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As firefighters battle several blazes across metro Los Angeles, high wind conditions across the region in the hours ahead remain a challenge.
Forecasters expected winds to uptick from Tuesday night through Wednesday. More than 6 million people are under a critical fire threat Wednesday across several counties in Southern California, including cities outside of Los Angeles County such as Anaheim, Riverside, San Bernardino and Oxnard.
Northeast winds at 20 to 30 mph are forecast with gusts of 50 mph possible, the National Weather Service cautioned.
Here are the latest developments:
Death toll climbs: The fires have killed at least 25 people — nine in the Palisades Fire and 16 in the Eaton Fire.
Air quality remains low: People in areas impacted by ash from the wildfires should wear proper respiratory masks to help protect against potential health problems, a city health official said. A windblown dust and ash advisory covering close to 17 million residents is in effect through 7 p.m. Wednesday.
State combats predatory real estate offers: Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order preventing “aggressive and unsolicited cash offers” under market value to wildfire victims in 15 zip codes in the Los Angeles area, saying, “We will not allow greedy developers to rip off these working-class communities at a time when they need more support than ever before.”
Temporary relocation of schools: Two schools in the Palisades that burned down will resume classes on temporary campuses, as the Los Angeles Unified School District works to “return to normalcy,” the district said. Last week, the superintendent said at least a third of all students in the district — the second-largest school district nationwide and the largest in California — are being impacted in some way by the fires.
Impacts of climate change: The fires over the past week were larger and burned hotter than they would have in a world without planet-warming fossil fuel pollution, a UCLA analysis suggests. The report is clear in saying the fires likely still would have occurred in a world without climate pollution, but it concludes they would have been “somewhat smaller and less intense.”
