Return of strong winds to Los Angeles threatens area's fight against fires

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LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- At least 24 people are believed to be dead and more than a dozen others remain unaccounted for as multiple wildfires, fueled by severe drought conditions and strong Santa Ana winds, continue to rage across Southern California, leaving fire crews scrambling to contain the historic destruction.

Key Headlines in the last 24 hours

Here's how the news is developing.
KABC logo
Jan 14, 2025, 8:43 AM

Wildfires burning in SoCal: Numbers at a glance

Here are all the current wildfires burning in Southern California at a glance.

Palisades Fire

- 23,713 acres
- 14% containment
- 8 deaths
- 5,316 structures burned

Eaton Fire in San Gabriel Valley

- 14,117 acres
- 33% contained
- Approximately 7,081 structures believed to be damaged or destroyed (structures includes vehicles)
- 16 deaths
- 5 firefighter injuries

Hurst Fire in Sylmar

- 799 acres

- 97% contained

Auto Fire

- 55 acres

- 0% contained

Kenneth Fire in West Hills

- 1,052 acres

- 100% contained

KABC logo
Jan 13, 2025, 6:56 PM GMT

Oscars push back nominations announcement amid wildfires

After a devastating week due to the fires in Los Angeles, the Academy has announced an update to the 97th Oscars season key dates and schedule of events.

The changes include extending the nominations voting period through Jan. 17, rescheduling the nominations announcement to Jan. 23, and canceling the nominees luncheon.

Take a look at the full list of impacted events here.

KABC logo
Jan 13, 2025, 6:20 PM GMT

Where will the worst winds be on Tuesday, Wednesday in SoCal?

The National Weather Service has highlighted these three areas where officials believe there's the highest chance for explosive fire growth this week. The Hurst Fire is in the highlighted area and the Palisades Fire is near the highlighted area.

The extreme fire risk will last from 4 a.m. Tuesday to noon Wednesday.

Winds could climb as high as 45 to 70 mph and humidity could be as low as 8 to 15%.

Latest forecast: SoCal to see 'particularly dangerous situation' amid Santa Ana winds

-ABC News' Max Golembo

KABC logo
Jan 13, 2025, 6:28 PM GMT

Ukraine offers aid to help fight SoCal fires

Ukraine may send rescuers to help fight the devastating fires in Southern California, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

"The situation there is extremely difficult, and Ukrainians can help Americans save lives," Zelenskyy tweeted. "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."

Firefighters from Mexico and Canada have also been deployed to California.

Jan 13, 2025, 5:56 PM GMT

LADWP restores power to all customers except those in fire zones

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power says crews have restored power to all customers except those in the fire threat areas where authorities have requested they turn off power lines.

They said this affects about 17,600 customers in Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, Sylmar and Encino.

"LADWP crews will begin to restore power to these customers once we receive clearance from CAL FIRE to re-energize the circuits and assess the lines for hazards," said the utility in a statement. "We also have equipment affected by fire retardant that needs to be cleaned before we can re-energize these power lines."

If you're an LADWP customer outside of the high fire risk areas and are still without power, call 1-800-DIAL-DWP to report your outage.