'Not out of the woods': Fire-scarred LA braces for another round of dangerous winds

A "particularly dangerous situation" with a red flag warning is in effect for parts of L.A. County and most of Ventura County on Tuesday, weather officials said, with winds threatening to further fuel the region's wildfires.

The warning went into effect at 4 a.m. and will last through noon Wednesday. Winds are forecast to gust between 45 mph to 70 mph, with relative humidity as low as 8%.

The PDS warning stretches across a large swath of Southern California. Though it doesn't include the area where the Palisades Fire is burning, but does get very close to the Eaton Fire in the Altadena area.

The highest wind gusts reached 72 mph in the San Gabriel Mountains early Tuesday and 50 mph in the Malibu area.

The strongest gusts are expected Tuesday morning and early afternoon, which will then be followed by a break in the evening. More gusty winds are expected Wednesday morning.

ABC News contributed to this reporting.

Firefighters have stopped forward progress of a new brush fire that broke out overnight in Ventura County. The Auto Fire burned 56 acres in the Santa Clara River bottom amid red flag conditions across Southern California.

Officials reported that the blaze was fully contained, but later said it stands at 0% containment.

The fire danger posed by the return of strong Santa Ana winds is expected to remain through Wednesday afternoon.

A new fire erupted overnight amid dangerous red flag conditions across Southern California. The Auto Fire burned 56 acres in Ventura County before firefighters stopped its forward progress.

Mayor Bass issued an executive order that will help clear the way for Los Angeles residents to rapidly rebuild the homes they lost in the fires. It also lays the foundation for businesses to plan their rebuild.

"This unprecedented natural disaster warrants an unprecedented response that will expedite the rebuilding of homes, businesses and communities," Bass said. "This order is the first step in clearing away red tape and bureaucracy to organize around urgency, common sense and compassion. We will do everything we can to get Angelenos back home."

The executive order will help coordinate debris removal from impacted areas, clear the way to rebuild homes as they were, make 1,400 units of housing available and establish a framework to secure additional relief and resources, according to a news release.

As the Los Angeles area braces for another wind system to move in this week, and emergency responders there continue to battle wildfires that erupted last week, investigations are underway to try and determine what might have caused some of the most destructive fires in California's history.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has now taken the investigative lead in the Palisades Fire, where over 23,000 acres have now burned, and aerial imagery shows approximately 5,000 structures damaged or destroyed as of Monday.

One possible theory that has neither been substantiated nor ruled out as of Monday, according to officials, is the involvement of transmission lines or electric facilities in inciting any of the LA County fires.

Edison International CEO talked to ABC7's David Ono about the theory that transmission lines or electric facilities were the possible cause of the Eaton Fire.

In Altadena, where over 14,000 acres have burned and over 7,000 structures are thought to have been destroyed or damaged by what is known as the Eaton Fire, investigators are examining Eaton Canyon in their hunt for clues.

Witnesses shared with ABC News Ring cam and cellphone videos that appear to show what they believe to be the start of the Eaton Fire at the base of a transmission tower in the canyon.

Fire officials told ABC News they are aware of the videos and that they are part of the investigation.

But Edison International, the parent company of one of the country's largest electric utilities, Southern California Edison, which owns transmission lines in that area, said it has not seen evidence that electrical equipment there started the blaze.

In a report filed with the state, Edison said "no fire agency has suggested that SCE's electric facilities were involved in the ignition or requested the removal and retention of any SCE equipment."

The report stated that "preliminary analysis by SCE of electrical circuit information for the energized transmission lines going through the area for 12 hours prior to the reported start time of the fire shows no interruptions or electrical or operational anomalies until more than one hour after the reported start time of the fire."

"Typically, when there's a spark created by equipment, you will see that kind of electrical anomaly. We haven't seen that," Pedro Pizarro, president and CEO of Edison International, told George Stephanopoulos on "Good Morning America" on Monday.

"That said, we have not been able to get up close to the equipment yet because firefighters have not deemed the area safe for entry," he continued. "As soon as we can get close to it, we'll inspect and we'll be transparent with the public."

Edison has said it has received evidence preservation notices from attorneys representing insurance companies with regards to the Eaton Fire.

In Sylmar, the Hurst Fire burned nearly 800 acres before firefighters achieved 97% containment on Monday.

Edison said fire agencies are investigating its equipment there, but Pizarro said the company doesn't know whether its downed equipment in the area has any connection to the fire's start.

We did say that we saw damage to the equipment, but we did notice that the reported start time of that fire was 10:10 p.m.," Pizarro told Stephanopoulos. "We first saw an electrical anomaly in our system at 10:11 p.m. And so with that being so close in time, we don't know whether the damage happened before or after the start of the fire."

Officials have not determined causes of any of the fires yet.

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