Residents around the Palisades Fire have been told to ‘evacuate now’ ahead of strong winds expected to sweep Los Angeles over the next 24 hours. The winds could spark new extreme fire activity as firefighters work to increase containment of multiple ongoing wildfires.
Image Credit: Metro [46 min ago NOW: Los Angeles officials provide update on wildfires]
‘This is a particularly dangerous situation,’ said Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath during a press conference on Tuesday morning. ‘From now through tomorrow, the strongest winds will be this evening, and we ask everyone to get prepared now to evacuate.’.
Image Credit: Metro [L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger reported being shocked when she tried to make a GoFundMe donation for a friend who had lost their home in the Los Angeles area wildfires. In addition to her $500 donation, she was asked to pay an additional $95. "I was shocked to find out that to give $500 they were going to charge (that)," she said during a press briefing on the fires Saturday. ______________________________________________ Some people trying to help California fire victims may face a confusing dilemma when donating to a crowdfunding campaign: Should they support the crowdfunding platform, too? For people who choose to donate via the popular crowdfunding platform GoFundMe, their donation may have a tip automatically added on top of the donation. That goes to support GoFundMe ? but you can adjust the tip lower, all the way to zero. "GoFundMe is primarily powered by voluntary tips and relies on these completely optional contributions from donors to maintain our quality customer service, trust and safety protections, and world-class fundraising technology," the company said in its statement. GoFundMe "skims" wildfire donations by taking a standard transaction fee of 2.9% plus 30 cents from each donation made on their platform, which is used to cover payment processing costs and platform maintenance; essentially, a small percentage of each donation is deducted before the remaining amount reaches the intended recipient of the wildfire relief fund.]
Firefighters in Los Angeles are preparing for what could be the most dangerous days of the disaster, one week after fires first broke out across Southern California. Almost the entire area of Los Angeles is under a fire warning of some sort, ranging from ‘elevated’ to ‘extreme’.
Image Credit: Metro [San Diego Fire 1401]
LAFD Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said: ‘This setup is about as bad as it gets. We are not in the clear.’. Strong winds are beginning to pick up and will last into late Wednesday night, prompting fears of even worse damage. More than 9,000,000 people live in the area covered by the fire warnings – more than in London.
Image Credit: Metro [wunderground.com los angeles weather wind map]
The dry Santa Ana wind gusts will range from 30 to 50 mph, with gusts of up to 75mph in certain areas. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said President-elect Donald Trump has been invited to tour places ravaged by wildfires, despite his criticism of Democratic leadership in the preparation and response.
Image Credit: Metro [Firefighters monitor and control the spread of the Auto Fire in Oxnard, North West of Los Angeles, California, on January 13, 2025. US officials warned "dangerous and strong" winds were set to push deadly wildfires further through Los Angeles residential areas January 12 as firefighters struggled to make progress against the flames. At least 24 people have been confirmed dead from blazes that have ripped through the city, reducing whole neighborhoods to ashes and leaving thousands without homes. (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT / AFP) (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images)]
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