for more, let's speak to ken pimlott, retired director of the california department of forestry and fireion, or cal fire. thank you forjoining us and for your time today. have you seen fires like this move this quickly before? i seen fires like this move this quickly before?— seen fires like this move this quickly before? i think this is really showing _ quickly before? i think this is really showing the _ quickly before? i think this is really showing the extreme l really showing the extreme conditions that we face here in california with the impacts of drought and you know, climate change on weather patterns. certainly, california, and especially southern california, is no stranger to big wind events over the decades. but what we're really seeing is that the extremes are becoming more extreme. the mayor talked about the strength of the winds and the dryness of the vegetation due to the drought. we're seeing those level of conditions that we haven't seen before. �* ., , conditions that we haven't seen before. �* _, ., , before. and those conditions are coming _ before. and those conditi

david acuna is battalion chief with the california department of forestry and fire protection. giving us his assessment as to what caused the fires. so, what's happening is these winds that came through earlier this week, going to 60 to 100mph all blew out over the ocean, creating a large air massjust sitting off the coast. well, as soon as the winds stopped from the east, all the winds that are off on the shore just blew right on back into the coast. but now, instead of being the onshore humid winds, they're still very, very dry, which is why we're seeing expansion of the fire perimeter to the north and to the east. now, we're very fortunate because we have a lot of really good partners. la city, la county, the angeles national forest, as well as all the local co—operators and cities down there. every one of them works very hard, and we all train the same way, so that when a large incident like this happens, we all are working together with the same terminology and the same objectives. there's been a large addition of water tenders, trucks that have water tanks on the back, an

the california department of forestry and fire protection is providing live updates through its website and that includes this interactive map here. now let's take a look at the 5 files that are raging through parts of california. they are in the neighborhoods of palisades, 8th and hust. lydia and kenneth, the policies fire share is by far the largest 2438 texas wide. and it includes $1000000.00 homes along the malibu coast. moving eastwards east and 5 is the next biggest, 13698 because now this far has stopped expanding, but only 3 percent of it has been contained. moving slightly knowles, we've got a smaller fi hill house for about 771. acres that's been waging since shoes day over here. we have the lydia fire. that is $395.00 acres. it broke house on wednesday night at 10 in the envelope valley. and then the latest file to break out is down here in kind of thought as raging at 1000 a cuz the woodlands and police have arrested an individual who is suspected of staffing this fall on purpose. on the 1st day, often it was good live now to with that law, just fine is and palisades and joi

a california department of forestry on fire protection is providing life updates through it's website. i'm not include this interactive map. now let's take a look at what is now $65.00 raging fruit pots of california. they, in the neighborhoods of palisades, each and kenneth lydia hust and a new one. the auction, the fy hit in palisades is by far the biggest and the most destructive it spread nearly 9000 to them. nice includes air is low because to on the malibu coast, whether a $1000000.00 homes moving eastwards, the eastern fire here covers nearly $6000.00 tech doesn't not have killed the highest number of people. at least 6 people have died. the to dates further north. we've got the tennis file over here that is 425 hacked as in size and police not see a rest of the suspects in connection with austin in this 5, but then later released them. the hoss file up here has been waging since tuesday, that covers 300 heck does a little further news up here. we've got the lydia fi that is covering some one of your pot and 160 heck to assigned to the combustion that from a cuz to texas. and t

land managers in the state including california department of forestry and fire protection and federalies are set a target of intentionally burning 400,000 acres. next year, right now amount of land combined will be larger than the city of l.a. isn't that ironic question at the goal is to chip away at the 10 million -- 30 million acres officials estimate would benefit them ssome form of fuel reductin treatment 2022 there is data publicly available at 96000 of a were burned by these land managers but that's a pittance. anywhere close to the targets the climate scientists with study control burns. but real profound benefits of reaching the target ultimately going beyond it. what did the knucklehead at mayor duke do question she cut e fire department budget by almost 18 million dollars we need money for illegal aliens we need money for healthcare and illegal aliens in california. so many priorities other than saving the people of california. according to one study from researchers at columbia stanstanford, low intensity firs category that includes natural fires prescribed burns reduce wil

now here's a look at the evacuation areas on this map by cal fire and california's department of forestry the palisades fire outline itself is in orange, as you can see right here. evacuation orders are in red. that's mandatory. you must leave. the warnings are in yellow, as you can see here. now, the warnings again, as i said, are not mandatory. but it's a good idea to be prepared to leave immediately and maybe get out of the way just for the sake of being safe. the palisades fire, in total, has burned more than 21,000 acres and is 8% contained. earlier we talked about what containment means 8% surrounded. at this point, it is the biggest of the southern california wildfires burning right now. >> the most common measurement used for wildfires is acres. mathematically, one acre is equal to 43,560ft■!s. so here'sa simple way to visualize it. an acre is roughly the size of a football field, minus the end zones. so you're looking at a view from sky seven of levi's stadium in santa clara. the 49 ers field without the end zones is about the size of an acre. now san francisco covers about 30,00

malfunctions, discarded cigarettes, and intentional acts of arson, and data collected by the california department of forestrynd fire protection shows at least eight of the most destructive wildfires in the state's history have been linked to electrical and power lines. abc news learning southern california edison, one of california's major private utility companies, has filed two electronic safety incident reports pertaining to the eaton and hurst fires, a sign investigators might be examining if the utility's equipment contributed to an ignition. southern california edison is required to report any incidents potentially involving its equipment, that triggers an investigation by the state of california. alex stone, abc news, altadena, california. >> and we're staying on top of all the developments coming out of the wildfires in los angeles county. you can get they happen at abc seven news.com and the abc seven bay area app. >> back here at home, it's being called the big sink today. transit agencies across the bay area are making adjustments to their schedules in an effort to make your commute more efficient

. >> the california department of forestry and fire protection, better known as cal fire, also issued statement expressing their heartfelt gratitude to the extraordinary department. states and countries that have stepped up to support california in the middle of this tragedy. fred is really good to see that kind of cooperation. >> really it is all right. i know so many people are grateful that it is happening like that. all right. rafael romo, thank you so much. see you soon. all right. coming up, los angeles officials are saying there is no animosity between the city and donald trump. the president elect. but president-elect trump continues to criticize their response to the wildfires. that's next. >> the last fire i covered here in the palisades. >> that was 1000 acres. this is 16,000 acres. >> there were flames on both sides of the highway. they were embers flying. >> we see fire trucks coming from all around the state. >> what is the situation with the water? obviously, in the palisades. it ran out last night. and the hydrant? why do i have to ask the governor why there is not wat

california's department of forestry saying more than 38,000 acres have been scorched and for reference, that is more land than what the city of miami covers. moments from now, we are expecting an update from cal fire officials on the situation. we're of course, going to bring you that live. as it happens. we'll keep an eye on that. in the meantime, we're joined right now by cnn's stephanie elam from the l.a. neighborhood of brentwood. stephanie, where you are just to give people an idea, there's the ocean, the palisades, very close to that ocean. and then as you move eastward inland, that is where brentwood is. you're up in the hills there. what are you seeing? >> yeah, we have seen sort of a change of attack here from above on this palisades fire. we're seeing the wind kick up and a little bit. we just had like a little wind tornado right behind us. a little tiny one. because the winds are stirring up. also, let me show you what's going on here. you can see how dark that smoke is over there. they are really working to tamp this area down right now. we have seen a number of helicopters

california's department of forestry, saying that more than 38,000 acres have been scorched, with more than 12,000 structures simply destroyed. new today, the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms and explosives is taking the lead on determining the origin and the cause of the palisades fire, and cnn has team coverage for you. cnn's stephanie elam is in l.a .'s brentwood neighborhood. anchor erin burnett is in the pacific palisades. let's start first with erin. erin, i know you've been on the ground now for a couple of days. we're coming to you as this fire is threatening to move ever more eastward and toward more homes, more people's lives. what are you seeing? >> well, jessica, you know, i mean, it is incredible the devastation that already is, is everywhere. massive devastation. thousands of people desperately trying to get back into areas that have been completely razed and destroyed, just to even have a glimpse of their homes, forced to leave with nothing. but at this hour, the great fear is that this fire, which is only about 8 or 9% contained and, you know, we can see even eve

california's department of forestry saying more than 38,000 acres have been scorched, with more than 12,000 structures destroyed. people have seen decades of their life literally go up in flames. joining us now, cnn's stephanie elam, who's in los angeles brentwood neighborhood, that's on the eastern part of this palisades fire. and, stephanie, i know you're up in the hills. you've been watching as choppers and other aircraft have been dropping water flame retardant, trying to get ahead of this fire. if and when these these winds pick right back up. what are you seeing? >> the winds are picking back up. i can already tell you that, jessica. it's starting to gust here right now. it's gotten a little chilly out here and the wind is blowing up some of this ash. and i can also see it's changed the way it's blowing some of the smoke here. the big fight right now is happening here beyond this house, across this canyon on the other side there. that is where we are seeing a lot of the helicopters as well as the fixed wing aircraft making their way in to make drops. that's where you see that da

but joining me now, david acuna, battalion chief with cal fire, that's california department of forestryand fire protection. they fight all over the state. you join us from sacramento. so you have a wider aperture on how things are going. chief, can you tell us now what's the best case scenario in the next 24 hours? and what is the worst case to worry about? >> hi, bill. thank you for having me on. before i get to that, i really want to comment on that person who was frustrated. i totally understand. i can't even imagine. i can only empathize with how much it must hurt to not know what's going on with your house. however, part of the reason that the sheriff's office is keeping people out is because not only because of the active fire, but also because there are exposed gas lines. it's exposed electrical lines, which we do not know if they are de-energized their building collapses. and then on top of all of that, every little bit of that ash that's out there is toxic ash because it's made from houses. now, as far as what we're looking forward, we're concerned about this wind event. and ev

at the center of all this is the california department of forestry and fire protection, known as cal fire. it is 31 helicopters and six tankers on the case right now. and i want you to listen to captain steve kelly, who tuesday and wednesday made eight drops from a c-130 totaling 32,000 gallons of fire retardant. >> off. very turbulent, very windy. we were looking at probably 30 to 50 mile an hour winds down in those drainages that we had to contend with while also doing our job, which is difficult in itself. >> really hard to fly an airplane that big down so low to the ground. he flies the c-130 growing part of the calfire fleet, but the backbone is really the s-2t. just last night, some of the dc ten retired airliner tankers arrived in southern california. one drop of those from those is equivalent to a dozen drops from an s-2. so 9400 gallons of retardant dropped in a path 300ft wide over the course of a mile. the rub there is it takes some time to refill those planes. aerial firefighting crews from quebec and british columbia and canada have been on the front lines. this is some

we're joined now by battalion chief brent pascua from california's department of forestry and fire protection, also known as cal fire. chief, good morning to you. let's start with progress. overnight, the largest fires palisades fire 8% contained eaton fire, 3% contained at the latest. the latest numbers we have from last night. do those numbers still hold? talk to us about progress over overnight. >> they do still hold. we're still at 8%. hopefully we'll see that number change this morning when the sun comes up and we get to see just the total, the the total, um, amount of line that was put in overnight and the work that was done yesterday. uh, good news is the winds are still calm here. um, we do have a firefight still on our hands, though, so we're still engaged in a lot of work to do. >> do you feel like you have all the resources that you need? and i'm asking you this because i'm sure you've heard some of the criticisms that, you know, have been going around, especially regarding the budget cuts. you know, the l.a. fire chief saying that she is understaffed and and under-resourced. and o

. >> joining us now, chris harvey with the california department of forestry and fire protection. chris, thank you for joining us at such an early hour. let's talk about containment and progress on saturday. last report palisades fire 11% contained eaton fire 15% contained the other two major fires closer to full containment. have you been able to make progress overnight at great containment? >> yes. as some of your previous guests mentioned, you know, we do have had some cooperation from the weather the last couple of days that has helped. however, you know, the conditions still remain very volatile up in those areas. and so we are pushing, you know, to try and get as much done as possible with the return of these strong winds and red flag conditions through wednesday. >> but those numbers hold. >> yeah. what i have right now is just over 23,000 acres. i'm assigned to the palisades fire specific. so 23,000 acres, as was stated, about 100,000 that are still under evacuation and about 11% containment. that's accurate. >> is the hope and expectation that the winds will shift from th

he is a battalion chief with cal fire, the california department of forestry and fire protection. thank you so much for being with us. i mean, really so many threats coming from so many different directions now with the santa ana winds expected to increase in intensity later on today. what and how are you preparing for? >> mai rodriguez? thank you for having me on. well, you're absolutely right. so the winds that started on tuesday, 60 to 100mph blew the fires across westward. but then when those winds stopped, the winds proceeded to cross again back eastward. and that's why we had spread of the fire again last night. you got larger because it moved the other direction towards some of the major freeways. so with another red flag warning that it's going to push it westward again, there is a very significant concern that it's going to continue to grow. >> yeah, it's very difficult to anticipate and to plan. right now you have some air assets. um, you know, along with the state, uh, um, jurisdiction as well as, you know, canadian, uh, fire retardant dropping planes are also in the ai

he's the public information officer for the california department of forestry and fire protection.chief acuna, i don't know if you heard vanessa talking there. the family owns a vittorio restaurant in pacific palisades. it's gone. um, how much? how much bigger do you think these fires are are going to get? we understand now. there were four, but there are now five. if chief garcia was talking about the lydia fire are now burning in the l.a. area. >> well, you're absolutely correct. the threat is not gone as multiple, uh, chiefs have stated in the press conferences. we are not out of the woods yet. we are expected high winds through tonight into tomorrow, hopefully easing up on friday. but in the meantime, it's going to be up to the public to maintain their vigilance so that we prevent one less spark and make sure that we don't have any more fires pop up. >> so the l.a. county fire chief says there are not enough firefighters to battle all the blazes. i know chief garcia was telling me that you are getting a lot of assistance, but i guess this is a crucial bottom line question for p

a county fire will be prepared to california is department of forestry and fire protection is providing live updates through its websites that includes this interactive map. let's look at the now full fi is raging 2 parts of los angeles and named the palisades, each and kenneth and hurst fires. the wi fi or in the policies. the pacific policies area remains the largest and most destructive. it spread across more than $9000.00 hector's, including areas with multi $1000000.00 homes in malibu. and then east west. you've got the eton fire, which covers more than 5 and a half 1000 hector's and has the highest death to at least 6 people have died there . and then moving westwards. you've got the uh, kenneth fire right here, and that covers $425.00. hector's 5 authorities says it's 80 percent. can tate and up north? you've got the hearse fire. if we zoom in here, that's the hearse fire. which try scorch just over $300.00 hector's and is 76 percent contain and the evacuation where there has been lifted. well i'll just here is phil laval is at the vine noise airport with move on the f as to cont

know better than to listen to you talk about facts because i have them, here's the california state , department of forestry protection, 313 billion , this year was 2.8, -- 3.3. l.a. budget, last year,8 37 million, then -- and that is a cut.in let me tell you something else, in the 1700s jessica california averaged millions and millions of lost acreage due to wildfires, then the americans came in, brought a little civilization, by the end of the last century, the only lost 250,000 acreonlys of wildfires r year, than the environmentalist took over and they are back to millions of acres in california. these people have literally taken california back centuries jessica with these stupid ke.icies think about liberalism is if they say you give the liberals all the power and all the money they will create a utopia, you will create heaven on earth, you have aat given to the democrats all the power and california and look at it, looks at health -- it looks like hell. they cannot even put a fire out into the ea accurate, look at the fact checks! i do not carthese if you goes oa podcast while ago when he is saying, t

then again on, on monday through wednesday, lake county fire will be prepared to california is a department of forestry and fire protection is providing live updates to its website that includes this interactive map. now let's look at the 4 fires raging, 2 parts of california. they are in the neighborhoods of palisades, as you can see here, eaten kenneth and hers. the fire in the policies pacific palisades remains the largest and most destructive one is spread across nearly $9000.00 hector's, including areas with multi $1000000.00 homes along the valuable coast. now moving east towards the eton fire covers nearly 6000 hector's and has killed the highest number of people. at least 6 have died there. i'd be kenneth fire is $425.00. hector's police arrested a suspect in connection with austin, but later released him 8 percent of the 5 se has been contained. and then here you have the highest fire which has been raging since tuesday and now covers $300.00 practice. let's go live to august here as filling the valve will joins us from the vine. nice in los angeles, you were i earlier on a helicopter trip aro

of the buildings and homes that destroys. now california phone is the department of forestry and fire protection is providing live updates through its website and that includes this interactive map. let's look at the now 6 files that are raging through parts of california. they are in the neighborhoods of policies as we would just say, $8.00 to $10.00 if lydia hust and show how the foreign policy is that remains the largest and most destructive. it spreads across nearly $9000.00 heck to the mass, includes areas with $1000000.00 homes and it on the malibu coast. that if we go over now to the east and file up here, we can see that that covers nearly $6000.00 tech doesn't. it's killed the highest number of people, but at least 6 have died. the kind of file over here by the coastal, towards the coast, we should say down here. it is $425.00 heads as now. police did arrest the suspects in connection with austin, but later released, since i still don't know what started that file. the hust file up here has been waging since tuesday, and it now covers $300.00 tech does lydia far further inland? again, it broke out on wednesday night at

the california state budget, department of forestry fire protection. $3.3 billion last year. this year 2.8 billion. last year $837 million and this year $819 million. i'm not very good at math but that's a cut. let me tell you something else, in the 1700s jessica, california averaged millions and millions of lost acre age due to wildfires. then the americans came in. brought a little civilization and at the end of the last century, they only lost 250,000 acres of wildfires per year and the environmentalists and whackos took over and back to losing millions of acres in california. these people have literally taken california back centuries with these stupid policies. the thing about liberalism. if you give the liberals all the power and money will create utopia. and look at it. it looks like hell. they think they can control the earth's temperature. they can't even put out a fire in their backyards. look at these fact checks. i don't care if he goes to a podcast. the fire started from a satanic ritual. they had to fact check that. why is he wasting time doing this? this is cra

. >> the california department of forestry and fire protection, better known as cal fire, also issued statement expressing their heartfelt gratitude to the extraordinary department, states and countries that have stepped up to support california. rafael romo, cnn, atlanta. >> when we return our breaking news coverage of the deadly los angeles fires continues as crews start to make some progress on containment. but that could change with dangerous winds starting to pick up. back in just a moment. >> i've got good news and i've got bad news. what do you want? first? the bad. the news is newsom even more than ever. what's the good news? we're doing another season of have i got news for you. >> have i got news for you returns february 15th. >> hey, neighbor. you're supposed to t-mobile home internet yet? >> trim your hedge. >> it's 35 bucks a month with no price hikes. >> bam! >> it runs on t-mobile's wireless 5g network, so all you got to do is plug in one cord. >> t-mobile 5g home internet just 35 bucks a month. and with price lock, we won't raise your rate on internet. >> i did it. oh,

of forestry, you can get a degree, it was ignored. the fire department was short-staffed, preoccupied with ... none of -- california's overpaid bureaucracy and political class did their jobs. none of the city's critical fire infrastructure and emergency planning was properly tested. the mayor was in africa when the fire up to despite an earlier forecast of heavy winds and the risk of wildfires and promised she wouldn't travel as the mayor of los angeles. the governor indicated it was not his problem. this is local governments. they need to figure out those fire hydrants themselves. the biden administration was caught totally flat-footed, completely unprepared. the people were failed by a democratic mayor, a far left bureaucracy, and by the way guess who's going to end up paying for the rebuild? you. this is a democratic president that can barely form a coherent thought. much less manage a major disaster. we saw that with hurricane helene. the people of north carolina are still struggling to this day. he didn't seem to remember that donald trump beat kamala harris in november. take a look. >> do you regret your decisi

department of forestry and fire protection show eight of the most destructive wildfires in the state's history have been linked to electrical and power lines. abc news learning tonight southern edison, one of california's major private utility companies has filed two electronic safety incident reports pertaining to the eaton and hurst fires, a sign investigators might be examining if the utility's equipment might have contributed to an ignition. we just got word 24 peoples have now been confirmed dead in these fires. >> linsey: alex, thank you. those dangerous santa ana winds are set to return tomorrow. let's bring in abc meteorologist somara theodore. somara, track those winds for us and can you give us historical context for these dry conditions? >> reporter: absolutely. things have been relatively calmer, so that's been giving firefighters a fighting chance, but that's all getting ready to change. wind speeds will be picking up again tomorrow. wind gusts could range between 35 and 55 miles per hour. some areas could see gusts as high as 70 miles per hour. we all expect this to come to a head by tuesday morning, peaking, winds up to 61 miles per hour in places like burbank, and then of course, there'

of forestry. you can get a degree in it. as we pointed out, it was ignored. the fire department was short staffed, preoccupied with equity. none of california's overpaid bureaucracy and political class. none of them did their jobs. now, none of the city's critical fire infrastructure and emergency planning was properly tested. now, the mayor, karen bass, was in africa when the fire erupted, despite an earlier forecast of heavy winds and the risk of wildfires, and a promise she wouldn't travel as the mayor of los angeles, the governor indicated it was not his problem. this is local governments. they need to figure out those fire hydrant things themselves. and yet again, the biden administration was caught totally flat footed, completely unprepared. the people of california were failed by a democratic mayor, a far left bureaucracy, a governor, a democratic legislature, a democratic president. and by the way, guess in the end, who's going to end up paying for the rebuild? you mark my words. and this is a democratic president that can barely form a coherent thought, much less manage a major disaster. we saw that with hurricane helene. look at the

we have been hearing from a public information officer with the california department of forestry ands no possibility of containing the fires at the moment, because of the high wind. we have been hearing from the bbc weather centre that they have wind gusts of up to 100 kilometres per hour, making it difficult to contain the fires. these are the latest actors we have from los angeles, a skate telling of your state of emergency called in the city because of three major wildfires. in the city because of three majorwildfires. —— in the city because of three major wildfires. —— a state of emergency called in the city because of the wildfires. rescue workers into better working around the clock to search for survivors after a major earthquake killed at least 126 people. the magnitude 7.1 quake struck at around 9am local time on tuesday. the impact was felt across the shigatse region of tibet, although tremors were also felt in nepal and parts of india. a large—scale rescue operation has been launched, with survivors under additional pressure as temperatures as low as minus 16 degrees celci