tonight, a special edition of "world news tonight" from california. the emergency unfolding here in los angeles county. 24 hours into this, you can feel

the heat, the smoke, and you certainly can see the flames over my shoulder here. home after home continuing to burn to the ground. entire neighborhoods lost. evacuations. the scope of the loss here unimaginable. tonight, the apocalyptic scene here on the ground in southern california. walls of flames destroying everything in their path. at least five unstoppable wildfires now burning through los angeles, destroying more than 25,000 acres. propelled by wind gusts topping 100 miles per hour. >> it is like driving through hell itself down here. >> david: home after home destroyed by the palisades fire. the death toll rising tonight. reports of many significant injuries. the panicked race to escape the flames. families racing to get out. some leaving their cars in the street, when flames were on top of them. bulldozers then plowing through the cars to try to get the fire trucks through. tonight, i traveled into the fire zone with the cal fire

battalion chief, right up into pacific palisades. our interview, as we witness home after home burning to the ground here. we're now 24 hours into this disaster. >> there's just no stopping it when the winds are this strong. >> david: hundreds of firefighters on the front lines tonight. and now fears some of these major fires could be on the move. our team across the fire zone, and ginger zee on the strength of these santa ana winds and the fire dangers, as we head into the night. also tonight, we're tracking a major winter storm, from texas over to the east coast. major snow in areas where they normally don't get it. we'll have the forecast. the other news tonight. police arresting a man allegedly trying to get into the u.s. capitol with a machete and multiple knives. what we've learned tonight. this evening, the collision at chicago's o'hare airport. an american airlines plane and a united plane on the taxiway. and tonight, the nation honoring former president jimmy carter, now lying in state in the capitol rotunda. his funeral to be held at the national cathedral tomorrow.

a special edition of "world news tonight" begins now. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news tonight" with david muir, reporting tonight from los angeles. good evening tonight from pacific palisades here in southern california, as multiple wildfires burn out of control across los angeles. severe drought and fierce santa ana winds, some gusting up to 90 and 100 miles per hour, have made for a deadly and horrific combination. turning parts of los angeles county into a hellscape tonight in just a matter of 24 hours. five major fires are now burning at this hour. we are in what's called palisades village right here, this is the town center of sorts, where there's normally shopping, a place to eat. tonight, as you can see here behind me, it's been completely wiped away. there are still flames burning from multiple buildings here,

tonight these fires, 0% contained. at least five lives have been lost. millions of americans here in one of the most densely-populated stretches of america remain on alert. iconic landmarks, including the hollywood sign and observatory appreciated tonight. the winds make it impossible for firefighting planes to take off. firefighters forced to take on these fires on the ground on their own. a torrent of embers from house to house. residents of a nursing home evacuating in the middle of the night. many wearing masks to present themselves from the dangerous air. many families stuck in traffic, abandoning their cars. many of their cars melting. they used bulldozers to push them to the side of the road to

get the fire trucks in. a striking image from above. an airliner capturing the spreading fire and lights of los angeles not far away. here we take you right up to the fire lines of pacific palisades. i travel in with the fire chief, showing us burning homes one after another. the threat into the night. but we begin with the images and our trip with cal fire right the fire lines late today here. tonight, the deadly, apocalyptic scene, wildfires tearing through los angeles. they now fear thousands of homes destroyed. at least five people dead. authorities saying there are many, quote, significant injuries. this evening across los angeles, there are now five major wildfires. the palisades fire. the eaton fire. the hearst fire, the lydia fire and woodley fire. fierce winds sending fire embers

down the street. the flames reaching the ocean. >> all this is going to be gone. >> david: we traveled fire chief battalion squad brent. this small school burning. >> you can hear the bangs going off. >> david: yeah, yeah. the fire's ripping through that school right there. the cars here charred. and then we see it, home after home burning. >> it's just jumping from home to home right now. with this wind, there's nothing to stop it. >> david: as we drive up into the hills, the charred cars where families simply stopped, got out and escaped. these people who were coming down from the hills here decided to give up, because the fire was encroaching? >> right, right. the traffic was so bad, they figured their chances were better getting out on foot and running the rest of

of here. >> david: i mean, it's an apocalyptic scene. >> it is. it is. you can see where the bulldozer pushed the cars aside. >> david: the bulldozer moving the cars so fire trucks could get through. we've not another multiple homes in a row here in flames. >> the wind is pushing this fire from home to home to home. you'll see it, it's even running down canyon to the homes below these homes. there's just no stopping it when the winds are this strong. everything's going to burn. >> david: smoke hovering over the homes. many still crackling from the flames. overnight, joshua and his dog trying to escape the fires surrounding them on sunset boulevard. captain eric scott with the l.a. fire department sharing this image from downtown los angeles. thick smoke taking over a view of the sky. air quality tonight, dangerous you. >> >> the fire's being fueled by

strong santa ana winds and surrounding topography, which makes it extremely challenging for us firefighters. >> david: authorities are calling this an extremely rare, life-threatening santa ana wind event. gusts reaching 100 miles per hour. 35,000 residents under evacuation orders. nearly a million without power. residents here tell us they lost everything. >> this is pretty devastating. pretty devastating. >> david: the california national guard has been called in. from the air, a fuller scope of the devastation. a united airlines passenger capturing this view out his window. that flight diverted. thousands of firefighters spreading out racing to contain the flames. the new fires jumping from home to home. and residents here doing whatever they can.

this young man trying to use a fire hose to beat back the flames in his own back yard. you can hear the intense fire crackling. the fire alarm going off. his friend wearing a mask, trying to help him. trying to save the home. >> we tried our best. >> reporter: they both escaped through the front door, running to safety. homes, trees all around them on fire. >> there's nothing we can do now, bro. >> david: and then they pray. >> god, protect this house in the name of jesus. protect this neighborhood, god, in jesus name i pray, amen. >> david: the palisades fire, entire streets engulfed. american flags waving as the building behind then is nearly gone. one firefighter with a hose trained at the front door, though every home there on fire. firefighting aircraft dropping water on burning homes.

the fire unrelenting. the fierce winds sending embers traveling miles away. fire and smoke pouring out of this home's window. some 40 miles away, the eaton fire in pasadena. tonight these new aerial images revealing what the wildfires have done there. >> these are sad sights. we've seen so much of this into last year and then now again in 2025. this is heartbreaking. i feel for these people. >> david: the pasadena preschool academy on fire. the residents at this senior living facility, the terraces at park marino rushed out of their bedrooms, wearing masks to protect them from the air. they were rescued. a heroic effort by the l.a. fire department and emergency response teams across the region tonight. they are saving lives amidst the horror. the scope of the loss here, though, is unimaginable. >> it's devastating. it's devastating, and i feel for those people. i've spoke to some of them. i hear it in their voices. it tears at my heartstrings,

too. but, like i said, at the end of the day, they were alive. they knew they would rebuild and come back better. and i just gave them a hug, and i said, you know, please reach out with anything you need. >> david: there's no question you've saved lives here. >> that was our goal. that's our number one priority. >> david: thank you. there's no question that the firefighters on the ground here are the real heroes in all of this. thousands of families here who at first took desperate measures to try to save their homes and then had to escape to save themselves. matt gutman is in malibu tonight on the race to save belongings, but most importantly, the race to save loved ones. >> reporter: tonight, abandoned cars, hillsides burning. the palisades fire scorching l.a.'s most upscale beach town of malibu. fleeing families trying to thread a tunnel of fire. >> all of pch is on fire right

now. it is like driving through hell itself down here. literally through hell. this is madness down here. these homes are on fire, and you can feel the heat from the flames from inside your car. >> hopefully they're going to save our house. >> reporter: frank tried to save his home himself. but with flames feet away, he had no choice but to get go his car and get out. >> look at this. look at this. everything is on fire. everything is on fire. i don't know what to do here. >> reporter: the firefighters spread so thin, the howling winds spreading flames like seeds across southern california. there is nothing left of these neighborhoods. house after house on both sides of the street completely gone. many of them still on fire. not a firefighter in sight. you can feel these embers being cast. and all that's left in many of these neighborhoods are just chimneys.

burning homes. and by daybreak the flames even stronger. the ferocity of what we are seeing this house that has become a blowtorch, very quickly igniting the other house. can you hear all that popping. gives you a sense of why so many neighborhoods here have been completely obliterated. and the fire chief admitting with five major fires burning around los angeles, they just can't fight them all. >> we're doing the very best we can, but no, we don't have enough fire personnel in l.a. county between all of the departments to handle this. >> reporter: david, it's still very much an active firefight here in malibu. they have been working on this house for hours. something else i want you to see. those downed power lines are one of the reasons that pacific coast highway is closed to everyone but first responders. and, with all of these rows of multi-million-dollar mansions here destroyed, locals and police are also, now, concerned about looting. david? >> david: all right, matt

gutman, who's been reporting on this all night long. as we were on the air earlier today we learned there are now five fires now burning here in the los angeles area. the eaton fire racing into a densely-packed neighborhood. multiple neighborhoods there in fact. destroying homes, businesses, multiple schools and a nursing home. the death toll rising across the region to at least five killed tonight. and there are reports of multiple, significant injuries. here's abc's kayna whitworth also here in california tonight. >> reporter: the deadly eaton fire raging out of control. east of the palisades fire, the braze racing down the mountains into densely-packed communities, killing at least five. many more injured, including a firefighter. the inferno taking out everything in its path. homes, businesses, schools. this is an elementary school. the building is starting to now completely fall apart. it's becoming pushed by these heavy winds. and, as it moves, it is turning

as you can see, day into night. pitch-black down that way. with barely any time to escape and the fire closing in, that assisted living facility evacuated. seniors with oxygen tanks and wheelchairs, some in hospital beds, embers flying around them. oh, this is falling, oh, man. the whole wall just fell down over there. i was there hours later. the facility gutted. as the wind picks up again, you're getting a really good idea of these embers and how they're flying through the air. we are utterly surrounded by fire. that fire exploding to more than 10,000 acres. the winds erratic, nearing 100 miles per hour. tens of thousands of homes threatened. neighbors desperately fighting to save their property. some stationed on rooftops. just minutes ago in that devastated community. >> this is really neighbors helping neighbors. you see some here with garden hoses doing what they can as firefighters have been stretched

incredibly thin in these neighborhoods. >> reporter: in another neighborhood, the simmington family losing everything. >> all this stuff is replaceable. people are not. so i'm happy, the family is the most important thing. >> reporter: and david, we have just learned from firefighters that it's possible that up to 500 structures have been damaged or destroyed in the eaton fire alone. david? >> david: kayna whitworth here in california. thanks to you and mola there. we were able to get back up into the air to see all of this from above. and it is staggering. gabe santos reporting in a short time ago on what he saw. >> reporter: david, this is about 10 or 15 miles from downtown los angeles. but it is a very-populated neighborhood in the suburbs. you can see just how vast of a scene this is. in this particular fire, we've counted alone, over 100 structures destroyed. it looks like that one's going

to be a complete loss. and the home right next to it. you have fire crews there on scene. we have a partial structure collapse. we saw the flames creep up the hill towards this home. and those fire protection crews are trying to get some of the flames out there, multiple neighborhoods that we've seen that appear to be completely flattened, as if a tornado or hurricane has swept through. it is almost emotional in nature when you take in how vast of an area has burned and the number of homes that have been burned so far, david? >> david: gabe santos and our team at kabc doing incredible and important reporting on the ground. i want to go to ginger zee tracking the winds, the danger going into the night again and another major storm from texas to the east coast. but first, the fire danger as we head into the night. what are you expecting? >> reporter: yes, david, we have a dangerous night ahead. we still have a lot of fires to fight and things are only going

to get they get worse again into friday. second driest period on record. we've got that santa ana setup with the very strong pressure gradient between the high and the low. but this one had super charging from that low pressure system in the upper levels. now that's going to slide over and bring a winter storm which we will talk about. but first, look at those red flag warnings that go all the way to the mexican border. we'll time it out to the 20 to 40-plus mile-per-hour gusts, then they perk back up. hollywood, 31. that's friday at 12:00 a.m. things are still going to be rough going into the end of the week. that low pressure system from dallas to little rock, memphis, all with winter storm warnings, going to bring wintry weather for northern mississippi, atlanta and travel between 20-40 and going into the mid atlantic is going to be messy going into

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machete and three knives. capitol police releasing this photo tonight, showing the weapons found in a bag as it went through the x-ray machine there. a 44-year-old man from washington, d.c. has been arrested tonight. his alleged motive unclear. authorities say there's no ongoing threat to congress or the public. when we come back here tonight, two passenger planes colliding at o'hare airport. and america pays tribute to former president jimmy carter. a remarkable image to show you right here tonight. (vo) oof, stuck paying for that old phone? don't be.

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one more image getting our attention. the firefighter with a rare moment to get some rest in the back of his fire truck. hundreds of firefighters with long hours ahead of them. so many haven't even taken a break yet. thousands here fight to rebuild. i'm david muir in los angeles. goodnight. lost and it is far from over. fierce firefights in los angeles county are drawing resources from right here in the bay area. >> i'm meteorologist sandhya patel, tracking the wind storm and the devastating wildfires in southern california. the latest forecast coming up. >> and the sound of a home burning is something that is

just otherworldly. >> he's living through a wildfire right now, something his family experienced locally not too long ago. >> from abc seven live. breaking news. >> dangerous, destructive and sadly deadly wildfires ripping through southern california are already setting records in terms of severity, and it is all hands to the pump to save both people and property. good evening. thank you for joining us. >> i'm dan ashley and i'm dion lim. if you've been watching our live stream, we've been streaming live coverage from our sister station in los angeles. bay area firefighters are helping fight wildfires in southern california, which flared up in those infamous santa ana winds. >> the palisades and eaton fires are the largest ever to happen in january. abc seven news anchor karina nova has been monitoring video of the destruction coming in from southern california. she is here with the very latest. just hard to watch karina. >> it is. images of the damage are astonishing. little by little, we're