Good morning. It’s Friday, Jan. 10.
- Losses mount in L.A. as forecast calls for more wind.
- Analysts say blaze is likely to be costliest in U.S. history.
- And Border Patrol strikes fear among valley farmworkers.
Los Angeles on fire
1.
The latest figures after three days of historic wildfires in Los Angeles, as of early Friday:
- The number of confirmed deaths now stands at 10, a toll officials expected to grow as they sift through the rubble. “It looks like an atomic bomb dropped in these areas,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said on Thursday. “I don’t expect good news, and we’re not looking forward to those numbers.”
- More than 10,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed, nearly all of them in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena areas.
- At least five wildfires were burning simultaneously across the region. Together, they’ve blackened nearly 60 square miles, an area larger than San Francisco. Reuters | L.A. Times
2.
Several of those who died had stayed behind to wait out the inferno or defend their home against it, reports said. Among them was Victor Shaw, 66, whose body was found in front of his Altadena home with a garden hose still in his hand. “I can’t imagine what he might have been thinking, how he might have been so frightened,” his sister Shari Shaw told a reporter. Two other victims included a 67-year-old amputee and his son, who had cerebral palsy, who were unable to escape their home in time. ABC News | Washington Post
3.
The Los Angeles disaster is on track to become the costliest blaze in U.S. history. Initial estimates have put the total economic losses from the firestorm as high as $150 billion. But even lower estimates far exceed the $30 billion toll of the Camp fire that ravaged Paradise in 2018, which was the state’s costliest wildfire, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information. Wall Street Journal | Washington Post
- The catastrophe poses an existential threat to California’s insurance market as it hastens the exit of insurers and drives up already elevated rates. Reuters | A.P.
4.
President Biden on Thursday announced that the federal government would cover “100% of all the costs” to respond to the wildfires over the next 180 days. “We’re doing literally everything we can at a federal level,” he said. Addressing Southern Californians, he added, “We are with you. We’re not going anywhere.” Asked about whether California could rely on the assistance it needs from the incoming administration, Biden answered: “I pray to God they will.” L.A. Times | Desert Sun
5.
President-elect Donald Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to withhold federal funds from California during natural disasters, spent Thursday blaming Biden and Gov. Gavin Newsom for the wildfires. The governor, Trump said, should “immediately go to Northern California and open up the water main” to quench fires. Experts noted that opening such a water main, which does not exist, would have made no difference to the conflagration in Los Angeles, where the water supply has been at historically high levels. Politico | CNN | Wall Street Journal
6.
Crews were repeatedly hampered by hydrants that ran dry while fighting Los Angeles’ fires this week. It was not a supply problem, however: the city topped up all 114 of its water storage tanks ahead of this week’s wind event. Rather, the shortages exposed what experts said is a vulnerability of the local pump-and-storage systems serving the neighborhoods. They were designed for a fire that might consume several homes, not a conflagration that envelops a whole community over several hours. L.A. Times | N.Y. Times
7.
A veterinarian who took in dozens of displaced pets.
A $1 million gift from Jamie Lee Curtis.
Nearly 50 restaurants providing free food and relief.
Amid the personal tragedy and partisan rancor online, Los Angeles’ crisis has also inspired an outbreak of kindness, as industry leaders, public officials, celebrities, and everyday people have found ways to help. Zack Stentz, a Los Angeles screenwriter, said the good will was palpable at his local Ralph’s. “In the real world Angelenos are in full ‘strangers talking to each other and being nice during a disaster’ mode,” he wrote. Long Beach Post | L.A. Times
- Here are ways that you can help.
8.
A series of pictures released on Thursday by aerial and satellite imagery companies offered jarring perspectives on the level of destruction across Los Angeles since Tuesday. See before-and-after images. 👉 S.F. Chronicle
- See drone views of the destruction in Pacific Palisades and Altadena.
9.
Other wildfire developments:
- A new blaze erupted Thursday afternoon north of Calabasas along the western edge of the San Fernando Valley, quickly ballooning to nearly 1,000 acres. An arson suspect was arrested nearby. KTLA | L.A. Times
- See an incredible water drop on the Kenneth fire. 👉 @US_Stormwatch
- At least 20 people have been arrested since Tuesday on charges of looting from homes in evacuation zones, officials said. L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna said he had requested National Guard help to secure fire-ravaged areas. NBC Los Angeles | L.A. Times
- The Andrew McNally House in Altadena, a Queen Anne mansion built by the mapmaking tycoon in the late 1880s, burned down. LAist is tracking lost landmarks and architectural gems.
- See before-and-after pictures. 👉 @alisonmartino
- Winds dipped slightly on Thursday, but forecasters said the Santa Anas were poised to pick up again Friday, with gusts up to 55 mph. “At least until the middle of next week we’re going to be in that pattern,” said Mike Wofford, a meteorologist. L.A. Times | Accuweather
- “We hosted Christmas Eve and Christmas Day here, and everybody was here — my little house that I loved.” In a video, a woman named Fran gave a heartbreaking account of the sorrow of losing her home. @BrianEntin
Statewide
10.
Border Patrol agents descended on Kern County this week in an enforcement operation that resulted in more than 200 arrests, reports said. A Chevron Station in north Bakersfield popular with farmworkers was desolate on Thursday after immigration agents rolled up and put men in zip ties two days earlier. “It was a big shock,” said cashier Sara Fuentes. “Some of the cars were still at the gas pump.” “Operation Return to Sender,” as it’s called, was expected to expand into other parts of the Central Valley. Fresno Bee | Valley Public Radio
11.
On this week’s California Sun Podcast, host Jeff Schechtman talks with Daniel Ostroff, a scholar on the designers Charles and Ray Eames. With their groundbreaking architecture and furniture, the married couple shaped the modernist ethos of California. Ostroff argued that the Eameses should be understood first as artists. He recalled once visiting a museum where a work by the celebrated abstract expressionist Willem de Kooning hung on a wall near an Eames chair. “It was really hard to look at the de Kooning painting,” he said, “because your eyes just go to the Eames chair.”
- Note: This episode was recorded before the firestorm that erupted in Los Angeles on Jan. 7. The Eames House, which is located in Pacific Palisades, was undamaged as of Thursday, reports said.
In case you missed it
12.
Five items that got big views over the past week:
- The veteran California travel writer Christopher Reynolds curated a wonderful list of 12 bucket list destinations, one for each month of 2025. L.A. Times
- The L.A. wildfires, in pictures and video:
- A dramatic view of the wildfire above Pasadena.
- A man cut it close fleeing his home near Rustic Canyon.
- An “absolutely horrific” view of the Palisades inferno from the sky.
- An aerial view of the ruin in Pacific Palisades after the smoke cleared.
- A study found that 86% of commonly consumed foods in the Bay Area contained plastic chemicals. Topping the list of most contaminated items: a black boba tea from Boba Guys, which contained bisphenol A at levels 32,571% of the daily recommended limit. S.F. Chronicle
- California’s wild North Coast — a place of cold and fog, charming Victorian towns, and impossibly tall trees — is different than the rest of California. The North Coast Journal captured the spirit of the region with a gallery of 54 photos from over the past year.
- A few years ago, a San Francisco photography hobbyist made a splash on social media with his color-themed photo collages of San Francisco. Now Travis Monson has organized his trove of photographs into a series of new works. See 14 of Monson’s collages on Reddit.
Thanks for reading!
The California Sun is written by Mike McPhate, a former California correspondent for the New York Times.
Make a one-time contribution to the California Sun.
Give a subscription as a gift.
Get a California Sun mug, T-shirt, phone case, hat, or hoodie.
Forward this email to a friend.
Click here to stop delivery, and here to update your billing information. To change your email address please email me: mike@californiasun.co. (Note: Unsubscribing here does not cancel payments. To do that click here.)
The California Sun, PO Box 6868, Los Osos, CA 93412
Wake up to must-read news from around the Golden State delivered to your inbox each morning.