Los Angeles braces for 'explosive' fire growth as death toll rises to 25
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The official death toll from wildfires raging in and around Los Angeles has risen to 25 as the city braces for “particularily dangerous” weather conditions on Tuesday. Eight people have died in the Palisades fire and 17 in the Eaton fire in Altadena, according to Los Angeles County medical examiner and Sheriff Robert Luna.
![[US-WEATHER-FIRE]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2025/01/14/7/16/US-WEATHER-FIRE-t6yp83hq.jpeg?quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
Firefighters braced for high winds overnight with gusts that could fuel the two monstrous wildfires that have already leveled entire neighbourhoods and burned an area the size of Washington DC. A red flag warning was in effect late on Monday as dry, dangerous Santa Ana winds picked up speed. Gusts could hit 75mph (120 kph) starting at around 4am Tuesday (1200 GMT), said David Roth, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center. The NWS warned the condition could cause “explosive” growth in the fires.
![[Powerful Winds Fuel Multiple Fires Across Los Angeles Area]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2025/01/14/7/17/Powerful-Winds-Fuel-Multiple-Fires-Across-Los-Angeles-Area-cn4t1pbr.jpeg?quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
More than 8,500 firefighters attacked the fires from the air and on the ground, preventing the conflagrations at either end of Los Angeles from spreading overnight. “This setup is about as bad as it gets,” Los Angeles City Fire Chief Kristin Crowley told local residents. “We are not in the clear.”.
Officials said California state authorities were pre-positioning firefighting crews in Los Angeles as well as other Southern California counties that were also under elevated fire danger. Highlighting the risks, a new small but fast-moving fire erupted in scrubland in the bed of the Santa Clara River in Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles. Ground crews and several helicopters were working to contain what had been dubbed the Auto Fire, which was burning near a golf course but not yet threatening homes.
