>> david: scott reiff with us from kabc. scott, thank you. >>> tonight, 180,000 people are under mandatory evacuation orders. matt gutman tonight with one family, and what they found in the ashes when they returned. this was something. and the serious questions tonight about the watwater, and about early decisions by authorities here. >> reporter: tonight, with spot fires still sparking blazes, the palisades fire is still uncont uncontained. some families making their way home. we spotted two figures in the rubble of this apartment building. is this your safe? >> it is. wanted to get to it before the looters got to it. >> reporter: gail lived there for 22 years. she was hoping one particular ring survived the heat. >> i got to save something, look at everything else. this is my home right here. >> reporter: 22 years here. >> yeah. >> reporter: she grabbed her phone, nursing scrubs, and little else on her way out. so, dock units, passport, things like that? >> nothing. >> reporter: are somewhere here? >> yeah, everything. eve

paris hilton posting this kabc video on instagram that shows her malibu home burned to the ground on i hear the producer i do not i. think the last time we were on the doorpost, our reality tv star heidi montag, comforted by her young son after safely evacuating the home she shares with husband spencer pratt. >> pratt, posting this video on tiktok of the blaze. soap star cameron mathison showing the still burning remains of his family's home on instagram. veteran actor james woods forced to flee after shooting this video on x. >> we've got a lot of planes going over dropping water. >> overcome with emotion speaking to cnn recounting that his 94 year old neighbor was thankfully saved by a friend. >> there was so much chaos. it was like an inferno. every house was on fire around us and you know, he got him out and the house burned down. about an hour later, he would have been in there alone. it was just yet, amidst so much devastation and destruction, there's hope. >> it's going to be tough, but we're going to rebuild and we're going to put one foot in front of the other. we're going t

>> david: gabe santos and the team at kabc doing extraordinary and important work here. i want to get right to chief meteorologist ginger zee, tracking these winds. the danger into the night. i know you're also tracking another major winter storm. texas to the east coast. but obviously, ginger, we want to start with this fire danger as we head into this even, and what are you expecting? >> reporter: david, the good news is, those winds will keep relaxing, especially by tomorrow morning. we'll get to that forecast, but a lot of people with are asking, why was this so bad? if you remember,er with were talking about it the night before. the national weather service los angeles did a fantastic job talking about those life-threatening 80 to 1 100-mile-per-hour winds at least 24 hours in advance. why? we knew the formula was in place to make the perfect storm. you had drought, 0.16 inches of rain for l.a. since may. in eight months. driest period on record. second-driest period. then, you have the santa ana winds. yes, we get those, a surface low, you squeeze those together an

our station kabc reports. the deceased are the pilot and his teenage daughter. >> a sad situation is repeating itself in the pacific northwest. a heartbroken mother, unable to say goodbye to her child, is handling her grief the only way she knows how. it's a scene that, again, has whale researchers taking a close look at the emotions of the massive animals. heartbreak for a pod of endangered orcas in the pacific northwest. a grieving mother whale known as j35 has been seen this week carrying the body of her deceased calf, in what researchers are calling an act of mourning. j35 made headlines while doing the same thing seven years ago after losing a different calf. she carried its remains for more than 1000 miles over 17 days to be back in that same situation again is just truly traumatic for all of us, including the whale. calf mortality is high. only 50% of newborn orcas make it to their first birthday, and researchers warn that southern resident killer whales like j35 may be on the brink of extinction due to

our station, kabc.er: this as more than 12 million people in the cross hairs of yet another ferocious wind event in southern california, a week after the eaton and palisades fires killed at least 24 people. the firefighters working feverishly to prevent another disaster. hand crews working through the night lit by head lamps hacking through the brush. and we were with them on the front lines. down below, there are hundreds of firefighters who carved this fire spot through this canyon all the way up there. officials pleading with californians to have a plan in place. >> if you don't have a wild fire evacuation plan for your family and your home, please make one today. >> reporter: power companies already shutting off electricity to thousands as a precaution. >> oh my god. >> reporter: power lines at the core of the investigation into the eaton fire as so cal edison faces four lawsuits in connection to the fire. >> we have approximately a 10-acre brush fire across canyon underneath high tension power line

station kabc for their tireless coverage.too, friends of ours who had to evacuate, and helicopter pilot and reporter chris cristi was the first to spot the fire that breck out in the hollywood hills and to sound the alarm. take a look. >> mark, very concerning site here in the hollywood hills. >> i saw a speck off into the distance in hollywood. it was suspicious, but we hadn't read of reports of any fires in that area. >> we saw the glow coming from over the hill, and just in the last couple of minutes that it took us to get here to hollywood this thing has exploded in size. >> and when we got there, the winds were really ripping through runyon canyon. it was really scary. >> we saw this fire i think before l.a. city fire got the call. they have been dispatched out here. they're putting their eyes on this fire for the first time right now as we are doing so at the same time. >> once i saw the fire in the canyon and the rate of spread, i knew that there were a lot of people that were in danger. right away, it was a race again

in fact, our team of meteorologists down at kabc, our sister station, has said it's been about eight months since they have seen rain. that is why we have these three wildfires burning right now across the l.a. county area right now. 0% containment. look at some of these wind speeds, guys. i mean, near some of these fires, the winds gusting close to 100mph. so that's certainly why those aircraft cannot be in the air right now. reggie. >> drew. thank you. we're going to continue to follow the destructive, wind driven wildfires tearing across la this morning. >> coming up, we're hearing from the bay area crews who are in southern california this morning helping in that fire fight. >> also another step toward making the air taxi a reality. we're taking a look at a new concept, prompting the faa to create a whole new category of aircraft. >> it's that time of year again. girl scout troops are taking your cookie orders, and this year is the last year to get your hands on two flavors. we'll a team can help you plan for your dreams. so your dream car, and vacation home, may be closer than y

listen to the chopper reporter from our sister station, kabc in los angeles. describe the scene at homes that were being threatened. this is how the scene unfolded from about 45 minutes ago. >> the fire had made its way into sullivan and mandeville canyon, and it was marching its way south. and we were looking at a community that was in dire need of some help. and the firemen were there waiting. none of the houses we initially were looking at in westgate have been impinged by fire. they have virtually stopped the forward progress here, where we saw it come out of sullivan canyon, and they did that by an aggressive air assault. very lucky. the stone canyon reservoir is right nearby. so these helicopters are filling in return load and return load and return there in a couple minute turnaround. and they are just knocking the they're knocking the progress out of this which is better than we could have expected. i, i couldn't hope for and as i say that here comes the chinook dropping 3000 gallons right on the head of the fire. so wow, what a thing to witness. >> so

but you see this kabc footage you can see that is entirely black smoke. it is it is a completely black. and when we look at the ridges where i was talking about that volcanic ring of fire looking image that also is covered in black smoke, so, you know, unclear exactly what's burning there and what will happen as it spreads when the when the kabc chopper takes a step back here, you can get a bigger picture, bigger perspective. some of that white smoke that veronica is talking about also visible. but now areas of that dense black smoke. so we don't know exactly what structures are burning and where they are. but let's go to natasha chen because natasha, veronica mentioned that they were looking at an initial site there already for possible arson, and the officials are saying that these fires could go nuclear. but, you know, you're in a moment where this has been nonstop weeks covering fires being fought, firefighters on nonstop duty. how are they managing a massive new fire like this right now well, erin, it. >> does feel. >> like this metro area. >> just c

the smoke clearing enough for kabc, our abc station in los angeles, to survey the unimaginable damageh neighborhood filled with multimillion dollar homes, now reminiscent of a war zone. >> pacific palisades right now could just be taken off the map. it's. there is no pacific palisades. >> an estimated 45mi■!s of los angeles has been engulfed by flames. that's nearly the size of the city of san francisco. before and after images showing the unimaginable destruction. at least ten people have been killed in that area. authorities bringing in cadaver dogs to hard hit areas, saying they don't know the exact death toll. >> at one point, we'll be able to do a more thorough search of these impacted areas. some of them look like a bomb was dropped in them. >> the community of altadena and pasadena, also ravaged by the infernos. the eaton fire destroying over 4000 homes. one of the victims of the fires, 66 year old victor shaw. his family says he died in a heroic attempt to defend his home in altadena. >> i opened the front door and i just yelled in, victor, we got to get out. this is it. we ha

kabc is doing those. and just to give everyone a sense of sort of where nick and i are, we're in different parts, of course, of the palisades, but a few moments ago we we could see and we can see here live fires and just the complete redness over the horizon just feet away from where we are. nick can also see as he turns. so that's that's where we are right now. so the when you're the picture that you're looking at in the middle, those the shadow you see on the left that that's us and our setup. so that's what you can see down there. and that that's what's happening right now. and just to show how dynamic it is and how desperately, as i said, they are trying to get it under control in some way before these winds pick up. and they are forecast to pick up big time at some point this weekend. there you can see one of those planes flying over. the sense. it seems so futile when you see them flying over just one drop, one drop. but each of those adds up to something significant. let's bring in the malibu city

>> 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 li

we're looking at a wide shot from kabc right now. i mean, it's it looks like it's a vantage point looking through hollywood to the hills. i mean, it's incredible. it's it's like the fire line stretching as far as you can see is huge. >> yeah it is. we haven't gotten the last update. it was 1200 acres, but i'm sure it's gotten bigger than that. we don't have a number of structures lost, but just listening to the radio, there are plenty of structures that are on fire. yeah, this is a tough one. >> well, captain hiller, i know you probably got to go. i don't want to take up your time. thank you for all you're doing. i appreciate it, and we'll check in with you throughout the night. thank you so much. >> thanks for having us. take care. >> all right. i want to go to cnn's natasha chen. natasha, explain where you are right now and what you have been seeing tonight. >> we're just up the road a little bit up pacific coast highway from the captain there. and i was about to tell you, anderson, that you and i have covered a lot of hurricanes.

this is our sister station, kabc.hopper over the palisades fire, and you can see some power lines there. tower fire investigators are really trying to zero in on where the fire may have started. the origin possibly in the palisades highlands community, but atf, nrt, they're all there doing this investigation. dan. >> yeah, and they don't have much time because there may be another big firefight coming in the next few hours as the winds kick up again down south. but they are trying while they can, to take advantage of this moment and see if they can figure out a little bit more about where these fires may have started. so what are the conditions right now near the fires, and what will they be like in the net few hours? yeah. >> critical information. and spencer christian is here now with the forecast. spencer. >> okay, kristen and dan, the already powerful wind gusts have re-intensified as an area of low pressure has now developed in that pattern. and so right now, we're looking at wind gusts up to 47mph at browns cany

take a look at live pictures right now from our station kabc in los angeles, right up over the fire. you can see the thick, dark smoke, with these winds expected right into the overnight hours. i-5 right there at the bottom of your screen, closed in both directions at this hour. tonight, those red flag warnings from more than 10 million people with crews already battling multiple fires. abc's chief national correspondent matt gutman leading us off, he's right there on the scene tonight. >>> tonight, squadrons of helicopters attacking a massive new wildfire exploding just north of los angeles. homes threatened, tens of thousands ordered to leave now. >> what's really frightening about this fire is how quickly it took off. >> reporter: the hughes fire raging out of control in castaic, devouring 30 acres per minute. fueled by bone dry conditions and powerful santa ana winds. students running out of this high school. midday skies darkening with smoke and that ominous orange blow. at least five schools so far evacuated. >> i was really scared, because i thought i was going to get really h

>> david: meteorologist leslie lopez and the entire team at kabc doing extraordinary work, thank you, leslie. our entire team is standing by for a live special edition of "20/20" later tonight, "american catastrophe: l.a. turning." our team live across the fire zone, 9:00 p.m. eastern. we have new reporting tonight on the fires, the major questions. how were so many homes lost in the lives forever changed here, the hero firefighters, and where los angeles goes from here. that's tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern on "20/20." you heard leslie report there on this winter storm we're tracking too tonight sweeping across the south to the east eventually to the northeast. 75 million americans are on alert. trump russ travel. should 3,000 flights canceled. atlanta's hartsfield-jackson airport, an emergency on the tarmac. more than 200 passengers escaping downslides. abc's ike ejiochi at the airport tonight. >> reporter: just seconds after a delta jet began rolling down this runway, an emergency on board forcing the pilot to abort the takeoff. >> there are flames coming out the back of engine numbe

from "good morning america" to "world news tonight" and across our abc-owned stations, kabc included, screen tonight, you might want to capture it with your phone. it was just one week ago, that first flight. cal fire giving us the first look at the devastation. the pacific coast highway, the homes in malibu gone. you can see it right over the shoulder here. home after home just completely gone. moments later, we were over pacific palisades in ashes. neighborhood after neighborhood erased by the fire. and with a break in the winds, the fight we witnessed from the air. that helicopter just dropped water from the air. three days into this disaster, they are still fighting fires here. and they have a tool now at their disposal, which is water in the air. tonight, one week later, amid so much loss, it's the strength of the firefighters and of the families here that is part of the story, too. we won't forget 21-year-old yakob brown, who we met. he then documented his first trip back. >> hey, david. i'm sure you saw. the entire town is gone. our lives, our homes, our friends. everyone has l

sir tim caputo at kabc in los angeles, you mentioned the number of similarities between this case and the one in new orleans. how far in the investigation process do you guys go to try to rule out that they are connected, knowing that you already have a couple of things that seem to connect them together? so the question is, is how are we working to rule in or rule out any connections to the new orleans event? and the answer to that is every tip and lead that comes in, every piece of evidence that comes in, we don't discount it. we work it through it. you know, it's an interesting thing during these kinds of investigations that if these turn out to be simply similarities, very strange similarities to have. and so we're not prepared to rule in or rule out anything at this point. there's lots more for us to do in this investigation. we haven't even gotten into the phones or the computers, which are usually very, very instructive and informative to us as we investigate. and we've got a lot more work to do to, to trace him, to see the stores that he went to rule out anybody else. lots and

. >> trace: as we watch this fire, you've got kt tv on the same fire as well as kabc. we've got 2 angles but i want to put this up on the screen. this is president biden. this is some sound, maybe we can put this in the third box. this is what he's saying happened to the fire hydrants in brentwood. listen to him. >> i think you are getting a bad rap. i know you are about these fire hydrants don't have enough water in them. give me a break. give me a break. what this is all about is utilities, understandably, what they did is they cut off power because they are worried about these high tension lines coming down. this is complicated stuff. there will be a lot of demagogues out there trying to take a vantage. >> trace: the president is telling us that the reason the fire hydrants did not work in brentwood is because they got the power. it's my understanding that fire hydrants don't have power, that they don't need power and they work on the water, the gravity and the pressure and so on. am i wrong on this or is the president right? >> depends on the system. this particula

now, the state's insurance commissioner, ricardo lara, told our sister station kabc today that he's working on protecting homeowners in the affected areas from being dropped by their insurer for one year. as for the rest of us, there's some significant questions as insurers continue dropping out of the market. >> the governor has declared a state of emergency as we watch the devastating wildfires move through los angeles county. >> it's raising new threats to the state's growing insurance crisis. with more than 13,000 homes at risk, losses could approach at least $10 billion. that's according to preliminary estimates from jp morgan chase. this, paired with concerns as the state is implementing a new reform plan that analysts say could raise insurance premiums by 40% on average in fire prone areas. that could be up to 100% or more. >> we have been operating under 20th century regulations for a 21st century problem, and we're starting to see already insurance companies come in. we need to make sure we allow them to use technology so that we can better track and understand how these fires are

now we are getting a closer look at the devastation from our reporters at our sister station, kabc. >ve you a look at some of the scenes from reporters rob mcmillan and josh haskell. >> i cannot explain the level of devastation that i just saw. my photographer and i are literally numb from driving sunset boulevard from chautauqua to pacific coast highway. i'm not overexaggerating. it feels like 50 to 75% of pacific palisades is gone. that is not an exaggeration. the amount of homes i mean, we heard a thousand structures this morning. it's definitely going to be way more than that. the whole business district pretty much is gone. ralphs supermarket gone, gelson's gone. all the starbucks on the corner, the italian restaurant i cannot explain. i never thought that i'd ever have to cover devastation like this. and the fact that it's my hometown and the fact that, like institutions, pali high, the high school, my elementary school, badly damaged, village school gone, the library gone, corpus christi church gone. we just tried to get a signal up. we weren't able to. and the methodist church

kabc news nbc news is at brentwood, where yesterday and today, there's been massive lines of people waitingto get in to the evacuated area to get things from their homes, medicines, et cetera. we're being told by folks here that they heard the city was allowing people up to their homes if they came to this location, but then they're not being allowed. some say they're being told by lapd three cars can go up with an escort every 15 to 20 minutes, but it's not happening. a lapd officer is telling some residents, end quote, it's all up to the fire department. what's the plan for all these people? will they be taking people to homes today? and what's the plan for these residents? >> yeah. thank you. i address that in my comments. earlier, uh, we had tried to facilitate, as best we could, people going in for a very short time, escorted the situation, controlled to get medication and in some cases, small pets. uh, in the in the early days in particular, that got unwieldy. many people came out. they wanted to see, understandably, their property and the condition of their property. today, effective

what you're looking at here is a live picture from our sister station, kabc. this is over the palisades fire, and at least five people have died. >> and more than 1200 structures have burned. the largest fire is the palisades fire at more than 17,000 acres. to give you some perspective on the scope of this disaster, take a look at this map. this is what the palisades fire burn area looked likesades around noon on tuesday, when we first learned it was spreading. now take a look at the fire's footprint. as of last night, if we can. yep. there you go. you can see the perimeter has expanded dramatically as flames tear through thousands of acres. >> last night there was panic as more fires broke out. one of them in the hollywood hills that started around 6 p.m. near runyon canyon and the hollywood bowl. it spread fast. some neighbors trying to put out spot fires, others evacuated, and that created a traffic nightmare heading into hollywood. here's reporter tim caputo with our sister station in l.a. you're practically looking straight up, because this is obviously a

abc seven news reporter zach fuentes has been helping our sister station kabc all week, as they get lifeing information out to their community. and he's live in altadena this morning in a neighborhood that has been mostly destroyed. zach. >> yeah, almost every house in this neighborhood has been leveled by fire, just like the one you're seeing behind me right now. if you had, we had more daylight. you'd see more of the destruction around here. but this is pretty much an example of what you see almost around every corner here. and this fire in this home in particular. we saw catch fire yesterday almost 24 hours ago. and you're seeing that there are still some flames here. now, i say almost every home in this neighborhood, because there is in this particular block, one home that is still standing. it's to the right over here. and it's a miraculous thing because we were here yesterday during the heartbreaking moments at the house, to the left of it, and when we were showing you live was burning. and that fire broke out almost a day after the majority of the other houses here burned, which r

. >> this is from our affiliate kabc. live pictures of the palisades fire. you can see that it is still burning largely out of control. the latest we got from cal fire was that it's 8% contained. there. got some slower winds, weaker winds today, although they're still blowing. but we've learned from our meteorologist that later today those winds are going to pick up more. so the firefighters there on the west coast are fighting lots of elements. listen, fire does not discriminate though when it comes to who suffers from its aftermath. and it's fair to note that if you're watching television and the coverage, a lot of families in los angeles who happen to be household names are getting a lot of news attention. but the reality is, and you know this, not all angelenos are affluent. for many, talk of rebuilding is daunting. and in places like altadena, families have been living close together as neighbors and their communities are just gone now. my next guest is a lifelong resident of altadena. he lost his home. his mother lost her home. it was right next to his

listen to the chopper reporter from our sister station, kabc in los angeles. describe the scene here. >> actually took firefighters by surprise. they actually had to abandon some of their equipment because this fire was behaving so erratically. the winds shifted slightly. the fire made a run up a hillside and quickly consumed their dipping spot where the helicopters were filling up, and even took out some of their container trucks and burnt up a couple of vehicles. but fortunately, they've been able to use encino reservoir to fill up and continue fighting this fire into the night. and it has been a huge luxury that has been very effective. >> guys, the los angeles fire department chief says the fire has destroyed more than 53,000 structures since tuesday. the fire is now spreading towards brentwood, where the getty center is located. many residents in pacific palisades are still waiting to find out whether their homes are still there. now, just miles away from the palisades fire, the deadly eaton fire is leaving a path of destruction. this is an aerial view of

abc seven news reporter zach fuentes has been helping our sister station kabc all week, as they get life saving information out to their community. he's live in altadena this morning in a neighborhood that has been mostly destroyed. zach. >> yeah, it is just tragic what we're seeing in this neighborhood and so many others. i'm going to just step out right now and let you see this house behind us that we literally yesterday saw burned down before our eyes. it is just tragic. this home, too, is surrounded by other homes just like it that are burned to the ground. miraculously, though, there is a home just to the right of this one that is still standing. it is literally the only one in this block that is still standing. let me just take you to some video from yesterday of this first home we showed you burning. this is the heartbreaking moments that crews worked to fight this fire. that fire, by the way, broke out almost a day after the majority of the other houses here burned, which really just speaks to how uncertain things are out here right now. and fire crews worked hard to save that ho

listen to the chopper reporter from our sister station, kabc in los angeles. describe the scene here. >> actually took firefighters by surprise. they actually had to abandon some of their equipment because this fire was behaving so erratically. the winds shifted slightly. the fire made a run up a hillside and quickly consumed their dipping spot where the helicopters were filling up. and even took out some of their container trucks and burnt up a couple of vehicles. but fortunately, they've been able to use encino reservoir to fill up and continue fighting this fire into the night. and it has been a huge luxury that has been very effective. >> guys, los angeles fire department chief says the fire has destroyed more than 53,000 structures since tuesday, and the fire is now spreading toward brentwood, where the getty center is located. many residents in pacific palisades are still waiting to find out whether their homes were destroyed. and just miles away from the palisades fire, the deadly eaton fire is leaving a path of destruction. this is an aerial view of wh

this is coming in from our affiliate kabc, live over the palisades fire. that is in los angeles county. of course, the sun just coming up, revealing more devastation, more horror, more heartbreak for the people in southern california. here's a look at the palisades fire from space. take a look at this. a russian cosmonaut took this photo last night from the international space station. you can see ribbons of fire surrounded by darkness. the inferno is destroying everything in its path. the palisades fire is now the most destructive to ever hit los angeles county. with thousands of structures burned across tens of thousands of acres. the fires have now scorched an area equal to the size of get this. minneapolis firefighters remain at the mercy of the weather with more gusty winds expected today. cnn's stephanie elam is in altadena. stephanie, forgive us for having you stand by for so long. but now that the sun has come up, my goodness, the devastation behind you, it's just heartbreaking to look at it really is. >> now that we can see out here. and if you lo

and we've got these live pictures here courtesy of kabc. and this fire still raging again. palisades fire now 11% contained. that is progress. and there is this moment of calmer winds, but still so many elements that these firefighters are battling julia vargas jones there for us. thank you so much. and while many were able to escape the flames, others could not. at least 11 people are dead. one of them the sister of zaire. calvin and i spoke with zaire on first of all this morning about this loss for his family. >> it was earlier during the evacuation orders. um. just let her know that, you know, we had to get out of there. and, um, she was collecting her stuff and and presumably, um, i felt that she was on her way out. >> and you thought that she was safe, that she was out. when did you learn that she didn't make it out? >> um, so my mother's disabled. she's, um, in her 80s, and she has steps in front of her home. so when we were, it was a chaotic scene. um, about the time that we were leaving. and i knew we had to take time to get my mother down the steps. me and my cous

you're looking at some live images coming in right now from kabc in los angeles. folks, if you're watching at home and you're wondering what that is on your screen, that is the sun. i've triple checked with the control room and they tell me that that is indeed the sun rising over los angeles. it is so clouded by smoke there that you can barely see the sun rising over los angeles. we just spoke with stephanie elam and margaret stewart with the l.a. fire department. we're going to be getting back in touch with all of them as the hour goes on. but in the meantime, we have other breaking news to tell you. the department of justice has just responded to donald trump's argument that he should not release that the report on the two investigations into the president elect should not be released. cnn's katelyn polantz is here with us. caitlin, a lot of fast moving developments. what can you tell us about this? >> well, the justice department is telling the appeals court, the federal appeals court over florida, stay out of it. they have a plan. this is the plan that they ju

listen to what ginger zee told our sister station kabc last night. >> this is the time when people needk me up. they're tired. they are beyond the shock part. and now it's the reality. and we would like to highlight the local heroes, the people who have been doing the work and introduced them to the rest of america. the rest of america wants to help too, so we're going to give them a way to do so. >> and she also teased some special surprises that are going to be taking place, of course, on good morning america this morning. so you're going to want to tune in for that. but i'll tell you, it's been inspirational to see so many people coming together. i've seen, of course, bay area crews, crews from fresno down here in los angeles joining firefighters from all over the country and also canada and mexico. that's really what we do in these situations. it's so cal strong, but it's also california strong. and that's what you're going to see on good morning america today. of course starting at 7:00. live in altadena i'm nick garcia, abc seven news. >> nick, we'll be watching. thank you so much

we're just learning right now from our affiliate out in los angeles, kabc, that the death toll from the eaton fire is now five. that according to the los angeles county sheriff, i know you've been on the scene now for several hours. how have things changed in just the time that you've been there yeah. >> so this is part of the eaton fire. as you know, the eaton fire, you know, started up more of a wildfire and then it jumped into these residential areas. it's i mean, it hasn't changed much. i kind of thought it would have died down by now. but what you see is the. yeah, the buildings that have destroyed eventually there's nothing left to burn and it's just smoke coming out of them. but these fires keep jumping. so these are fresh fires. this is brand new. this is not something that house there that that now in just in the time we've been talking those flames. now you see them pouring out of the that attic window. they're soon going to spread to the entire roof. there's a prius parked in the driveway that authorities are concerned about. um, you know, it seems like when the cars catch fi

. >> sir tim caputo with kabc in los angeles, you mentioned the number of similarities between this case and the one in new orleans. how far in the investigation process do you guys go to try to rule out that they are connected, knowing that you already have a couple of things that seem to connect them together? >> so the question is, is how are we working to rule in or rule out any connections to the new orleans event? and the answer to that is every tip and lead that comes in, every piece of evidence that comes in, we don't discount it. we work it through it. you know, it's an interesting thing during these kinds of investigations that if these turn out to be simply similarities, very strange similarities to have. and so we're not prepared to rule in or rule out anything at this point. um, there's lots more for us to do in this investigation. we haven't even gotten into the phones or the computers, which are usually very, very instructive and informative to us as we investigate. and we've got a lot more work to do to, to to trace him, to see the stores that he went to to rule out anybo

a helicopter from cnn affiliate kabc is flying over new danger zones today, and you can see flames there from the eaton fire burning near a neighborhood in altadena, just north of los angeles. coming up, we're going to take a look at what some of those areas look like before the wildfires, as opposed to what they look like now. and the head of fema will be here, the federal emergency management agency, the mounting federal response to this disaster, disaster added to the list of other catastrophes on fema's list. stay with us kobe. >> the making of a legend premieres january 25th on cnn. >> that's monopoly. go. chris kiki. >> ready? tycoons. >> it's go time. cash grab. >> kiki! i won again! oh, daddy. >> we'll be back soon oh, we're swimming in it now. >> rent's due. >> little. >> nothing beats playing with friends except bankrupting friends. >> give it to me. >> you're seeing skechers famous glide step footwear everywhere. and now that famous design is available in hands free skechers slip ins. >> get the comfort and style of glide step now with the convenience of slip ins, with no bend

we're gonna show you now a live look at our station kabc's chopper. it's above the palisades fire right now. hard to see some of the destruction. but you can really see those wild fires continue to burn. we're gonna go to ginger now, who's in altadena with the forecast for the fire zone. good morning, ginger. >> ginger: hey, good morning, rebecca. we are seeing winds relax a bit but are still going to see 40 to 50 mile per hour gusts. after the noon hour here that's when things really get better. we're gonna see them go down to even calm at a couple sites, only five miles per hour. red flag warnings are staying today but will be gone after f p.m. we're gonna take a pause and go to an abc news special report. news special report. >> good morning everyone. i'm kyra phillips. we are coming on the air because president elect donald trump has just been sentenced for his conviction in the criminal hush money case in new york, making him the first american president to be sentenced for a crime. this comes just ten days before he takes the oath of office. now

you're looking at live pictures from the pacific palisades, courtesy of our affiliate kabc. at least five people have died in these fires, but officials expect that number to rise. sadly, as the most destructive fire is still 0% contained. cnn's julia vargas jones is in altadena. julia, tell us what it's like there on the ground. >> well, jake, scenes like this one, this house is still on fire. it's street after street and you see, you know, this vegetation, dried out california vegetation that is so ripe to just ignite as the fire makes its way through construction materials and destroying people's homes. their memories, their lives in these homes we see on the other side here, a neighbor has a gas leak that's been going for at least a few hours since we've been here. firefighters working tirelessly to try and contain this. as you mentioned, 0% contained. this is the eaton fire that has come down from the angeles national forest, on the hills that are just behind altadena in pasadena. these cities just east of los angeles, and it's ravaged through these neighborhoods. we've