and right now, on the afternoon edition, the battle against the southern california wildfires continues, with crews working nonstop, fighting the flames, sifting through the rubble and keeping a very close eye on the wind. good afternoon, i'm ryan yamamoto. more than 60mib2 are now scorched in the los angeles area with several fires burning. that's about three quarters of the size of oakland. the palisades fire and the eaton fires are the largest. in total, at least 24 people have died. more than 12,000 structures have burned. 88,000 people in l.a. county are under a mandatory evacuation orders. this is a live look from high above, as those fire crews are continuing to post as we zoom out there. this is probably near the palisades fire area, and you can see the burned out area of

those neighborhoods home after home, blocks after blocks, completely burned out. the l.a. county sheriff went on to talk about the curfews that do remain in effect for the evacuation order areas from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., >repopulation conversations are absolutely active and ongoing. i don't want to get too much into that. i don't want people to start thinking everything's okay now. everything's not okay yet. we'll get there. we'll get there together. but again, the winds blowing and it's going to continue to blow. >and as the fires continue to burn, so does the search for answers in all of this. charlie demar reports from la >as investigators race to try and prevent the spread of the fires, investigators are busy trying to determine how and where the fire started. the extreme fire danger is real, with another blaze breaking out last night north of l.a. in ventura county, forcing evacuations.

firefighters managed to stop its growth for now, but the fight continues in fire ravaged los angeles. that's the big piece is the winds, and they can blow embers, you know, two miles away, there's a red flag warning in effect, with potential wind gusts as high as 70mph, raising concerns even further inland. we just ask people, be extra vigilant as we move through yet another round of offshore winds. crews are putting out hotspots in the palisades fire, but as the smoke clears, questions arise. atf fire investigators were seen at the top of this ridge, a popular hiking destination in the pacific palisades, looking for evidence. officials are also trying to determine if embers from this new year's eve fire may have reignited to spark the massive palisades fire. residents who lost property in the eaton fire in altadena have filed lawsuits against southern california edison, claiming the utility triggered the blaze.

the company says the cause of the fire is still under investigation. a few miles from the front lines, this malibu beach has transformed into a temporary home base for thousands of firefighters to eat, sleep and recharge. we just eat whenever we can because we never know when we're going to have to go up there and fight a fire. inmates from california prisons prepare food and coffee. it's an honor and a privilege to be here, you know, serving the community, paying my debt to society. a team effort in these devastating fires. and with hurricane like winds expected, it is possible that helicopters and airplanes capable of dropping water and fire retardant could be grounded. >well, today, fema is opening recovery centers at ucla and pasadena city college, operating seven days a week for the next several weeks. and donald trump may be planning a visit to southern california next week to assess the wildfire damage. the wall street journal reports it would come after he is sworn in as

president on monday. the president elect has been critical of governor newsom for prioritizing environmental policy over public safety. let's give you another live look in this one in southern california. one of the fire zones right now, you can see the devastation as we just see those homes and businesses completely burned to the ground, nothing but just ash and rubble right there. so let's get to first alert meteorologist jessica burch for more on the conditions. today suggests there's concern that those winds may pick back up, >and they are starting to pick back up right now. i mean, they're under a red flag warning widespread throughout los angeles all the way down into san diego. a high wind warning in effect right now. and of course, the air quality alerts that are widespread throughout all of these communities. now we take a look at current conditions. what we're gearing up for is wind gusts anywhere up to around 70mph as we are under this red flag warning. and so, taking a look at our fire weather outlook, you zoom in to local communities close to the santa monica mountains. we're talking areas like malibu all the way up into san bernardino.

these are the communities that we're really concerned about, because some of the strongest wind gusts and the lowest relative humidity is just centralized in that pink zone right there. and we make our way all the way down into the border close to mexico. very similar fire like conditions as we extend fire weather conditions as we extend into the afternoon and evening hours tonight. so here's what the santa ana winds are doing right now. they're changing directions. this is different compared to last week's windstorm. last week's was more directly from the north. this one's coming in from the east more so. and that changes the characteristics. so the firefighters out there and of course all those aircraft that dropped the retardant, they were gearing up for this week's weather storm. and now what we're seeing is strong winds still pushing offshore. just tilted a little bit different in the direction. we'll continue to monitor this as we head into our early morning hours tomorrow. with wind speeds still anywhere up to around 30 to 40mph in areas like acton, all the way over to chatsworth and up in those hills. we continue to monitor this until friday, where we finally start to catch that break. i'll have more on that coming up in a bit and what our local weather forecast is going to look like. but for now, back to you. >all right. thanks, jess.

and coming up in a few minutes, we get an inside look at the aerial firefighting efforts and who is making it happen. a lot of people here in the bay area know people who lost their homes in these southern california wildfires. a kerosene seer talked to an oakland city leader who said at least three of her family members are fire victims. >for many, altadena represents a rich cultural history for middle class african americans. for oakland city councilwoman carol fife, the neighborhood was more like a family heirloom. my cousins, i have several family members who live in that area, and when i was 20 years old, i moved to california and that's the first place that i lived. though fife lived there briefly, her family ties to the neighborhood go back nearly six decades, she says. family homes and memories once at the center of get togethers are now lost forever. my uncle right now, i'm trying to find housing for him. i have several family members who are currently homeless. it's just a lot of pain. fife's family joins the nearly

45,000 residents displaced in altadena in the wake of the eaton fire. the fire scorched more than 14,000 acres and about 12,000 structures, including homes, churches and businesses. turok, the founder of community ready corps, says time is of the essence to get aid to altadena. this is middle class black folks and a lot of instances that are being overlooked because folks think this is something that just affected the rich and celebrities, is pulling in resources to get help to la. his organization is buying essentials like diapers, water, and dog food to those who've lost everything. i think the situation is so difficult that we're all going to be figuring it out as we move forward, says the goal is to get resources to southern california by this weekend. >you can also help the fire victims by going to redcross.org. slash cbs. to donate, call one 800 red cross or text red cross to 90999 to make a $10 donation. right now, the marin county board of supervisors is voting on a

president, a vice president and a second vice president for the 2025 term. this comes after the board officially sworn in two of its members, district three representative stephanie moulton peters, as well as district two representative brian colbert. colbert became the first black supervisor to serve in marin county. history. advocates and residents in san francisco's fillmore district led a march to city hall this morning, demanding city leaders address the closure of the neighborhood's safeway is set to shut down next month after 40 years. they say losing the neighborhood's only grocery store would be too great of a loss for their community. and a heads up you'll need you'll now need to make a purchase to use the restrooms at starbucks. the company is reinstating this requirement, reversing a seven year old open door policy due to ongoing issues with disruptive behaviors in at its locations. well, to capitol hill right now, where former fox news host peace hedgepeth is the first of president elect donald trump's cabinet picks to

appear for senate confirmation hearings. during questioning, lawmakers probed allegations of excessive drinking, sexual misconduct and financial mismanagement of the veterans advocacy group that he led. >the totality of your own writings and alleged conduct would disqualify any service member from holding any leadership position in the military, much less being confirmed as the secretary of defense. >well, committee leaders got an fbi background check of hesseth as part of the normal vetting process, but some democrats say there are gaps with a failure to interview headsets, spouses or sexual assault. accuser headset denies those allegations and the former fox news host served in the army national guard. he acknowledged his background is different from other defense secretaries, but argued that's what the department of defense actually needs. >he believes, and i humbly agree, that it's time to give someone with dust on his boots

the helm, a change agent, someone with no vested interest in certain companies or specific programs or approved narratives. my only special interest is the war fighter prototype. >well, the senate armed services committee is expected to recommend headset for a full senate vote, but some republican senators have yet to confirm whether they will vote for him when that time does indeed come. well, overnight, the department of justice released its report into the election interference investigation into president elect donald trump, this after a florida judge greenlit the move. special counsel jack smith wrote, if it wasn't for the trumps imminent return to the presidency, there was enough evidence to obtain a conviction. the 137 page report highlights trump's false election fraud claims. trump lashed out on social media, maintaining his innocence, calling smith deranged. well, still ahead here at noon and streaming on cbs news bay area, we meet some of the crew members fighting the fires from

the skies and hoping that nature will let them. plus, it's ready for a moon mission. the challenge for this lunar lander about to lift off from a

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easy prep. easy cook. easy clean. well, a valuable tool against the southern california wildfires is the ability to fight them from above. but stronger winds could make that actually harder. the crews of more than 80 planes and helicopters are being used to battle. the flames are watching closely. and reporter rob marciano got an inside look at that effort.

>in the crucial aerial assault to help contain southern california's deadly fires. >strong >>winds may be the only thing that can pause these determined firefighters. >when's the fire, boss? so the hair on the back of my neck will stand up when we start. you know, witnessing winds like this that we were today. >we're standing next to one of eight activated military c-130s modified specifically to contain wildfires. >the paratrooper doors is where the fire retardant is installed of, so people would normally be jumping out of there. >the aircraft can release 3000 gallons of water or red fire retardant in just seconds, and the fleet has already dropped more than 16,000 gallons of suppressant scene coating some la neighborhoods. >i worry about how dangerous it is to fly around these fires. it's not a normal mission. as they go down and drop the retardant. i mean, it's a different kind of combat, isn't it? very much so. >rotary aircraft can get

even closer to the raging flames. >this is one of cal fire's newer helicopters. it's a modified blackhawk that can hold up to 1000 gallons of water. fly day or night. it is essential to fighting fire. but as these winds ramp up, it's not going anywhere. when the winds get to a point where you can't fly it and fight this fire, how frustrating is that for you? it is very frustrating, but we'll sit on alert waiting for some type of break and then we'll we'll try again. >lieutenant colonel laura jeffrey is a combat navigator for the wyoming air national guard, but dropped everything to come to la. >we're leaving our families. we're leaving behind everything to come out. and i wish people knew the sacrifice that we make to do that, and what it means to us to have the opportunity to serve those who are in need. >and it is very dangerous work. these planes barnstorm as low as 150ft. we're inside the fuselage of one of those specialized c-130s, and that is the tank that holds up to 3000 gallons of usually fire retardant. this is where the crew sits to potentially release that fire retardant out

that door. and set a line around the fire. and they're ready to launch here. there are four squadrons from four different states on high alert that will be working out of this base and through at least tomorrow. that pds red flag warning is in effect until 12 p.m. on wednesday. >and now to our first alert weather as they watch the conditions in southern california. let's check back in with meteorologist jessica burch, >and let's get a quick look at what's happening for us here locally. because as we head into the coming days, our forecast is relatively mild. our winds are starting to die down. our daytime highs are pretty much around average, meaning low 60s from santa rosa all the way into the city of san francisco. you make your way down along the 101 down into areas like san jose. we're talking about mid 60s in the forecast this afternoon, with plenty of sunshine in store for us. to those blue skies behind me, that's going to be the trend for us as we head into the next couple of days here locally. and as we take a look at our forecast, those offshore winds are still prevalent for us here locally, but it's a lot lighter compared to our friends down into southern california. battling those santa ana winds with strength anywhere up to

around 70mph here locally. i mean, at max, we're going to see about a 15 mile per hour wind gust along our shoreline near half moon bay, all the way up into communities closer to fairfield and napa, too. that's currently. and as we head into the overnight hours tonight, those winds actually die down even more. it will be a pretty mild forecast for us as we head into our wednesday, thursday and friday forecast with just partly cloudy skies as we dive into this weekend, but still dry conditions to you, look at the next 6 to 10 days. this right behind me. this is issued by the climate prediction center. it's showing drier than normal conditions, not only for us in the bay, but for our friends down into southern california, too, which means they're battling with low relative humidity right now, strong winds. and we continue to monitor their forecast so closely as they are under that red flag warning that rob just mentioned as well. now, back here in the bay, we are dealing with dry conditions, but at least our relative humidity that's not that big of a concern. and the winds are light too. so we dive into this weekend. we get that morning fog developing as we head into friday and saturday morning. it will start to clear up just a little bit more as we head into sunday of next week. and by mid next week, we're still talking

about daytime highs sitting in the upper 50s, which is just a little cooler compared to what we have right now. and for the rest of the week. i'll have more on your forecast coming up in a bit. for now, back to you. >all right. thanks, jess. coming up, ready to launch to the moon. how this project is led by the next generation of space explorers. >if you are looking to get organized, i have four products just for you, starting with storage caddy. so two different products. we have the vacuum bag and the mesh bag. this vacuum bag. check this out. it's going to get you from 4 to 1 compression. so the same comforter here is now compressed easy to store taking up less space. i have so many baby clothes i don't know what to do with and i don't want to give away. and i love that i can have them sealed away, not taking up a ton of space and protected because everything's airtight. so they're fine in the basement, fine in the attic. and then i love these mesh bags for travel. they come in two different sizes. you roll them up, they're going to get all of the air out. so whether it's for your shoes,

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care and coverage are in one place. at kaiser permanente, all of us work together for all that is you. >well, the moon maze gets some new visitors just after midnight today. a spacex rocket is due to lift off, carrying a pair of commercial lunar landers that will try to touch down in the coming months. one was built by a japanese company, the other built by a texas company. cbs news's mark strassmann saw the u.s. lander up close before it was shipped off for launch. the blue ghost was built by a company called firefly near austin. it is six feet tall, 11ft wide, with four landing legs. it still will

deliver ten science payloads for nasa, but its primary mission is to pave the way for astronauts to return. >it's been basically the only thing we think about morning, noon, night. this really is a building largely of 20 somethings creating the next generation of space. i think that's one thing that that makes us really different is they've been told no so many times in their career, so they don't know what what can't be done. >well, two of firefly's rivals flew into trouble on the first flights last year. one company, astro robotic, suffered a mission ending failure of its propulsion systems. the other, intuitive machines, touched down but tipped over

with pop superstar beyonce has started a new lr fire relief fund. she's already contributed $2.5 million to the charitable foundation. the bay good relief fund will aid families in the altadena area who lost their homes, as well as churches and community centers working at the forefront. you can find a link to donate to her relief fund and her instagram bio. you can also help the fire victims by going to redcross.org. slash cbs to donate, call one 800 red cross or text red cross to 90999 for a $10 donation. well, that's it for the afternoon edition. remember, we're streaming 24 over seven on the free cbs news app. our next newscast is at 430 with anne makovec. i'll see you back here at five. have a great

afternoon.

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