesday. Thousands in the area are under evacuation orders or warnings, according to Cal Fire.

"Despite the severity of the conditions, our department remains fully committed to safeguarding lives and property," Los Angeles Fire Department fire chief Kristin Crowley said.

Two people have died amid the Eaton Fire, Los Angeles County Fire Department chief Anthony C. Marrone said in a news briefing Wednesday. 

Marrone said they were civilians and their causes of the deaths were unknown.

There have also been "a number of significant injuries" from the fire, Marrone said. 

The Palisades Fire, another blaze burning in the area, has also resulted in a "high number of significant injuries to those who did not evacuate," Marrone said. Firefighters have also sustained injuries, Marrone said, but did not elaborate. 

Over 100 structures have been destroyed in the Eaton Fire, which is zero percent contained and 2,227 acres.

CBS News' Jonathan Vigliotti reports that embers from the fire flames were being blown more than a mile. Those embers could spark new spotfires, Vigliotti reports.

"Simply put, this is a hellscape," Vigliotti said. "There are so many homes on fire it's unusual to see a home that is not."  Watch his report:

While the fires blazing in Los Angeles are not unusually large for the region, their specific locations, as well as strong winds, make them a threat.

Another fire has broken out in Los Angeles. The Woodley Fire started on Wednesday morning around 6 a.m. PST. 

Maps from Cal Fire show the fire is on the border of the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve and Woodley Park. The area runs along Interstate 405. Cal Fire warned that the fire is being driven south by strong winds and poses a threat of crossing Burbank Boulevard. 

The fire has burned about 75 acres, Cal Fire said. Crews are working to contain the blaze. 

An official in the Los Angeles area described the wildfires as unusual for California in January.

Lindsey Horvath, a Los Angeles County supervisor, recalled that record rainfall in February last year caused flooding and landslides.

"So this is incredibly unusual," Horvath said on "CBS Mornings." "We know that climate change has impacted our region."

While acknowledging the difficulties of leaving their homes, Horvath asked people to continue to follow evacuation orders, saying, "if we don't get people safely evacuated, it's not only a danger to the people who are living in those communities but also for the people who are on the frontlines." 

Maps from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, show areas that are under evacuation orders and warnings. Areas under mandatory evacuation orders are highlighted in dark red, and warnings are in orange.

People in red areas are required by law to leave, and those areas are closed to the public.

There is a potential threat to life and/or property in yellow zones. People needing additional time to evacuate, and people with pets and livestock, are also advised to leave immediately if they are in yellow zones, according to Cal Fire. 

The latest Los Angeles Fire Department updates about evacuation orders can be found here. Cal Fire has updated information about evacuation orders and resources available for those affected. 

Sheila Kelliher, a Los Angeles County Fire Department captain, called the winds driving the wildfires "ferocious" and advised people who live in the areas around Los Angeles that are impacted to adhere to the evacuation warnings.

"It is hurricane-force winds and you can imagine trying to fight fire in those winds," Kelliher said on "CBS Mornings." "It is really incredibly challenging and volatile and unpredictable."

"Get out when those warnings come," she advised people who are affected. "Pack up, get ready to go. ... Sometimes as you can see the cars had to be left behind and a lot of times just even getting out on foot, you've got to get going."

She said fighting three fires simultaneously is a "big strain and stretch of resources."

"It takes a small village, a small city actually, to run each one of these fires," she added. 

Amid mandatory evacuation orders in Los Angeles, the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena is being used as an evacuation center for large animals, officials said on social media.

Small animals can be evacuated to the Pasadena Humane Society, according to the post. 

The annual Rose Bowl was played at the stadium just last week, on New Year's Day. The Ohio State Buckeyes beat the Oregon Ducks. 

Meteorologists at the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Service said in a post on X early Wednesday that, "Dangerous fire weather conditions are ongoing in southern California with the most extreme conditions expected this morning."

They added that, "Winds should gradually weaken somewhat through the day, but critical fire weather conditions are expected to persist into Thursday."

Firefighters had their hands full, with flames from three wildfires being fanned by those winds.

The Screen Actors Guild says it canceled its live announcement of nominations for this year's SAG Awards "due to the wildfires and adverse wind conditions in Los Angeles."

The guild says it was observing "an abundance of caution for the safety of our presenters, guests, and staff."

Instead, nominations were unveiled Wednesday morning in a press release and the SAG Awards website.

The awards, the guild's 31st annual, are scheduled to be handed out on Feb. 23.  

Footage from the scene of the Eaton Fire showed some homeowners running through the streets while leading horses by hand, with flames burning on the hillsides behind them.

Another video showed at least one home with flames emitting from the roof. Firefighters say that it is one of multiple homes burning.

- Dean Fioresi, Matthew Rodriguez

The intense Santa Ana winds and a trio of large wildfires caused power outages for more than 200,000 homes and businesses in Los Angeles County Tuesday night and early Wedsnesday. 

Ahead of the strong storm, officials predicted this weather will "likely be the most destructive windstorm seen since 2011."

As of 12:30 a.m., the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power had roughly 127,000 customers without power. Crews had restored utilities to 24,400 residents earlier in the day. For perspective, LADWP provides electricity to 1.5 million residences. 

Southern California Edison, which provides electricity to LA County residents outside of city limits, reported that more than 52,000 customers without power as of midnight. The largest outage was centered in Duarte with 7,930 residents without electricity at around 10 p.m. 

Ahead of the windstorm, SoCal Edison said it was considering public safety shutoff for roughly 409,000 Southern California residents, mainly in Riverside and Los Angeles counties. An estimated 123,400 and 113,735 customers were expected to be affected in the respective areas.

Firefighting resources across the Los Angeles region have already been stretched so thin that the L.A. Fire Department asked all off-duty firefighters to call in to their supervisors to report on whether they're available to assist in the firefight.

LAFD firefighter Margaret Stewart said it's the first time in 19 years the department has done that.

The strong winds forced officials to ground all aircraft, including water-dropping helicopters and flame-retardant planes.

But in an overnight post on X, Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state "has deployed 1400+ firefighting personnel & hundreds of prepositioned assets to combat these unprecedented fires in LA. Emergency officials, firefighters, and first responders are all hands on deck through the night to do everything possible to protect lives."

And CBS Phoenix affiliate KPHO-TV reports that officials with the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management say the state sent firefighting teams to Los Angeles to support local firefighters.

California has secured assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) through the Fire Management Assistance Grant for both the Palisades and Eaton Fires. The grants allow for local departments to apply for up to 75% reimbursement of expenses incurred fighting the flames. 

- Dean Fioresi, Matthew Rodriguez, Brian Dakss

Firefighters are battling yet another brush fire — one that broke out in Sylmar, the northern-most neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles. It's been dubbed the Hurst Fire, CBS Los Angeles reports.

It was first reported shortly after 10 p.m. local time behind the Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Crews said the flames were moving rapidly and quickly charred about 100 acres of brush. California Highway Patrol officers at the scene said an entire mountainside appeared to be burning.

Later, CalFire reported that it had spread across 500 acres.

Some evacuation orders were issued.

A 25-year-old female firefighter battling the Palisades Fire suffered a serious head injury at about 8:30 p.m. local time, according to Capt. Erik Scott, a spokesperson for the L.A. Fire Department. It wasn't clear how it happened. She was treated at the scene, then brought to a hospital for evaluation, Scott said.

About a half-hour later, Scott said, "multiple burn victims were reported walking toward a nearby restaurant." Medical personnel were dispatched to treat the victims at the scene.

In a statement late Tuesday night, Vice President Kamala Harris, a California native, said that her "heart goes out to all those being impacted by the devasting wildfires in Southern California."

Harris said that "as a proud daughter of California, I know the damage that wildfires have on our neighbors and communities. I also know that the impact is often felt long after the fire is contained. As we respond and as Californians recover, I will ensure that our administration is in constant contact with state and local officials."

Harris and her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, have a home in the Westside Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood, which is located about 5 miles east of Pacific Palisades. 

Dozens of seniors were evacuated from a Pasadena assisted living center after the Eaton Fire got within about a block of their facility.

The residents of the Terraces at Park Marino, many in wheelchairs and on gurneys, were huddled together in the dark, windy parking lot of a 7-Eleven to escape the flames.

A supervisor told CBS News that about 95 residents had been evacuated. It was unclear where the seniors would be taken. 

The exact extent of the devastation from the Palisades Fire is still unknown, but footage from on the ground gives an idea of its potential scope.

CBS News correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti captured apocalyptic images from one Pacific Palisades neighborhood, where home after home was engulfed in flames.

"The firefighters here, they're not trying to save these structures, they're trying to prevent these flames from jumping to other neighborhoods," Vigliotti reported Tuesday night. "You see all these embers. In some cases, they're being carried more than a mile in advance of these source flames, lighting other homes on fire."

The city of Santa Monica announced mandatory evacuation orders Tuesday night for a huge swath of the city because of the Palisades Fire. 

"City of Santa Monica is issuing an Evacuation Order for all areas of the city north of San Vicente," the city said in a post to social media. "Evacuation Order: Immediate threat to life. This is a lawful order to LEAVE NOW. The area is closed to public access."

Santa Monica, a coastal city with a population of about 90,000, is located between Malibu and Los Angeles, and just to the west of Pacific Palisades.   

Los Angeles County firefighters Tuesday night were battling a second brush fire with a large potential for growth in the Eaton Canyon area near Altadena.   

The Eaton Fire was first reported at around 6:40 p.m. Pacific Time in the area above Altadena. Evacuation orders had been issued for portions of Altadena and nearby Pasadena. 

Altadena is located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, on the border of the Angeles National Forest. The fire had scorched at least 400 acres, the U.S. Forest Service reported. Later, the total had grown to 1,000 acres, CalFire said.

Firefighting resources across the region have already been stretched thin to the point that the city of L.A. Fire Department requested that all off-duty firefighters call in to their supervisors to report if they're available to assist in the firefight.   

Read more here.

President Biden announced Tuesday night that is monitoring the wildfire activity in Southern California.

"I am being frequently briefed on the wildfires in west Los Angeles. My team and I are in touch with state and local officials, and I have offered any federal assistance that is needed to help suppress the terrible Pacific Palisades fire," Mr. Biden said in a statement.

The president added that FEMA approved a "Fire Management Assistance Grant to support areas that are impacted and help reimburse the state of California for the immediate firefighting costs. I urge the residents of the Pacific Palisades and the surrounding areas of Los Angeles to stay vigilant and listen to local officials."

Mr. Biden also urged "the residents of the Pacific Palisades and the surrounding areas of Los Angeles to stay vigilant and listen to local officials."

As dangerous wildfires spread rapidly in Southern California, images of the blazes began to emerge. 

Evacuation orders for the Palisades Fire were expanded Tuesday night. The entire Pacific Palisades community was under an evacuation order, while Malibu and Calabasas were under a combination of mandatory and voluntary evacuations.  

All areas south of the 101 Freeway between Malibu Canyon and Topanga Canyon roads were either under mandatory or voluntary evacuation zones.

The latest evacuation map is here:

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency as the Pacific Palisades wildfire exploded in size, fueled by one of the strongest Santa Ana wind events to hit Southern California in the last decade. 

"This is a highly dangerous windstorm that's creating extreme fire risk — and we're not out of the woods. We're already seeing the destructive impacts with this fire in Pacific Palisades that grew rapidly in a matter of minutes," Newsom said in a statement Tuesday.

He urged Southern California residents to pay attention to local weather reports and follow guidance from emergency officials.

Read more here.

The number of structures damaged or destroyed by the Palisades Fire so far was unclear. 

However, CBS News correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti reported that at least six homes had been destroyed in one neighborhood, as CBS News captured footage of heavy flames, smoke and billowing ash. 

CBS News correspondent Carter Evans resides in one neighborhood that was under threat. 

"I'm in the back of this home, trying to help the firefighters, so they asked me for help, because he couldn't get over the gate," Evans said. "So I'm trying to get the flames out."

As the Pacific Palisades wildfire in Los Angeles quickly grew Tuesday afternoon amid a destructive windstorm, some fleeing residents stuck in gridlock were forced to abandon their cars as dangerous flames approached. 

Sunset Boulevard was jammed with cars as people tried to evacuate. Resident Marsha Horowitz was walking down Sunset with her dog and said the fire department told people to get out of their cars. "The fire came right down to the road, and the fire department came up and said 'get out of your cars now,' because the fire was right up against the cars," she said. 

"We're all freaked out everywhere, all shaking," Pacific Palisades resident Sue told CBS Los Angeles. "The fire department have been the most amazing humans. They hugged us and said don't worry we'll take care of you. They have been amazing." She estimated winds earlier at 50 mph.   

Read more here.

The famous Getty Villa, a museum located near the Los Angeles coast in Pacific Palisades, announced that it will remain closed through at least early next week as a wildfire tears through the area. 

"We swiftly closed the Villa to non-emergency staff, and the site is closed to the public on Tuesdays. The Getty Villa will remain closed at least through Monday, January 13," J. Paul Getty Trust President Katherine Fleming said. "We, of course, are very concerned for our neighbors in the Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and the surrounding areas."  

Fleming said the facility utilized its irrigation system throughout the day and that the galleries and collections have measures to protect them from the smoke.   

Read more here.

The growth of the brush fire burning in Pacific Palisades has been aided by high winds that weather officials have called "life-threatening and destructive," with isolated wind gusts potentially reaching up to 100 miles per hour in some areas.

The National Weather Service issued a high wind warning through Wednesday evening for much of Los Angeles and Ventura counties. 

The Santa Ana wind event is expected to be the worst the region has seen in more than a decade, according to the National Weather Service. 

Read more here.