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Strong Winds Picking Back Up In Fire Zone In L.A. County; Aerial View Of Fire Devastation; Very Dangerous Weather Conditions Will Continue Into Next Week As Fires Ravage LA County. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired January 11, 2025 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:21]
ANNOUNCER: This CNN Breaking News.
JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM, and I'm Jessica Dean in New York.
And the winds are picking back up and new areas of west Los Angeles could soon be threatened by the Palisades Fire. Flames are encroaching toward the 405, that major freeway running on the west side of Los Angeles and threatening communities just west of the freeway.
Now, residents, firefighters and city officials are all working to maneuver and survive what is a hellscape.
Joining us now, CNN's Stephanie Elam, who's in L.A.'s Brentwood neighborhood. That would be more to the eastern side of this fire.
Stephanie, your vantage point there. I know you've been watching teams all day in the sky, on the ground. What more can you tell us?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, I wanted to show you something different this hour because I want to highlight this ridge behind me. We're on top. It looks like that sandy color up there. You can see there's a vehicle up there. We watched them bulldoze that and make it wider. And we now know why they have been doing that. And that is because we were just informed by LAFD, the Los Angeles Fire Department, that the winds are about to change.
And so this fire that you've been seeing burning here next to us and has been burning for quite some time, and they've been manning and watching through this Mandeville Canyon here. The winds are going to change. And these fires that are burning here are going to head toward where were standing. So what they're trying to do is create defensible space. That is a place where they can make sure that they have a break so that the fire does get there they can stop it.
They have a place where they can actually set up and fight against it. So it doesn't go further into the communities. So this is something that they're preparing for right now. It looks very smoky. They've been out here attacking it from the sky, which is a huge, huge help, something that they have not been able to do at the beginning of these fires when we had those hurricane force winds coming in on Monday. So since then they've been able to really, really make a big
difference here. That smoking up there, that white smoke, that's a good sign. It's not the dark black smoke which means something is really burning. This is where they've been able to make some real changes there because we saw active flames on that ridge there. So showing you the difference here.
Also worth noting that this idea of mutual aid in California, which is a huge part of how California is able to battle wildfires, that means if there's a big need in one part of the state, other parts of the state will send their firefighters to be here. So I've seen firefighters from Northern California. I've also seen that we've had firefighters coming in from other states, like that fire truck that's there in the distance behind me is from Utah.
In fact, eight different states, I think, including also Canada and Mexico, have sent firefighters here to help battle these blazes. And what we're really concerned now is these winds and how they're going to come up and all of this vast area of dry brush, which is super dry now, but is also grown up after two full wet seasons that we had where we got a lot of water, a lot of rain, and then you have this year.
This wet season is the driest start on record -- in 80 years of record. So we have not had enough rain this season. We are back in drought here in L.A. County and that is the exact concern and why they are preparing for a lot of this. That's just under the ridge here to potentially go up in flames, especially as those winds pick up again tonight. And I can already tell you, since I talked to you last time, that the winds are getting stronger.
And so this is something that does happen here with these winds coming through. But they can throw fire. And when they throw fire, it can go really quickly into other trees, cars, homes. And that's why they become so destructive.
And you know, when you talk to these firefighters, Jessica, they hate losing one house. They get upset about losing one house. I talked to so many firefighters all the time. To lose these many houses is devastating for these firefighters. But they are out here. They're working hard to do their best.
Governor Gavin Newsom doubling the number of California National Guard members that are out here to help secure places because of looting and to keep people from trying to take advantage of people on the worst days of their life. So all of this trying to come together to keep these areas safe. But all in all, we are preparing for, as the sun starts to go down here, for the winds to change and potentially the fire that's down that canyon coming back this way. So they're preparing for it now.
DEAN: Now, Staphanie, those firefighters are true heroes. What they are doing right now is incredible, incredible work. I just want to make sure we're understanding you because we are getting this new information from you that they are concerned that the winds are now going to shift and that that's going to shift the direction of the fire. Right? [19:05:03]
ELAM: It could, and that's what they're preparing for. And so that's what they wanted us to be prepared for, is that if the winds start to change and the fire does move this way. Now granted, there is a lot of space between us and where the fire is burning on the other ridge there, but still, they just want to be prepared for when this happens.
They're still out here flying. There's a helicopter coming my way right now. They're still putting out hotspots. So doing all that they need to especially before the wind changes. And so what was burning here before, when I was talking to you, I can see that they've been able to put out. And I can see that it's smoking, but like the big flames are not large right now.
Here's another helicopter that's coming. So down in the canyon, they are still working to put the flames out. They're not just like, you know, saying that this is a done deal. No, they're still working on it. This is still a very active fight here. But the winds are going to change direction. And that's a huge part of what they do here is monitor those winds so they're prepared for where the fight is going to go.
DEAN: Unbelievable. All right, Stephanie Elam, with the very, very latest there from the eastern part of that Palisades Fire. Thank you so much, Stephanie, for that latest reporting.
Joining us now, Cal Fire Deputy Chief Brice Bennett.
Thank you so much for making time for us. I know you guys are quite busy right now. We just heard from our correspondent Stephanie Elam, who's there with the Palisades Fire talking about the winds. Obviously that is a huge piece of what you all are dealing with right now.
What can you tell everyone about the conditions and what you're looking at as we head into the next couple of hours?
DEP. CHIEF BRICE BENNETT, CAL FIRE: Well, the conditions are definitely hot and dry and dangerous. I'm really glad Stephanie got that shot to show you just how treacherous that terrain is and how thick that brush is in those areas, and you got to see what -- how we actually build containment lines by using bulldozers to cut ridgetop lines. And you also see air tankers pre-treat with retardant the opposite side of that ridge line that firefighters, if the weather conditions allow, will use fire to fight fire.
And this is where we're removing the fuel from out in front of it, where we believe the fire is going to go. However, we only do that if the conditions meet a criteria. Now, I'm not sure that they meet that tonight because I'm not there. But just having a look at that, you can see how the smoke is minimal or the air is clear so that all the aircraft can fly and have a strong effort to put in the work, but also to be working with the crews on the ground because air tankers by themselves or helicopters by themselves, are not nearly as effective as everybody working together as a team at the same time. DEAN: Yes, it is incredible to see how this all works together to try
to save lives and save homes and buildings and businesses. You mentioned the tankers that are in the air. We've seen those air drops all afternoon. Obviously, as you say, those conditions have been available to them. They've been able to fly.
Are you -- how confident are you that they'll be able to keep flying? And I'm sure that's something you're monitoring really minute by minute as these conditions evolve.
BENNETT: Right. One of the other things that you maybe don't see are aircraft above the air tankers. These are the air tank group supervisors, the HLCO. These are the air traffic controllers above the fire that are actually directing the aircraft where to go. That's what keeps the fixed wing assets in a certain area and the helicopters in another area. And they use them tactically as best they can.
They got to use the right tool for the right job. So just working alone, without the coordination on the ground or if they're working in an area that doesn't have fire fighters, it's so much more effective when we have the fire fighters in place in those areas, on those ridge tops where you've seen that line cut to work along with the tankers. And that's where we see the success of actually getting what we call black line.
And that's where we are confident that the ridge will hold. However, with the wind conditions predicted and what we were hearing from the National Weather Service, when it can carry an ember miles away due to 40, 50, 60-mile-an-hour winds, it doesn't really how big -- I mean, there's no line you can cut that can stop that. So what we need to do is we need to have everyone ready to be able to evacuate if necessary, depending on where the winds blow the fire.
DEAN: And I think what you're saying there underscores what we've been trying to telegraph for the last several hours, which is just how catastrophic this is. What a perfect storm this is for just horrific wildfires. You're talking about the winds and tiny embers and even doing everything they're doing right now. If that kicks back up, how difficult that is to guard against.
I am curious if you feel like you all and your teams have the resources they need to do their jobs effectively.
BENNETT: Well, two-part question there. Yes, we have the resources we need. We had all kinds of resources pre-positioned before the even fire started. We're prepared. California is the best in the world at this, at moving resources and preparing for these types of disasters.
[19:10:07]
However, we don't know what Mother Nature is going to bring us, and she's in charge, so we'll do everything we can with what we have. But all in all, in the end, it's how strong are the winds, how dry are they, where they come from, and if and when they blow the fire a different direction. DEAN: And how about the men and women who are heroically fighting
these fires? Are they -- how are they doing? Are they -- have they been able to get -- how are you making sure they're OK and able to keep going? Because I know they've just been at this for hours and days on end.
BENNETT: Right. And we're no stranger to possibly getting what we call double shifted. So firefighters will work on initial attack and then they'll continue to through the next day. So sometimes you end up working a 24, 36, 48-hour shift initially, but then what it turns into, into 24 hour sections, and we have shifts so that we can get crews off the line, get rested, get resupplied, get nutrients. They need to eat. Make sure they're getting all the water to replenish electrolytes and whatnot so they're healthy and rested for the next day.
It's just an ongoing thing that we see here in California. And that's a big part to do with the master mutual aid system we have so that we can have enough firefighters on the line, while the other firefighters from the day before are resting for the next day's work.
DEAN: And what you're talking about there is what Stephanie was talking about, which is if there is a part of California in need, firefighters from other parts of the state can go to that area and help kind of backfill, right, the local firefighters there?
BENNETT: Right. But here's the other piece of the puzzle. It's not like everybody else doesn't have emergencies when these are going on. The regular business of cities, people need to call 911. People have medical emergencies. All of those calls still need to be answered. And that's where the incident management teams come into play when they come into an area and take over the responsibility of the fire and putting it out so that the local agencies can still handle the regular calls for service.
DEAN: All right. Deputy Chief Brice Bennett, we really appreciate you making time for us. Thank you.
BENNETT: Absolutely. Thank you.
DEAN: Up next, what we know about the shifting Santa Ana Winds, what's ahead in the hours to come or what could potentially be ahead. That's next.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:17:15]
DEAN: Tonight L.A. County fire officials are warning there will be more public safety power shutoffs. That's in preparation for what they're calling life threatening Santa Ana Winds.
Meteorologist Chad Myers is joining us from the CNN Weather Center.
Chad, tell us more about these wind threats.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Sure. The PSPS is about turning the power off to the power lines before a branch knocks that power line off and creates more sparks. We just don't need more sparks. There are plenty of them out there. The air pressure between the high and the low tightening up a little bit right now. So the wind is about to get a little bit higher. So likely in the 20 to 30-mile-per-hour range. And that's a decent Santa Ana by itself. But on the ridge tops, Jessica, we could be talking 40 to 45 miles per hour as we work our way into tomorrow morning.
So even here, here's 8:00 tonight, Pacific Palisades, you're at 22 miles per hour, and we don't need those numbers that high because I just looked at radar. And you can look at your local radar, too. Your doppler radar. You can actually see the ash on the radar. If you look, you can see it streaming into the ocean. Well, when it was really burning earlier this week, you could see it burning.
You could see those ash particles 60 miles out into the ocean. And right now you don't see very many. So they are getting a handle on some of these fires. There's not as much smoke in the air. There's not as much ash in the air. But, look, when you get to 43 miles per hour in Malibu, just blowing all the way through these fires, these embers that are going there, that is going to create more and more flare up.
They are getting the flare-ups taken care of right now, but not 100 percent. We were down to about five or 10 miles per hour earlier in the day. Now I move you head all the way until Tuesday. 32 Malibu, 16 Pacific Palisades, higher on the ridge tops. This is the transverse range. This is a mountain range up here. So that's why you're always going to see the wind speeds more colorful up here because there's ridge tops up there.
That's where it is. That's where the mountains are. And then the mountains go down. And then all of a sudden that's where the wind ends up in the valley. So we are going to be critical. There are three layers of warnings here for enhanced, critical and extremely critical. And we talk about the level two. That's where we are right now and that's where we will be for the next four days straight.
When we were at 100 miles per hour, we were at category three of three. So now we're at two of two, two of three, but we're not going to ever go back down to one of three for at least for a while. And all of the areas that you see here where the fires are so active, you're back here into the severe drought, where it's not as droughty, we're not seeing as many fires, but where it is really significantly full of drought. That's where we're seeing the fires mostly.
[19:20:03]
Moving on to Monday, the smoke has moved away from L.A., and that may actually enhance the air quality just a little bit by the end of the weekend into Monday -- Jessica.
DEAN: Wow, we can hope for that. Also so much of this has been about how dry it's been in that whole area, just the lack of rainfall. What more do you know about that?
MYERS: You know, I just went through my iPhone pictures and February 5th, I was about five miles from where Stephanie Elam is right now looking at the fires. I was standing in a flash flood 11 months ago. I was standing in mud, water coming down the streets, Hollywood Hills, all the way out toward Ventura. It was a flooded mess, but that water then grew the plants nice and healthy. And then it stopped raining in March. And then those plants died.
And when the plants died, then they became tinder, and then they just dried out. And now a spark and a wind and that type of growth that we happened when we were really in La Nina, we had a lot of growth then, well, now we're not. Now we're really seeing this El Nino-La Nina flip here. That's where the rainfall has stopped. The sun has come out obviously all summer long. And we've dried this out to a tinderbox.
And with four more days of critical wind, I think that smoke coming back on the radar is probably likely. At least they got some knocked down today. Today was their big day to get it done, and it looks like they did.
DEAN: Yes, that's what we want to hear.
All right, Chad Myers, thank you very much for that.
We're going to have much more on the California wildfires in just a minute, including a view from the air that shows just how devastating these fires have been and continue to be.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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[19:26:19]
DEAN: California Governor Gavin Newsom doubling the amount of National Guard troops who are aiding in fighting the fires in Los Angeles County as strong winds are picking up today. Officials are concerned that the fires will grow larger. The Palisades and Eaton Fires are now among the top five most destructive fires in the state's history. More than 100,000 Californians are under evacuation orders, and so far 11 people have lost their lives. That number sadly is expected to rise.
CNN's Erin Burnett got a look at the unfathomable devastation from the air while on board a helicopter.
BURNETT: Yes, I mean, Jessica, one of the things that is so striking when you fly into Los Angeles right now is that it goes from blue sky to just a sea of sort of reddish black. And downtown Los Angeles emerges almost suddenly amidst all of that smoke.
We went up by air in a helicopter to get a sense of the scale. You're talking about the second largest city in America. Just the scale from the sky of what we're looking at with these massive fires. And here's what we saw.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOSH ZAIDA, PHOTOJOURNALIST: So right now we're south of the Palisades and the fire. Looking up, you can see this is PCH right here.
BURNETT: Pacific Coast Highway, running right along the Pacific Ocean. Yes.
ZAIDA: Yes. And then leading up into Malibu.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll take a picture and once again I get (INAUDIBLE).
ZAIDA: And even here it's almost impossible to see with all the smoke.
BURNETT: Yes. Flying into this, it is like you're flying into a complete wall of fog. It almost doesn't even look like that. It just looks like an actual wall. Like a white wall.
ZAIDA: Yes.
BURNETT: That we're flying into.
ZAIDA: There's a fire bomber just dropped retardant right there.
BURNETT: All right, so that red that we're looking at is fire retardant. There we go.
ZAIDA: Yes.
BURNETT: We're zooming in on it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just got there. Those pictures live right now.
BURNETT: That plane is dropping that there. So that is an active area then in the Palisades Fire.
ZAIDA: Yes, that's their way of setting a defense wall from the fire progressing any further. And when they are referring to containment this is what they're talking about is where have they set up their defense, and 100 percent containment pretty much means that they've set up their defense in a circle around the fire and the circle is complete.
BURNETT: And that is really important to understand that containment doesn't mean it's not burning. It means that they've been able to establish a perimeter.
ZAIDA: Correct.
BURNETT: Essentially that they can defend. I mean, it's using words like, again, warzone words, right? But that's exactly what it is. You're setting up a line that you're going to make your frontline.
ZAIDA: Yes. You're containing the threat. You're not eliminating the threat. BURNETT: So this is the plane that just dropped the fire retardant
that we saw, and now it's going out. As it was doing that one thing that you could see being in a helicopter and all of the altitudes are -- is that right, is that how I say it?
ZAIDA: Yes. Altitude.
BURNETT: OK. So when you see that plane flying that dropped the fire retardant, as that was happening, there was a commercial flight that you could see nearby it. And all of this is happening in, you know, an incredibly busy airspace. There it is dropping more fire retardant right now. All of this is around the perimeter of the Palisades Fire, where they're trying to establish that defensive line.
ZAIDA: My in-laws actually lost their house in the Palisades Fire. And you know, it's something that's very hard to comprehend because, you know, you started the week just business as normal. And then, you know, by Tuesday night, they're wondering if their house is even still standing. And then Wednesday, you know, I was able to get up in the air and confirm that it was it was gone. So, that's their house right there in the center of the screen.
[19:30:16]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST (voice over): That's their house. So this is your in-laws house right here?
ZAIDA: Yes, and you know, a lot of memories with our three kids there and so it's just one of those things that you've just got to, you know, pick yourself up and rebuild. But you're not alone, you have a whole community that's suffering and try and, you know, bond together one day at a time. So, there's the entrance into the Getty.
BURNETT: All right, that is the Getty Museum, one of the Getty family and one of the preeminent art museums in the country. Certainly in LA, and they had right in the in the middle of the fire area, but had established a perimeter and were able to save. But look right there, right there next to it, complete devastation, total devastation.
And then can we swing back over to the Getty, there you go. Swing right back over to the Getty. And you see right there, they were able to save that.
This is the Palisades Fire in the distance, saw another giant, fire retardant plane flying through that. And then as we pan across, you can see the smoke over all of LA here. And coming in here, you're going to see it.
Finally, the iconic Hollywood, which you can barely see now because of the smoke, behind that is the Eaton Fire so, what we're looking at there, just over the hills and that volume of smoke that is the Eaton Fire.
This image is absolutely incredible. This looks like the aftermath of some sort of a bomb. And that's just the sun shining back through the Palisades. It does though -- it looks as if some a bomb had been dropped there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: You heard the photojournalist there that was up in the helicopter with me talking about his family's home here in Palisades that was razed to the ground.
One thing that stood out to me, I said, how did you, how could you tell that was exactly your family's home, your in-laws home? And he said, it's because I know the curve of the streets. I know the streets so well. And the end of that street, there was just a little hook. And that's how I was able to tell.
And somehow that really brings it home of just how devastating this is and how much these communities mattered, that he would be able to find a home just because he knew the curve of the streets.
He also said, and the pilot was, was talking about how they felt a little part of every single person in Los Angeles has burned down, that there is just a searing pain for so many across this city, just as they are getting ready to fight every day. Now, what could be another huge disaster in this city -- Jessica.
DEAN: All right, thank you for that, Erin.
And tonight, the power could be shut off to more areas as firefighters prepare for more life-threatening winds to hit Los Angeles County.
We're following all the developments for you. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:38:05]
DEAN: The situation across much of Los Angeles County remains dire as multiple fires there remain far from contained.
Moments ago, we learned very dangerous weather conditions are expected to continue into next week. This is coming from the National Weather Service.
However, during these dire moments, we're also seeing some of the best that humanity can offer. The planes that you are seeing in those other clips, right there, carrying more heroes. Firefighters from Mexico who will be joining the fight in California. Governor Gavin Newsom just posted that video on X.
And for the latest in all of this, let's go to CNN's Leigh Waldman, who is joining us now from Pacific Palisades.
Leigh, of course, that community simply devastated by the Palisades Fire that just ripped through there so quickly and caused such devastation. What can you tell us?
LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, I think the help that's coming from Mexico is so well-needed. There's already 14,000 troops on the ground here trying to fight this fire and you can see what this fire has done to this community.
House after house, completely destroyed. On the off occasion, we see some houses that look like they've been untouched. But house after house left in piles of rubble and ash here.
We've heard planes flying overhead as the wind gusts haven't picked up yet today. But they're flying overhead, flying towards the smoke off in the distance with those water drops and with the retardant drops to try and get this fire under control before the wind gusts come back again.
Now, the crews from Mexico coming in. There's also crews being sent from Texas, sent from Canada. All that help is so desperately needed to try and get these wildfires under control.
We know where we are here and the Pacific Palisades, there was some talk about hydrant issues, especially in those early days of Palisades Fire. There was accessibility issues, reports of those hydrants going dry.
Just a few moments ago, our crew, we saw some crews with LAFD coming through. They're turning off the water outside of homes.
You can see these homes are left destroyed, but the pipes a lot of times are still spewing out water, Jessica. And so, what they're doing is turning off the water for these individual homes. They said they're doing this in an effort to try and build back some of the desperately needed water pressure.
[19:40:28]
Gavin Newsom, the governor here, he's calling for an independent investigation into widespread accessibility and water pressure issues. So, they're hoping to combat those issues by turning off water.
Now, in just about an hour-and-a-half in this community and across LA County, there's going to be a curfew from 6:00 PM until 6:00 AM. That's in an effort to try and stop the looting that we've heard about.
You know, we talk about the best that comes out of humanity in light of these tragedies. It also sometimes brings out the worst in humanity as well. There's been arrest with looting. So this curfew is in place to try and cut down on that looting in this neighborhood.
We've been here for a few different nights now, and we've seen law enforcement coming through and patrolling, and we saw an LAPD helicopter yesterday doing circles around the neighborhood looking for any potential looters who are out here trying to take advantage of a tragedy like this one.
So, that curfew is going into effect tonight, like it had last night and the night before.
DEAN: Just disgusting behavior from people that would want to prey on people who have already lost so much.
Leigh Waldman, with the latest there in the Palisades. Thank you so much for that.
Meantime, President Biden remains at the White House this weekend as he's briefed on that evolving situation in California.
We'll have more on that. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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[19:46:30]
DEAN: And this video in just moments ago, as you see crews continuing to attack the fires by air before the winds spike as expected. This has been a nonstop effort all day long.
President Biden saying he remains in contact with both California Governor Gavin Newsom and other local leaders.
CNN's Julia Benbrook is joining us now live from the White House. And Julia, the president was supposed to be abroad. He canceled that trip to stay here and monitor what's going on in California. What more do you know about the federal government's response here?
JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, some new news that we've gotten today is that the ATF is going to lead the investigation into the Pacific Palisades Fire.
In a social media post, the ATF Los Angeles Office said that they will continue working in conjunction with state and local investigators on this. And two people who have been briefed on the matter and spoke with CNN said that their assistance was requested by local fire officials.
Now, they will be working to determine if line failures, arson or other causes played a role in the start of that devastating blaze. And that news comes as President Joe Biden continues to be regularly briefed about the efforts to suppress the fires across Los Angeles and how federal resources can be used to assist.
In fact, he took part in a briefing. He was here at the White House yesterday and both California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass participated virtually. Following that briefing, Biden said that he would continue working 24/7 with state and local officials on this.
That promise comes as he has just over a week left in office, and he's also addressing the fact that these recovery efforts are going to take a while.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to make sure California has every possible resource to fight these fires and help survivors. This is not going to be over even when all the fires are out. It's just going to be beginning. And the change in insurance policy in California for these modest homes, as well as these very expensive homes and businesses. So we are going to be around a long while to be able to help -- the federal government -- and the mayor as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BENBROOK: The president says that his team has been briefing the incoming administration. Biden has directed the federal government to cover 100 percent of the state's cost in this initial disaster response. That's the first 180 days, and FEMA has activated their Critical Needs Assistance Program. That's an initial one-time payment of $770.00 to cover initial needs like food, water, personal hygiene, baby formula, things like that.
The administration is also assisting by providing air tankers as well as helicopters that can help with the firefighting part of things.
As you mentioned, Biden was expected to be in Italy. He did cancel that trip so that he can be here. And aides say that he remains focused on directing the federal response -- Jessica.
DEAN: Julia Benbrook at the White House, thank you so much for that reporting.
California Governor Gavin Newsom's office says more than 12,000 personnel and 1,600 pieces of firefighting equipment have now been deployed in the battle to save people and property across LA County.
CNN chief climate correspondent, Bill Weir spoke with a former Forest Service firefighter who tried to put out the fast approaching flames with a garden hose and a chainsaw.
[19:50:02]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIRO SERRELL FREED, FORMER FOREST SERVICE FIREFIGHTER: This tree, like the fire, came right up to the property.
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
FREED: Like that tree torched out.
WEIR: For the last five years, Miro Serrell Freed was a hot shot putting out wild land blazes around Southern California. And all the while, he knew his own home atop a Sierra Madre ridge was a ripe fire target.
FREED: I've been doing, like, fuel reduction and defensible space, so I've been, like, lifting all the trees and, like, cutting everything back. So, in case a fire does happen, it can't get up into the trees and, like, torch out the building --
WEIR: And that paid off. FREED: It paid off, if I didn't do that, this would have all this would have been gone.
WEIR (on camera): Right.
WEIR (voice over): But he never imagined he'd have to defend his own neighborhood from a moving hellscape with a garden hose and a chainsaw.
He says that during repeated trips over multiple days, he had to beg for help from passing fire crews and even evade a police barricade.
FREED: They told me I looked tired and I should go find somewhere to sleep, and then threatened to put me in the cop car.
So, I know Sierra Madre. I know another way to get in. So, I snuck back up here and put out a bunch of fires and saved four or five homes from burning.
WEIR (voice over): When fire crews from Arizona finally arrived, Miro found himself in command.
FREED: I've been, like, telling them what's going on and, like, telling them what to do. It's been crazy.
Like, I'm not even paid for this. Like I always said, for the Forest Service, I like to do it, not for the money. It's like a great way to be outside and give service. But I never thought I'd be doing this (bleep) for free. Like its insane. Insane.
WEIR (on camera): Do you feel like you're in the clear yet? I mean, can you even relax?
FREED: Here we're fine. There's going to be another wind event. But the damage has been done. Like, everything is burnt and there's nothing left to burn, yes.
WEIR (on camera): What does that feel like? Have you been able to process that yet in terms of --
FREED: Yes, last night. I was up here by myself and, like, the lights were out and I was just crying. Just, we drove through, went by my Dad's house and we we're just crying the entire time. And just, yes, I called a couple of my crew members that I worked with, that are laid off and, yes, I just cried to them and yes, it's unreal, it's crazy.
WEIR (on camera): Miro tells me he resigned from the Forest Department as a hot shot. He's going to start his own business helping people with defensible spaces, clearing brush from around homes, and maybe getting rebates from insurance companies for doing that going forward.
Now, that the winds have been calm, at least for the last few hours, and now that there's a lot more crews in from other states, even the help is noticeable. There's some relief in these places. But those red flag warnings could be kicking back up. And these days, it's anybody's guess what happens next. Bill Weir, CNN, Sierra Madre.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: Bill, thank you.
The National Weather Service says very dangerous weather conditions will continue into next week. We are tracking the very latest in these deadly fires.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:57:39]
DEAN: Thousands and thousands of people have lost everything they own to these deadly wildfires in Los Angeles County, and will spend the coming days, weeks, months, years facing the aftermath of the devastation.
CNN's Kyung Lah spoke to one family who lost it all.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERT LARA, LOST HOME IN FIRE: I feel helpless and I feel like I need the help and I don't know where to go.
KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Robert Lara believed it was a blessing to have his entire family all in Altadena, California. With the Eaton Fire, it became a curse.
LARA: My uncle was on this street. His house is gone. My mom's house is gone. I'm gone.
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE speaking in foreign language.)
LAH: Lara, recorded as fire engulfed his street, his home, and his uncle's home on the same street burned.
His mother had already seen her home a few blocks away go.
LARA: I had my last little dinner here. There was no power and I still said, I'm holding the fort. I'll be the last one to leave. My house is not burning and it's gone. It's gone.
This is all I really wanted to get to and all I found was nothing.
LAH: What is that?
LARA: This was a passport. So, now I don't even have a passport. This was a passport book and it's gone.
Yesterday I had it all. I had a roof. I had a lawn for my dogs. And now I made a little confined square, not knowing where I'm going to go next. LAH: Domitila Hinojosa is Lara's mother, a diabetic who cares for her disabled son.
DOMITILA HINOJOSA, LOST HOME IN FIRE: This morning when I wake up, I say, oh, I need to go back to my house. What happened with my home? I want to go back, but I can't -- but I can't go back.
LARA: Mom, come inside.
LAH: This is what aftermath looks like. Donated clothes and living in a relative's Airbnb.
LARA: For just 12 months.
LAH: Dealing with the maze of home insurance.
LARA: This is definitely going to take a lot longer than 12 months.
LAH: And money.
A lot of people outside of California think it was celebrities who lost homes, rich people. Is that true?
LARA: This is your everyday, hard working. I work in construction, gardening, housekeeping, your everyday essential workers with nothing.
We still have to cover our mortgage; I've got my lender and I still have to continue paying.
