Return Of Strong Winds Spark “Dangerous Situation” Across Fire-Ravaged Palisades

One week after the fires in Los Angeles County began, the blazes remain out of control, scorching nearly 40,000 acres and leveling entire neighborhoods. On Tuesday, winds are expected to gust between 45 and 70 mph, accompanied by dry air, significantly increasing the risk of fire spread.

The National Weather Service has issued “Particularly Dangerous Situation Red Flag Warnings” for L.A. and Ventura counties through Wednesday evening, warning that “this setup is about as bad as it gets.”

Strong gusts could derail any progress made by firefighters early this week across two of the main fires, the Palisades and Eaton fires. The blazes have burned upwards of 40,000 and leveled entire neighborhoods and burned more than 12,000 structures. At least 24 people have died, with the death toll expected to rise. 

Pacific Palisades fire devastation.

These are some of LA’s most expensive properties right near the ocean

pic.twitter.com/sHuFpn6wuD

— Derrick Evans (@DerrickEvans4WV) January 14, 2025

Here’s the latest update on the two main fires (courtesy of the L.A. Times): 

Palisades Fire:

Burned 23,713 acres and numerous homes, businesses and landmarks in Pacific Palisades and westward along Pacific Coast Highway, toward Malibu. As of Monday morning, the fire was 14% contained, up from 11% early Sunday. Many parts of Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Calabasas, Brentwood and Encino are under evacuation orders or warnings. More than 12,000 structures remain threatened. Santa Monica has downgraded its mandatory evacuation orders to warnings. Officials estimate that more than 5,300 structures, including many homes, have been damaged or destroyed.

Eaton Fire:

Burned 14,117 acres and many structures in Altadena and Pasadena. As of Monday morning, the fire was 33% contained, up from 27% early Sunday. Officials say 7,000 structures have been damaged in the fire. Most of Altadena was under an evacuation order, as was unincorporated Kinneloa Mesa. In Pasadena, a mandatory evacuation order was in place in the northern half of the neighborhood of Hastings Ranch. In Sierra Madre, mandatory evacuations were in effect in some areas north of Grand View Avenue, and voluntary evacuations were in place in other portions of the city.

As of Tuesday morning, the Palisades and Eaton Fires remained largely uncontrolled with low containment.

Fire Map (L.A. Times): 

The latest losses for the insurance industry could be monumental, with some figures pointing to $30 billion, if not more. 

The extent of the recent Palisades fires as seen from space: these two images from Copernicus Sentinel-2 images show the burnt land (in darker tones) between January 2 and January 12, 2025.

The images use Sentinel-2’s near-infrared band.
According to the @lafd, to date almost… pic.twitter.com/dq5nL2MzG0

— ESA Earth Observation (@ESA_EO) January 14, 2025

Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs analysts have published new insured loss estimates that surpass JPMorgan’s predictions of $20 billion from last week. 

Goldman analysts believe estimated insured losses could be between $10 and $30 billion, with the figure for uninsured losses north of $40 billion. 

Wells Fargo analyst noted that home insurance providers Allstate, Chubb, American International Group, and Travelers are some of the most exposed insurers of the fires.

Mercury General and Cincinnati Financial are the most exposed insurers… 

• California-Based Insurer Crashes Amid Billions In LA Area Fire-Damage Losses

On Monday morning, L.A. residents sued Energy company Edison International for its alleged role in igniting at least one of the wildfires. 

Bloomberg reported, “The lawsuit is on behalf of a group of homeowners, renters, business owners and others with properties destroyed by the Eaton Fire in the Pasadena area,” adding, “The suit alleges a Southern California Edison pole holding power lines was the cause of the blaze that leveled the town of Altadena.”

By the evening, property owners in Palisades sued the city of Los Angeles’ electric and water utility for not supplying enough water to firefighters. The plaintiffs claim that a reservoir in the area was drained, causing low pressure in fire hydrants.

“This was supposed to be the water to put out the Palisades fire.”

The FP’s Austyn Jeffs visits the Santa Ynez Reservoir that has reportedly been empty since February 2024. pic.twitter.com/DwO5OrYhWk

— The Free Press (@TheFP) January 11, 2025

Latest Zero Hedge headlines:

• 10 Dead, 10,000 Structures Burned In Los Angeles Area Inferno As Fire Damage Could Exceed $150 Billion

• “Do Not Panic Buy”: Officials Urge Calm As LA Fire Crisis Disrupts Main Fuel Pipeline To Las Vegas

• “We’re Not Screwing Around”: L.A. Sheriff Declares Curfew Amid Arson & Looting Chaos

• California-Based Insurer Crashes Amid Billions In LA Area Fire-Damage Losses

• Arson Threats A “Major Issue” In Wildfire-Ravaged Los Angeles County

• California Imposes 1-Year Insurance Cancellation Freeze In Areas Ravaged By Wildfires

• Palisades Fire Crisis Intensifies Ahead Of Windstorm Event Early Next Week

• Three Military Humvees, Machine Gun Mounts, Stolen Outside Of Los Angeles

• Palisades Fire Threatens New Upscale Communities As Santa Ana Winds Return

• California’s Insurance Crisis Just Got A Whole Lot Worse

• AP News Heavily Ratioed For Blaming Palisades Fire On Climate Change

• Why Was Pacific Palisades Reservoir Empty? It Gets Worse…

• L.A. Residents Sue Edison Utility Over Potential Role In Palisades Fire

• Blaming ‘Climate Change’ For LA Fires Only Makes Newsom Look Criminally Incompetent

Other headlines via L.A. Times, WaPo, Bloomberg, etc… 

• L.A. Times: Crews battle brush fire in Oxnard as Santa Ana winds sweep through the region

• WaPo: Los Angeles County district attorney charges 9 people with looting

• WaPo: Republicans say they want to put conditions on wildfire aid to California

• BBG: LA Arrests Mount Over Looting, Curfews in Fire Evacuation Zones

• BBG: L.A. City Utility Sued Over Water Shortage for Palisades Fire

• BBG: L.A. Wildfires Insurance Cost Estimates Spike to $30 Billion

Meanwhile…

Over 40 criminals arrested looting in Palisades Fire evacuation zones—what’s the punishment they truly deserve? pic.twitter.com/AjcH5ijTLT

— Clown World (@ClownWorld_) January 13, 2025

Arson?

BREAKING: ATF arson investigators have descended on the area of suspicion, along a hiking trail at The Summit of the Pacific Palisades #PalisadesFire pic.twitter.com/9y6ktpbMSr

— Chris Cristi (@abc7chriscristi) January 13, 2025

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