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Death Toll Rises to 10 as Wildfires Rage in Los Angeles; Race to Contain L.A. Fires Intensifies as Winds Strengthen; Natural Disaster Created Losses Worth $320 Billion in 2024; Fires Push Air Quality to Hazardous Levels in L.A. Area. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired January 10, 2025 - 04:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[04:30:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: California firefighters are racing to put out several major wildfires that are tearing through neighborhoods in Los Angeles. The overall death toll has risen to 10 and authorities are warning the total may grow. Officials expanded evacuation orders on Thursday after a new fire broke out near the border of Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

Now California's governor says he's sending 900 more firefighters to battle the new fire. Officials say intensifying winds and dry conditions will continue to complicate firefighting efforts into next week.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is facing criticism for being out of town when the flames erupted and over budget cuts that affected the city's fire department months ago.

Here's how she responded on Thursday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAREN BASS, (D) LOS ANGELES MAYOR: These fires are burning now. Our job is to make sure that people stay alive, that we save lives, that we save homes, that we save property. And I also said that when the fires are out, we will do a deep dive. We will look at what worked. We will look at what didn't work. And we will let you know.

Until then, my focus is on the TV screens behind you that are showing devastation that has continued. Thank you.

Answered it in the morning. Answered it now. Won't answer it again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: CNN's Nick Watt gives us a closer look at the devastation across Los Angeles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, there's the red plane swooping in to save us. NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sadly, a little too late for this fleeing family. This morning, we found what's left of their home. Nothing.

Thousands of homes have been lost across the county, plus businesses and more. Fifty billion dollars worth of damage. But the winds finally eased, so now they can attack these flames from the air.

All last night, we heard the planes, a reassuring sound in a fire. But winds will pick up again, blow through Friday night and get stronger again next week. More than 6,000 personnel now fighting the worst fires in the history of this great city.

MARK PESTRELLA, DIRECTOR, LOS ANGELES COUNTY PUBLIC WORKS: Sewer, water, your power system and the transportation system have all been significantly damaged.

[04:35:00]

WATT (voice-over): We know the depth of the devastation, we can see it, the death toll. Well, it's just too early to tell.

SHERIFF ROBERT LUNA, LOS ANGELES COUNTY: At one point, we'll be able to do a more thorough search of these impacted areas. Some of them look like a bomb was dropped in them, where we will be able to bring in canines and other things to help us hopefully not discover too many fatalities. That's our prayer.

WATT (voice-over): Forty-three acres burned in Hollywood last night. Hollywood, chaos in such a tight urban environment. In Santa Monica, a sunset-to-sunrise curfew kicked in last night as the Palisades fire threatens. So far across L.A., 20 alleged looters arrested, accused of preying on houses, left standing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shame on those who are preying on our residents during this time of crisis.

WATT (voice-over): Here in Pacific Palisades, where entire neighborhoods are just gone, arson investigators are today on the ground. And the post-mortem is already underway. Did the L.A. mayor's cuts to the fire department budget hamper the effort?

KAREN BASS, (D) LOS ANGELES MAYOR: There were no reductions that were made that would have impacted the situation.

WATT (voice-over): And that loss of water in the hydrants here in the Palisades at the peak of the blaze, Governor Gavin Newsom visited again today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why was there no water in the hydrants, Governor?

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): It's off literally --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it going to be different next time?

NEWSOM: It has to be. WATT (voice-over): But for neighborhoods like this and the people who once lived here, now what?

WATT: Now, we've met people who have walked miles into the evacuation zone to see if their house is still standing. It's very seldom good news for these people. Most houses are just gone. I've also heard of kids charging people a few bucks to come in on their bicycles to check on houses. The money they're giving to a fund to help the victims of this fire.

Nick Watt, CNN, Pacific Palisades, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Amid all the devastation, some are peddling false claims and conspiracy theories. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has been complaining about federal, state and local officials' response to the wildfires and about water shortages in some fire hydrants. And he made false claims that the California governor refused to sign the water restoration declaration. But there's no such document.

On Thursday, the U.S. president appeared to push back against Trump's comments and the spread of misinformation. Joe Biden explained that utility companies will sometimes shut down power to avoid causing more fires, which means water can't be pumped from hydrants without a generator.

Chad Hansen is the author of "Smokescreen, Debunking Wildfire Myths to Save Our Forests and Our Climate." He's also a forest and fire ecologist with the John Muir Project. He spoke to my colleague Kim Brunhuber a short while ago about the circumstances that made the L.A. wildfires so dangerous.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHAD HANSON, FOREST AND FIRE ECOLOGIST, JOHN MUIR PROJECT: We're seeing the upper end of extreme fire behavior. You know, these fires, the Palisades fire and the Eden fire in particular, we're seeing the result of a convergence of circumstances. A very, very dry fall and early winter, very little precipitation and Santa Ana winds, and not just any Santa Ana winds because they're always powerful, but an extreme version of the Santa Ana winds where we have not just the dry, dry winds with relative humidity in the single digits, but we have wind gusts of 60, 80, 100 miles per hour.

In conditions like this, these fires are going to spread. They're going to spread fast. They're going to move where the wind puts them and moves them, and it is not possible for firefighting forces to stop fires like this.

The only thing that they can do in that circumstance is try to get people and their animals out safely and help them evacuate, save homes, save lives. And that's what they prioritize. They prioritize saving lives, and that's what they could do. I don't think anything else could have been done in this circumstance. But, you know, in terms of the water policy, I don't see any evidence

that this was about a lack of water. It's about an infrastructure that was designed to put out a fire in a single house with a fire hydrant, and it's perfectly adequate for that.

Maybe two houses, an apartment building, a commercial structure. The infrastructure with the fire hydrants, that's what it's designed for, you know, individual residential fires. It's not designed to address a situation where you have several hundred homes simultaneously engaged in flames in a fire that's rapidly moving.

The sky has turned dark because there's so much smoke ending down by the millions, and you've got wind gusts that could blow people off their feet.

[04:40:03]

You know, it's -- I don't think this is a time for finger pointing. I think this is a time to soberly consider the evidence of what works best in terms of saving lives and saving homes and how to best protect communities.

What we need to do, instead of, you know, political opportunism to, you know, promote logging policies from certain members of Congress who have been trying to do that for years. Again, we need to put the partisanship aside and come together and look, you know, carefully at the science and the science is clear. To protect communities, to save lives, it's about home hardening, it's about defensible space pruning, and it's about evacuation planning and assistance.

And it's about the funding necessary to do those things and provide the technical expertise to communities so they can do it effectively. If we do that, we will save thousands and thousands of homes and many lives.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: From the floods in Valencia to Hurricane Milton last year, climate change has had a heavy price tag attached to it. In fact, it's estimated the current California wildfires have incurred losses worth up to $50 billion. CNN's Anna Stewart has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Last year was very costly due to natural disasters, hurricanes, storms and floods all around the world. Munich Re, the world's biggest insurer, estimated total losses of $320 billion, with $140 billion covered by insurance, so less than half. Climate change is playing a big role, according to Munich Re's chief scientist.

TOBIAS GRIMM, HEAD OF CLIMATE ADVISORY: We saw a number of extreme weather events in many countries, including Canada, United Arab Emirates, Spain and Brazil. We all have the pictures in mind with the airport in Dubai knee-deep in water, with the city of Valencia where cars were swept away in mud like toys, with areas that were widespread flooded in Brazil, in Central and Eastern Europe, in China and in many other regions. Climate change is showing its claws.

STEWART: The two costliest, most destructive disasters of last year were both in the United States, hurricanes Helene and Milton. The aftermath led to losses of $56 billion and $38 billion, respectively. Now, the current wildfires in California aren't included in this report, given it's a new year, but JPMorgan Chase has estimated that already economic losses stand close to $50 billion.

Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: For many homeowners in California, the devastation wrought by the fire will be compounded by the fact that they don't have insurance to cover the damage. That's because some insurance companies have dropped many customers in the state, because between 2020 and 2022, insurance companies declined to renew 2.8 million homeowner policies in California. That includes more than half a million in L.A County alone.

The state has set up a program aimed at making alternate insurance available, but it comes with higher premiums and lower coverage, forcing many homeowners to go without.

Now, 2024 has now officially become the hottest year on record, according to the latest data from Europe's climate monitoring agency, Copernicus. The milestone caps a decade of unprecedented heat, whilst also breaching a critical climate goal.

CNN's Chad Myers explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm CNN meteorologist Chad Myers, and this is your Copernicus climate change update. For the year 2024, it was the warmest year on record, probably surprising no one. But what did surprise me, 1.6 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. And a lot of that was in the oceans.

You see here for the warmest on this dark red here, warmest in the Indian Ocean, part of the Atlantic. Obviously, we had rapidly intensifying hurricanes, a number of them in the Atlantic, very rapidly intensifying typhoons, cyclones here in the Pacific and also in the Indian Ocean.

So it was a warm year. It started out very warm. It was much warmer even than 2023, the line that you see here.

Now, even though we transitioned to La Nina by the end of the year, we were still very, very close to that warm 2023. And so because we had so much area here above 2023, only a little bit of area here below 2023, this turns out to be the warmest year on record for planet Earth.

There you see the rankings, a little bit of cool water in the Pacific, but not very much. It's very hard to find a cool spot on this map. 1.6 degrees Celsius above what we're trying to hold, which is 1.5.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[04:45:00]

FOSTER: This just into CNN. Israel has identified the remains of another hostage recovered from Gaza. Military officials say 23-year- old Hamza al-Ziyadnah was found dead in a tunnel in the Rafah area. The announcement came just two days after the remains of his 53-year- old father Yousef also identified. He was found in the same part of Gaza as his son. Both father and son were kidnapped from an Israeli kibbutz where they worked during the Hamas attack on October the 7th, 2023. They belonged to a Muslim Bedouin community that lives in southern Israel.

Now, the scale of the fire damage in Los Angeles is being revealed as many people begin to return to their communities and the potential health hazards from the wildfires in southern California are serious, even for those far from the flames. Details when our coverage continues in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is how hot the fire was. This is my Harley Davidson.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I didn't even recognize that that was a motorcycle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that right there, where you see the exhaust pipe, that used to be my Yamaha. So it was so hot that all the aluminum from the frame and everything melted. All that's left is the engine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's wild.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, one resident there in Southern California pointing out the utter destruction caused by the wildfires. Firefighters are trying to race to control a series of major fires that are burning in Los Angeles as the strong gusty winds that fueled the flames continue to pick up again. At least 10 people have died, and officials are warning the total number could go higher.

Tens of thousands of homes, businesses, vehicles, they've been utterly destroyed by the flames, with the coastal Palisades fire now the most destructive ever to hit Los Angeles County.

Latest satellite images show the flames are mostly out in Altadena, but the Eaton fire is still raging there in the mountains.

The wildfires have pushed air quality to hazardous levels across Southern California. The excessive smoke and ash have led to air quality alerts in much of the region. The tracking site Worldwide Air Quality says the high levels in recent days surpassed even that of New Delhi, a city notorious for air pollution. And the threat to people's health extends far beyond the immediate area of the wildfires.

CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, has advice on how to protect your health.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Just about anything you might imagine is going to be inside that smoke. But it is important to draw a little bit of a distinction between standard forest fire and what they call the wildland urban interface.

Think about that urban setting that you're looking at there. You're burning everything, plastics and metals. You're unearthing certain metals that are even in the soil, cars and electronics and carpets and drapes. All of that gets into the atmosphere.

[04:50:00]

These compounds, benzene and formaldehyde and toluene, all these types of things are in the air and people are breathing them in.

Now, initially, you may not have sort of classic symptoms of smoke inhalation injury. It may be more sort of burning eyes and scratchy throat, even vaguer symptoms like headaches, for example. But eventually, people may develop breathing difficulties and even chest pain. That's because of the toxicity of the smoke.

But it's also really small particle sizes as well. Something known as particulate matter 2.5. And what that means is basically particles as small as one twentieth the width of human hair. You breathe that in, that goes into your bronchioles, it goes into your lungs, it gets into your bloodstream and can eventually affect just about every organ in the body. So that's why there's so much concern there. That can cause sort of this systemic inflammation.

There are things you should do to protect yourself and keep in mind that these toxins in the smoke can travel. They can get miles into the air and they can travel miles with all the wind.

So even if you're not directly in the path of the smoke or the fires, you need to be careful here. Stay inside as much as possible. If you do need to go outside, think about wearing an N95 mask, a high quality mask.

Inside, portable indoor air cleaners. That can be really helpful to keep that indoor environment as clean as possible. Now is a good time to look at the filters on your HVAC system. Make sure they're up to date.

And also, if you're driving around, turn on the recirculation button on your car. You want to keep the air circulating inside without bringing outside air in.

It's a dangerous situation. Obviously, there's a lot of toxins in the air, but there are also ways to try and protect yourself.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Still ahead, the wildfires in L.A. are impacting the city's biggest sports teams as well. The NFL and NBA react to the disaster next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Fire officials in Los Angeles fear stronger winds and more dry conditions will continue for the next several days into the early part of next week. It'll further complicate efforts to fight the series of fires burning around the city. The crews are battling five major fires right now.

More than 5,000 buildings have been damaged or destroyed in Pacific Palisades alone, leaving tens of thousands of people homeless. Authorities have confirmed 10 fire-related deaths but expect that number will rise considerably.

Hollywood celebrity is sharing with us what remains of where she once lived. Paris Hilton posted this video on X. It shows the charred remains of her Malibu home. Hilton wrote, I'm standing here in what used to be our home, and the heartbreak is truly indescribable.

Like others, Hilton said she learned her Malibu home was lost while watching it burn live on TV. Writing on her Instagram page, the image is something no one should ever have to experience.

The California fires are taking a toll on everyone, including animals, but kindness abounds. Despite the destruction, CNN captured the moment a man rescued an injured stray dog from the wildfire rubble. Samantha Lindell has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAMANTHA LINDELL, CNN DIGITAL CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): Rick Miller was checking in on a friend's house in Altadena, California, when he noticed an injured stray dog across the street. He decided to see if he could help.

RICK MILLER, CALIFORNIA RESIDENT: We're caring for each other. Everyone needs help. Sorry for crying, but it's really emotional seeing like my friends lose their houses and people losing their animals and trying to help each other out.

LINDELL (voice-over): Miller says the wildfires have taken a toll on everyone, and the least he could do is try to give back.

MILLER: It seemed like all your friends and family are losing their houses, and he's trying to help them out. Like our house was, you know, fortunately, my house was saved, but a friend is right across the street, their house is gone. That's why you just want to help your friends out, help your families out, help the animals out.

LINDELL (voice-over): Miller said he ultimately decided to bring the dog to the Pasadena Humane Society in hopes of giving the animal a better future. The Pasadena Humane Society confirmed they received the stray dog and was treated for burns and exposure to smoke.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Our chief -- rather chef, Jose Andres and his charity World Central Kitchen have been on the ground across the fire hit areas in Los Angeles County setting up mobile kitchens for those who need the most, first responders and evacuees. Chef Andres told CNN's Anton Cooper that he hopes to offer more than just a warm meal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSE ANDRES, WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN FOUNDER: As people are going back to their neighborhoods, when they are able to go back and they give them permission, we need to make sure we are there next to them with water, with food, not because sometimes the food is not available to them, but because sometimes people they need to feel that somebody out there is there to care for them, to show them love, to show them empathy. Adaptation in these moments is the most important in emergency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: I learned this morning the Duke and Duchess of Sussex who live of course near L.A. have been in touch with the chef to see what they can do to help. They've also opened up their home to people that they know who needed to evacuate.

Meanwhile, the wildfires ravaging Los Angeles have forced two major sports leagues to change their schedules.

The NFL is relocating the upcoming wild card playoff game between the L.A Rams and Minnesota Vikings from Southern California to Glendale, Arizona. And in basketball, the NBA postponed Thursday night's home game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Charlotte Hornets. The league will announce a new date at a later time.

Thanks for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Matt Foster from London. CNN "THIS MORNING" with the latest on the fires coming up next here on CNN.