you guys take care. >> we've got back cnn's nick watt, who is in pacific palisades. nick, we were just speaking to the fire captain. unbelievable images. and here you are with the blaze behind you. what are you seeing? >> well, laura, for the past few hours, we've been driving up around these little narrow roads through the mountains in the pacific palisades. and pretty much every street you drive on, you find a scene like this. we stumbled upon this house. five minutes later, the fire crews arrived. they're going to go in and see what they can do. i mean, obviously, they're not going to save this house, but those flames, those embers are dangerous. they will be carried on the wind, and they can start fires a mile, two miles away from here. so that's what they're trying to do here. obviously, this house is a goner. we have seen so many houses up here just destroyed, and it's just amazing how quickly this happened. you know, this morning the wind started picking up at maybe 8:00 by 1030, this fire had started. now over 1200 acres, 30,000 people forced to flee from thei

nick watt is out front with me, and he is in a different section of pacific palisades. so the same destruction, the same smells. nick, how worried right now are officials from what you've been hearing about these winds that are expected to pick up in these next few hours and really potentially last over the next day? >> yeah. well, erin, they have taken advantage of this lull in the wind to try and get some sort of containment around these blazes because it has been very difficult with those high winds to get a handle on these fires, to get planes in the air to help with the fight. the fear, erin, as you just said, is this is just a lull and we're going to have more the winds are going to pick up, then we're going to have another santa ana event next week know? >> well, there's the red plane swooping in to save us. >> sadly, a little too late for this fleeing family. this morning we found what's left of their home. nothing. thousands of homes have been lost across the county, plus businesses and more. $50 billion worth of damage. but the winds finally eased. so now they

nick watt, thank you very much. nd we have seen, as nick talks about the national guard, a real pickup and just the visibility and presence of the national guard and a lot of the checkpoints around this fire that's been very noticeable just in these past 24 hours. so these winds, what is going to happen in these crucial hours ahead? derek van dam is in the cnn weather center. and derek, that's what it is all coming down to now. the winds and what the winds could do and where they bring this fire. so what is the exact forecast at this moment? >> indeed. and using the terminology from the national weather service out of los angeles, this is about as bad as it gets anywhere. you see this red flag warning which extends through wednesday afternoon in the hardest hit areas. this is where we have a high risk of rapid fire growth. but what the national weather service has just done is consolidated and expanded what is known as a particularly dangerous situation, or pds for short. and what's different than just a few hours ag

but first, let's go back to cnn's nick watt, who is in the area of pacific palisades. and, nick, tell us what you're seeing. >> well, jake, we are seeing more smoke, more flames. this just has not stopped. if you pan around, i mean, this is downtown pacific palisades. palisades village. it looks like a war zone now. and already people are starting to ask questions. how could this have happened? now we know that there were strong winds. we know we've had a drought here in california for a long time, so we had a lot of dry brush. but there are issues. for example, 3:00 in the morning, the firefighters, the water ran out for them in and around this area because there was just so much demand for water to try and douse these flames. they ran out also, you know, county and city officials have said that they prepared for maybe 1 or 2 fires. they did not expect four. and i mean, it's surreal walking around a neighborhood that you come to. i have dinner with my kids in here. i come shopping over here and it's gone along sunset boulevard. the homes along sunset boulevard, both si

nick watt on the scene for us. stay safe over there as well. nick. we'll be back in touch with you soon. right now i want to bring in cal fire battalion chief brant pasqua. brant, thanks very much for joining us. thanks for all you're doing. how much progress are you making in containing these truly fast moving and very dangerous fires right now? >> as far as containment, we're not making very much progress. we're still making sure that we get everyone's lives. all the people out of the way and protect whatever we can of their property, their structures, things of that sort. when the wind dies down, that's when we'll be able to anchor in, dig in our heels and get some containment. but right now it's just too tricky. with with these gusts that we want to make sure everyone gets out alive. >> what's your biggest challenge right now, brant? and are you receiving all the support you need? >> we are. we have more crews coming in as as we speak. our biggest challenge again, is these winds. just like they were saying, it does seem to die down. and then all

in these hours of thursday evening, begins here with nick, watt and nick. you know, your family had to evacuate. you were standing here. we met on the phone, speaking to lonnie. this is her home. yeah. and, you know, so many, so many friends who have just lost, who live on streets like this. and this is now what it looks like. >> and that's the thing. what people are wondering. it's what happens next. like all of your friends, their homes have been destroyed. all the restaurants you used to go to, the schools your kids used to go to, they're all destroyed. you know, the other thing, it's still, uh, winter break for pali high. so a lot of people are still on vacation. so i've been facetiming with people who are in australia, showing them that there's nothing left of their home. and they're like, no, we're not. that doesn't look like our house. are you sure? and i'm having to break it to these people that that is their house, because, you know, this is all still the evacuation zone. so people can't get in to check on their homes. so kids, now, i just heard fr

nick watt, thank you very much.we've just learned the death toll in these fires has increased to 25. it has been 24. the governor of california, gavin newsom, has indicated he expects that those numbers will go up substantially, but they are going house to house. they have cadaver dogs. they are trying to understand the magnitude of this damage, even as in these hours here with these winds, they are worried about embers and fire over these ridges, igniting more fire out front. now jose medina, he is the acting special agent in charge of the atf los angeles field division. he's leading an elite team that's been deployed to investigate what happened. the cause of that palisades fire that has changed. los angeles. and, jose, i want to start with the breaking news. 14 people now under arrest in connection with that. palisades fire, i mean, 14 people is a lot of people and three of them, we understand for arson. so can you give us any context around these arrests, whether they're related to the cause of the palisades fir

erin burnett nick watt. thank you both for those reports on the ground. we'll check back in with you. there are a lot of moving parts happening this evening. officials in l.a. battling one fire after another, just to demonstrate that we were supposed to speak to the chief of the los angeles fire department tonight. she was going to join us for an interview. she was pulled away understandably, completely, understandably, because a new fire in the city broke out this evening. it is just another reminder of how fluid this situation is that officials are confronting. thankfully, captain erik scott is back with me. he is the public information officer for the los angeles fire department, and it's great to have you back here. you know, just 24 hours ago, looking at what has changed, there's now a new fire in the west hills, woodland hills area. what can you tell us? i mean, we're looking at it right now. we can see how bad it is. but what can you tell us from from your vantage point? >> i think you bring up a great point, caitlin, that contextualized things. we

nick watt, pacific palisades, california wow, just a stunning scene there from our nick watt, who filmed that at about 1 a.m. >> overnight for us, clearly very close to many of those flames. and we are, of course, going to continue to cover that breaking news story throughout the morning. but let's take a minute now to turn to politics. democrats preparing for trump's return to office. it's looking a little bit different this time than it did back in 2017. >> we're appalled. we're appalled at the new. president. um, i don't think any of us even want to say his name. i mean, we're we're appalled. >> so eight years ago, in january 2017, those pink hats emerged as a symbol of the anti-trump resistance with hundreds of thousands of protesters flooding the streets across the country after his inauguration. this time around, though, activists seem to be embracing a more muted response to donald trump's second presidential term. one organizer telling cnn, quote, the 2025 playbook cannot be the 2017 playbook, as democrats in congress look ahead to the republican trifecta in washington, some are

let's go to cnn's nick watt, who's in pacific palisades. nick, a new evacuation order we learned in effect in the palisades fire. can you tell us what you know tonight? >> yeah. so, laura, i'm standing on sunset boulevard in palisades village. i can see the flames that are causing the problem right now. they are going up over the santa monica mountains into the san fernando valley. by the looks of things. but here's the good news. that plume. huge plume of smoke coming off that fire is going straight up in the air. which means that there's not a lot of wind. and that is great news. now, during the lull in the wind today, i can only imagine that the firefighters were using their bulldozers to dig lines, fire lines to try and contain the fire. and if there's not much wind, hopefully they can hold those lines because, you know, the wind won't be blowing embers over the lines. but i've got to say, in the past ten minutes or so, we have seen half a dozen, a dozen fire trucks just booking it past us. i'm assuming they're going to head down sunset

nick watt, pacific palisades. >> california. and our thanks to nick and his team.et's get right to doctor ariel cohen, meteorologist in charge with the national weather service in los angeles. doctor, thank you so much for being with us, the mayor of los angeles. and we're going to put as many pictures as we can so people can see the conditions in los angeles. during our conversation, the mayor of los angeles just posted that she expects these conditions to get worse. what are you expecting the next several hours? >> powerful winds, destructive winds are ongoing right now. >> we're getting observations showing 70 to 90 mile per hour winds over the mountains, continuing some of the lower elevations from the san gabriel valley all the way to the malibu coast area, getting 50 to 70 mile an hour winds that are going to continue to carry these fires rapidly forward, creating just paths of destruction. and everyone needs to be listening very carefully to emergency notifications, evacuation orders. and when they come, you need to take action. evacuate to save your life. >

cnn's nick watt is in pacific palisades, where evacuations are underway. nick, explain what's going on. >> well, anderson, the sun has not set here. but you wouldn't know that because you cannot see a thing. but this black, acrid smoke. this house here was fine about 20 minutes ago. i was walking down this road suddenly. bang! it was up these houses on the other side of the road. if you pan over here, these have been burning for some time now. you mentioned evacuations, anderson. about 30,000 people have evacuated hundreds of firefighters. now, in trying to save those people's homes. this place obviously a goner. but what they're trying to do elsewhere beautiful big hedges that they have in this neighborhood, because that is just fuel the issue. this wind, anderson, you can see it whipping that smoke. and you see those embers. those are a big problem because those embers are going to fly on that wind. and they can land and they can set a spot fire somewhere else. they can hit another house. so it's that wind, and that wind is nowhere near its peak yet. we'v

erin burnett nick watt. thank you both for those reports on the ground. we'll check back in with you. there are a lot of moving parts happening this evening. officials in l.a. battling one fire after another, just to demonstrate that we were supposed to speak to the chief of the los angeles fire department tonight. she was going to join us for an interview. she was pulled away, understandably, completely, understandably, because a new fire in the city broke out this evening. it is just another reminder of how fluid this situation is that officials are confronting. thankfully, captain erik scott is back with me. he is the public information officer for the los angeles fire department, and it's great to have you back here. you know, just 24 hours ago, looking at what has changed, there's now a new fire in the west hills, woodland hills area. what can you tell us? i mean, we're looking at it right now. we can see how bad it is. but what can you tell us from from your vantage point? >> i think you bring up a great point, caitlin, that contextualize things. we

let's get straight to cnn's nick watt, who is in pacific palisades. ick, how on edge are people there about these increasing winds? >> yes, people are scared. i mean, partly because the area of concern was just expanded. so we have a large area that they're calling a p dz that's particularly dangerous situation. so more winds gusting up to 70 miles an hour expected to begin 4 a.m. tuesday morning, west coast time. that's 7 a.m. in the east. and to continue through wednesday. so that is a huge concern. the national weather service, in their tweet said this quote, this setup is about as bad as it gets. now the only good thing is there are right now, so many firefighters over 5000 and so much equipment in the l.a. county area. they are pre-positioning. so the hope is that if we do get these fires again, that there are more. resources ready to pounce and try and snuff out these fires before they spread, as they did so devastatingly last week, casey. >> well, and nick, one of the big concerns, of course, is if the wind gets too high for some of these air, t

i want to go to cnn's nick watt. he's on the ground for us covering the palisades fire. nick, the fire is now zero 0% contained. give us a sense of the utter devastation that you're seeing. you've been there all along. >> well, wolf, i mean, we can show it to you if you just pan down here. we're in this neighborhood, wolf, and there's just nothing left. absolutely nothing left. an entire neighborhood. and there are neighborhoods like this all over the palisades, where there are just no homes left. um, the death toll. we still don't know, but we've had the first confirmed death from this fire, wolf. but we're going to have to wait. unfortunately for the sheriffs and the cadaver dogs to come in before we can get any handle on that death toll. also, right now, on the ground here in the palisades, arson investigators also with dogs, the dogs trying to sniff out accelerants to see if this fire was in fact started intentionally. and i can tell you, wolf, also from people who are coming back in anger is beginning to build. we saw governor newsom accosted by a woman who was askin

yeah, yeah. >> nick watt, i appreciate it. thank you. nick's been doing extraordinary work now for a very long time. from the beginning. the first night when these. when all of us watched what was happening, we're going to take a short break. we're going to talk to the sheriff about arrests that had been made, also about missing persons. at this point, a lot more ahead. stay with us. >> the day you get your clearchoice dental implants changes your struggle with missing teeth forever. it changes how you eat, how you feel, and how you enjoy life. clearchoice network doctors have changed over 150,000 lives with dental implants. because a clear choice day changes every day. finance your new smile for as low as $148 a month per arch for qualified patients. schedule a free consultation. >> not again. >> your cold is coming. your cold is coming. >> thanks, revere. >> we really need to keep zicam in the house. >> only if you want to shorten your cold. when you feel a cold coming, shorten it with. i can tap into etsy for original and affordable ho

nick watt, i appreciate it. thank you. nick's been doing extraordinary work now for a very long time. from the beginning. the first night when these when all of us watched what was happening, we're going to take a short break. we're going to talk to the sheriff about arrests that had been made, also about missing persons at this point, a lot more ahead. stay with us. ready to party? >> i'm talking about jackpot party, the leading free to play mobile slots game that always gives you more download jackpot party for free and get a 45 million coin bonus jackpot party a party in every spin. >> he was only 47. aneurysm. did he have life insurance? do you know? you got to get on it. check out select quote. trust me, the peace of mind is worth it. >> life insurance is too important to put off another day, that's why select quote makes getting coverage you need easy for less than a dollar a day. >> now get up to a $2 million policy with no medical exam and same day coverage visits. >> quote.com. >> we shop, you save. >> they are try

. >> cnn's nick watt has been on the scene following the latest on the fires, and has this update froms angeles. >> this is palisades village, the heart of pacific palisades. this used to be a restaurant. i don't know what that was because there's nothing left. i can't tell what that used to be, but you can feel what the problem is. it's this wind. and the wind is only going to get worse. it's the wind. flick. look at these embers, chris. look at these embers. any one of these embers could go and cause a fire somewhere else. look, we've got this. we've got another fire spot. fire up here just around the corner. an entire apartment building was gone. it's dry vegetation. it's wind. it's a terrible combination. 30 000 plus. people evacuated. we have no idea yet how many structures have been lost. but we have been up in the hills. million dollar homes. we've seen destroyed. we're down here in the village. apartment buildings, restaurants. destroyed. the question is, just how far is this fire going to go before the wind finally dies down? nick watt, pacific palisades, california joining me

i want to bring in cnn's nick watt, who is live in pacific palisades. ick, there have been concerns all day about the return of those now infamous santa ana winds. so far, though, the gusts have not been as strong as expected. how long is that going to last well, hopefully a long time, but at about 3 a.m. >> our time west coast. so 6 a.m. your time. they are forecast to pick up again. you know we went through this drill last night where we thought that the winds were really going to pick up in the middle of the night. you know, there was a weather forecaster on the local news who was talking about these people being at the most danger, as he had his hand alarmingly over exactly where i live. so my truck is full of a couple of pictures and some stuff from my house right now. if we get through tonight, we will be good. so fingers crossed the forecast is wrong again. i mean, it's been great news and frankly, the palisades fire today has been very inactive. no real active flame. a few hotspots around the fringes that they've been really trying to damp down,

first, let's go to cnn's nick watt. he's on the scene for us over at the palisades fire. nick, give us an update on the effort to contain this fire and what you're seeing on the ground. >> well, right now, wolf, here and there, you see a fire truck going. we don't know where they are. fanning out across this whole area when a little spot fire pops up, they try and knock it down. but, i mean, look at this. you know, this was a couple of days ago. this was a beautiful little downtown. all of these wood framed buildings just gone. tom, if you pan around there and you see the brick of the veterinary center, that place survived. but you know, jeez, it's hit and miss. tom. and if you come back around here, you know, look at all this. look at all this. just gone. now, the problem that they're dealing with right now, wolf, is not here in the center of the palisades. but i don't know if you can see that is smoke there. so the palisades fire they think is actually burning through brush over into the san fernando valley that is picked up within the past hour. that is what they're try

let's bring in cnn's nick watt, who is live for us in the palisades area. nick, are there any early indications in the investigation over how the palisades fire palisades fire started? >> well, jake, there are theories, but the how is going to take some time. >> the where they could be zeroing in on that because right now behind me, that hillside is what they call the general area of origin. >> and investigators are trying to. >> on the specific area of origin they will be aiming to zero in to a piece of turf of roughly it. so they'll not let us because this is a crime scene. >> we've seen some atf agents up there. what these investigators will be doing is they will be. >> hands and knees. >> points, single pebble. >> grasp to see which direction the fire approached. >> that pebble or blade of grass. then they can narrow it down and zero in on the origin. they've also had sniffer dogs up here sniffing for accelerant. and here's an interesting little theory. there was another fire in this area early morning, new year's day. and this is i'm going to quote you

. >> already for hours, our colleague nick watt and his team have been bringing us some some incredible pictures, harrowing pictures. nick, i'm curious, with the forecast showing that the winds are only going to grow even stronger, worsening the situation, are you feeling that already or not yet? we can see them? >> yeah, i'm not sure if you just saw those palm fronds hit me. um, yeah. paolo, the wind in the past half hour has definitely gotten worse. now we are still in downtown. uh, pacific palisades behind me. that used to be a bistro over here. i'm not sure what that used to be, because there's just nothing left. um, we watched an apartment building. just. chris, look at these. look at these embers. chris, if you turn around, you see, that's the issue. paolo. these embers in this wind, they're just lighting spot fires all over the place. wow. look at that palm tree up there, chris. palm tree. up up up, up. so all of those embers could potentially be another little spot. fire. um, so it is just, frankly, largely out of control right now we have more than 200 firefighters trying to ge

yeah. >> you know, nick watt, i appreciate it. thank you. nick's been doing extraordinary work now for a very long time. from the beginning. the first night when these when all of us watched what was happening, we're going to take a short break. we're going to talk to your sheriff about arrests that had been made, also about missing persons at this point, a lot more ahead. stay with us. >> can a personal loan unlock your ambitions? oh, yeah. borrow up to $100,000 to consolidate bad debt and save money for your next goal. take a swing at your kitchen, reno. and that literally. or design your actual dream wedding. consolidate bad debt and fund all your ambitions with a sofi personal loan. go to sofi. com to view your rate. sofi. get your money right. >> this is what joint pain looks like when you keep moving with a leave. just one to leave. 12 hours of uninterrupted joint pain relief. aleve strength to last 12 hours. >> covid 19. i'm not waiting. if it's covid, paxlovid. >> paxlovid is an oral treatment for adults with mild to moderate covid 19

let's go now to cnn's nick watt, who is on the ground in the palisades area where the fire there is stillicially considered 0% contained. nick, nick, tell us what you're the damage you're seeing well, jake, i would say in parts of the palisades, the damage is absolutely total. >> like, if you pull out, you can see we're on a residential street. what used to be a residential street? nothing left. steel beams buckled under the heat. that's a old land rover. as old as i am. that's vintage. that's gone. all of these houses are gone. what we've been noticing, jake, is. and this is not scientific. this is anecdotal. the houses that are still standing tend to be the newer builds. now, arson investigators are now on the ground here in the palisades. jake, trying to figure out if this was intentionally started. they have a dog that will sniff for accelerants. as for the death toll here, no confirmed deaths yet in the palisades, but the sheriff's department still needs to come in with those dogs. those cadaver dogs. >> jake, have you seen any residents trying to go back to their neighborhood to see

i want to go to our nick watt, who is elsewhere in the pacific palisades. 's been working this for since the beginning. round the clock. nick, talk about what you've been seeing today. >> yeah, you know, you were talking about that drop in the wind and the firefighters taking advantage of that. people who used to live in the pacific palisades have also been trying to take advantage of that, some of them walking for miles into the evacuation zone to see if there's anything left of their house. from most people, it is not good news. we've also had today on the ground here in the palisades, some arson investigators with a dog that can smell accelerant, trying to figure out what exactly started this fire. we also saw gavin newsom. the governor came in unexpectedly. we were just down in the village, and he jumped out of an suv and was pretty quickly confronted by a very angry woman who was asking, why was there no water to fight this fire here in the palisades when it was at its when it was at its height? we've also had a death confirmed here in the palisades. th

nick watt has been covering all of this, of course, and also lives here, has been dealing with these evacuation orders yourself. nick. we see this expansion. and also, as i said, at least here in palisades, more active fires here tonight than we saw just a few hours ago. >> yeah. >> and, aaron, i don't know if you can see it from where you are, but we can just see that orange glow as that fire is pushing into the san fernando valley, by the looks of things. but, you know, when you were talking about the mayor earlier, i mean, the mayor and the fire chief, that meeting must have been quite something, because chief crowley has been on our air today being exceptionally critical of the mayor. i mean, she basically said, yes, the budget cuts that were given that were laid down on the fire department. chief crowley said, yes, they did have an effect on how they handled this fire. and that's a that's a pretty big accusation. um, you know, they were cut by a few million. and the chief says, you know, we don't have enough mechanics, so we've got too many bits of equipment still in the shop, so

nick watt, thank you very much. and the extent of the human loss is still unknown. bill weir. earlier the show was talking about the cadaver dogs that are going now from house to house, because they're trying to figure out the extent of the damage. families, though, are beginning to face unthinkable tragedy as they are not just losing their homes and dealing with the incredible tragedy all around us, but also finding out that those that they love most did not survive. i want to bring in eric nickerson. he, his father, rodney, died. he died in the eaton fire and the altadena home that he had owned. he had lived in for more than 50 years. and eric, it is an unthinkable, unthinkable loss that you are facing. i'm so sorry to even have this conversation with you. days ago, we never would have even crossed paths. and now we are talking about this. i know you spoke with your dad every single day. you were so close. at what point did you realize that something was wrong? >> when you can't get phone communication, which is normally usual, you can't get a text message, which is normally

back to you. >> our thanks to nick watt for his reporting there. let's bring in ariel cohen now.he is the meteorologist in charge of the national weather service in los angeles. ariel, very grateful to have you on the show this morning. what is the status of the conditions around battling these fires? and what can residents expect as this continues into the next day? >> first of all, i want to say on behalf of the national weather service that our hearts go out to everyone who has been impacted by these fires. these fires are going through, raging through our own communities in our area, and it is heartbreaking to see what has happened. we know that the loss has been truly catastrophic and extensive across the area. >> you know, we're here standing by our partners in the emergency operations center in the los angeles area. >> make sure that we're working together to foster public safety as we go forward. we are past the peak of the destructive windstorm component of this event, with those 80 to 100 mile an hour wind gusts being in the past at this point. nevertheless, strong sant

uh, cnn's nick watt has been on the scene following the latest fires. he has this update from l.a. >> reporter this is palisades village, the heart of pacific palisades. this used to be a restaurant. i don't know what that was, because there's nothing left. i can't tell what that used to be, but you can feel what the problem is. it's this wind. and the wind is only going to get worse. it's the wind. flip. look at these embers, chris. look at these embers. any one of these embers could go and cause a fire somewhere else. look, we've got this. we've got another fire spot. fire up here, just around the corner. an entire apartment building was gone. it's. dry. vegetation. it's wind. it's a terrible combination. 30 000 plus. people evacuated. we have no idea yet how many structures have been lost. but we have been up in the hills. million dollar homes. we've seen destroyed. we're down here in the village. apartment buildings, restaurants. destroyed. the question is, just how far is this fire going to go before the wind finally dies down? nick watt, pacific p

nick watt reporting there. and nick is of course, from here. he's been dealing with those evacuation orders himself with he and his family. just one thing on his report, when he's talking about houses that were built since 2008, having to be built with the strictest fire code in the country. we can see that here. even in the palisades, you see houses standing that clearly are new builds, and some of them actually look pristine. the issue is, of course, there'll be 1 or 2 houses standing. i can see a couple from here, and then the thousand homes around them are completely gone. it's it's two houses standing amongst a sea of hell. and that's maybe where that retrofitting no one's going to return to those houses to live there to state the obvious. all right. we're going to take a brief break. we'll be right back with our breaking coverage here from southern california in just a moment. >> super the christopher reeve story february 2nd, work. play blink. >> relief. work. >> play. blink. relief. >> the only 3 in 1 extended relief formula for dry eye

there's not much left. >> our thanks to nick watt, who's doing incredible reporting there.he palisades fire is the most destructive ever to hit los angeles county, exploding to more than 17,000 acres. and it is 0% contained at this hour. joining us now is janet davis, who lives in one of the hardest hit areas and has not been able to return to her home. janet, it's hard to even ask you this. do you? do you know what has happened to your home yet? >> thank you so much for me as well. >> um, yes, i've seen some, uh, video footage and it's gone. it's gone. um. i don't have access to the area yet. >> your home is gone. you had to see that on on video. you weren't able to to. where were you when you all of a sudden had to had to leave the area and were evacuated? >> um, i didn't have the option of packing. i made an appointment to have my car maintenance and for car maintenance, and i, um, driven into santa monica that morning and i could not get back to the palisades. but by the time i could, i was returning. there was. there's too much traffic. um, i so i went continued to my

cnn's nick watt investigated the biggest factors that may have affected that response.ere's what he found. >> did it really have to be this bad? no one was caught unawares here. strong santa ana winds were forecast, and after months without significant rain, bone dry vegetation was obviously primed to burn. number one, were there enough boots on the ground to fight the flames? easy answer. >> no, we don't have enough fire personnel in l.a. county between all of the departments to handle this. >> in a memo two years ago, l.a. city's fire chief kristin crowley said more staff were needed with increased risk due to climate change and increased construction in danger zones. just last month, chief crowley told mayor karen bass that eliminating some civilian positions and cutting $7 million from firefighters overtime severely limited the department's capacity to prepare for, train for, and respond to large scale emergencies. clearing brush, which is basically fuel, is crucial and mandatory. chief crowley says budget cuts mean they couldn't inspect to make sure the clearing wa

nick watt, pacific palisades, california let's bring in chad hansen. >> now a wildfire scientist and ecologist with the john muir project. he is the author of the book smokescreen debunking wildfire myths to save our forests and our climate. thank you so much for joining us my pleasure. so as a wildfire scientist, what is your reaction to the speed at which these fires have raged across l.a. county? and talk to us about why they're particularly dangerous right now and through the overnight hours yeah. >> well, you know, these are all places that i know. well, i grew up in these areas and hiking in these hills, and i know these communities, and my heart just goes out to all the people impacted by these fires. you know, this is this is fire season in southern california still. and that's surprising to a lot of people. but the peak fire season is really september through. oftentimes, you know, early or even mid january where you get these extreme santa ana wind events and especially in a dry year like this where we haven't had much precipitation yet this year, when you had those dry con

i want to go now to cnn's nick watt. he's in pacific palisades. and, nick, i should note that we are now getting reports of another fire that has started. it is it is near the hills near runyon canyon. if people have been in l.a., gone on a hike. i was just there last week doing that hike. i mean, people know this area very well. you're over on sunset boulevard. what are you seeing this hour? >> well, we are still seeing flames, caitlin. i mean, the wind has dropped a little bit, but, you know, those embers that anderson was just talking about have wreaked absolute havoc here? i think when i spoke to you last night, just after i spoke to you last night, we came into this area, the palisades village, the downtown, the. i mean, this is an urban area. this is an urban wildfire. we came down here and we could just see the wind taking those embers and just whipping them so fast. it was so obvious that this was going to go bad. and sure enough, this whole block is up. and, you know, the problem is, you guys were talking about the water. you know, the hyd

nick watt has been live on the ground in the last hour. nick, we've been watching this. i mean, obviously, we can see what's behind you and just how devastating the conditions are there right now. how quickly is all of this progressing? >> very quickly. caitlin, i was on the beach this morning at 8 a.m. having a swim. it was a beautiful california morning. by dusk, this 1200 acres have been chewed up by this fire. we knew this was coming. it's the santa ana winds. these warm winds that blow down and 1030 ignition. since then, 1200 acres have gone up. and we don't know how many homes have been lost. i mean, this is just one of them cars in that garage. a beautiful house on a beautiful little suburban street. gone. we have seen so many of these houses. the heat coming off this thing is intense right now. and look, if you can see these embers in the air, chris, can you show. so that's the problem. look at those embers on the wind that shows you how fast the wind is gusting. but every one of those embers could be another fire. i saw something just i don't know if you can see

i want to go now to cnn's nick watt. he's in pacific palisades. and, nick, i should note that we are now getting reports of another fire that has started. it is it is near the hills near runyon canyon. if people have been in l.a., gone on a hike. i was just there last week doing that hike. i mean, people know this area very well. you're over on sunset boulevard. what are you seeing this hour? >> well, we are still seeing flames, caitlin. i mean, the wind has dropped a little bit, but, you know, those embers that anderson was just talking about have wreaked absolute havoc here? i think when i spoke to you last night, just after i spoke to you last night, we came into this area, the palisades village, the downtown, the. i mean, this is an urban area. this is an urban wildfire. we came down here and we could just see the wind taking those embers and just whipping them so fast. it was so obvious that this was going to go bad. and sure enough, this whole block is up. and, you know, the problem is you guys were talking about the water. you know, the hydr

. >> cnn reporter nick watt had been working around the clock. he lives in santa monica, far outside of what is normally considered a fire zone. >> i'm going to go to my house. i'm going to hose the whole thing down. just hoping that if everything is wet, if an ember lands on it, it won't ignite. >> his wife and children had already evacuated. >> it's extraordinary to cover something like this in your own community. i've been covering fires for a long time. you have sympathy for people. now i have empathy thursday morning, the scale of destruction became clear. >> this was the altadena community church. it was consumed by flames. will rogers, state beach park set ablaze a starbucks in the palisades, reduced to a charred out frame. >> the forecast is calling for more gusty winds again today as firefighters try to bring the blaze under control. >> based on the devastation that is clear, it looks like a bomb. >> an atomic bomb dropped in these areas. >> it is safe to say that the palisades fire is one of the most destructive natural disasters in the

i want to check in with our nick watt who has been working, i mean, tirelessly since this this fire started. nick, what's the latest where you are? >> well, anderson, what we've been doing today is hearing from a lot of people who were very angry about what happened. as the initial shock has subsided, people are asking questions. could more have been done? you know, caitlin was mentioning up at the top of the show there this issue with the fire chief here in l.a. saying that she didn't have the resources, she doesn't have the budget to do what she has to do. she says, as a fire chief, as a public servant, which is to make sure that her people have what they need to do their jobs. now, the investigations, the recriminations are going to continue for some time. governor gavin newsom wants to know why, that the water stopped in the hydrants here in the palisades. he's also asked for a president trump to come and visit. um, unclear if political posturing on either side because trump, of course, blamed this all on governor newsom and said newsom should resign. unclear if that political posturing

i want to go to nick watt, who's been just doing incredible work since last night in the in the palisadesck, talk about what you have been seeing and how things are now. >> well, anderson, the wind appears to have dropped. but listen, i've thought this before over the past 24 hours, and then it kicks up again. but what we have seen here is this row of stores behind me, a beauty salon, a dry cleaners. the fire department has been by. and frankly, they're just letting it burn. they have other priorities just on this road alone, there's an apartment building, there's a church. there are these stores. you know, they can't fight every fire. i was here last night. left at about 1030, just as the wind was picking up here in palisades village. just to give you an idea of where we are. like, we're not in the middle of nowhere. this is the center of palisades village. this is the downtown of this very affluent neighborhood on the west of los angeles, up against the pacific ocean, home to many people in the entertainment industry, many hollywood stars. so last night when i left, it was looking bad.

i want to go to nick watt, who's been just doing incredible work since last night in the in the palisadesnick, talk about what you have been seeing and how things are now. >> well, anderson, the wind appears to have dropped. but listen, i've thought this before over the past 24 hours and then it kicks up again. but what we have seen here is this row of stores behind me, a beauty salon, a dry cleaners, the fire department has been by. and frankly, they're just letting it burn. they have other priorities. just on this road alone, there's an apartment building, there's a church. there are these stores. you know, they can't fight every fire. i was here last night. left at about 1030, just as the wind was picking up here in palisades village. just to give you an idea of where we are. like, we're not in the middle of nowhere. this is the center of palisades village. this is the downtown of this very affluent neighborhood on the west of los angeles, up against the pacific ocean, home to many people in the entertainment industry. many hollywood stars. so last night when i left, it was looking bad

cnn's nick watt has been on the scene since the fires broke out on tuesday. he has the very latest from los angeles. >> i just him walking back to pick a time to get out of the house. >> just look at that view out her window. and this. let's get out of here. >> we tried, we tried, bro. >> approximately 155,000 people have been ordered or advised to evacuate. >> that makes the difference between living and not. >> flames hopped major roads, including the fabled pacific coast highway. >> we are absolutely not out of danger yet with the strong winds that continue to push through the city and the county. >> today, those strong santa ana winds were forecast. we knew something was coming, just not this. officials say they prepped for maybe 1 or 2 fires. >> there are not enough firefighters in l.a. county to address four separate fires of this magnitude. >> i'm acting on it. i'm really very upset inside. >> this year, we knew with zero rain that one big windstorm. and we were we were toast. seems like a lot of the homes here. they're burning because of embers that h

nick watt has more on that. >> yeah.ell, anderson, the governor wants to know what went wrong. >> i can tell you a little bit of what went wrong here in the palisades. is that the the the pipes here in the palisades are at the end of the city water system. they're slightly narrower, less pressure. so they have tanks in the hills, 3 million gallons that are supposed to help keep the pressure high. but, you know, i've spoken to some experts in this field, anderson. and they say however much. if you had 10 million gallons in those tanks, you weren't going to be able to keep up with the demand from the firefighters just trying to keep this fire under control. so he's going to ask questions. hopefully we'll get some answers. you know, as you mentioned, a lot of people are getting a bit angry. and one of them is the l.a. city fire chief. she chief crowley was pulling no punches today. she said, listen now. between 2010 and now, we're dealing with 50% more calls, but we have fewer firefighters, she says. they've got 100 pieces

let's go to nick watt because he is out >> i could tell it was going to be epic destruction. the wind was whipping, the embers were flying and it is. >> look, i mean, this once beautiful, picturesque, serene little sÈchey downtown with a californian cafe culture vibe. it's just gone. and, you know, in the past couple of hours, if you pan back around here, aaron, you know, we've seen this hair salon go up. we've seen the back of this dry cleaners, the next business. we've seen a church. we've seen an apartment building. it is incredible what this community has lost not only over a thousand homes, but also schools, offices, both of their huge grocery stores gone. it is going to take a long time to recover from this. and already people are asking questions. why? listen, we knew this was going to be bad. we knew that these winds were coming in. people were prepared. you know, i had my yellow jacket in my truck. we all knew this was coming, but nobody could know that it was going to be quite this bad. officials were preparing maybe for 1 or 2 fires. they've had four. and these fir

. >> cnn's nick watt has more stories of survival and a look at what's next. >> no. well, there's the red plane swooping in to save us. >> sadly, a little too late for this fleeing family. this morning we found what's left of their home. nothing. thousands of homes have been lost across the county. plus businesses and more than $50 billion worth of damage. but the winds finally eased. so now they can attack these flames from the air. all last night we heard the planes are reassuring sound in a fire. but winds will pick up again. blow through friday night and get stronger again next week. more than 6000 personnel now fighting the worst fires in the history of this great city. >> sewer, water, your power system and the transportation system have all been significantly damaged. >> we know the depth of the devastation. we can see it, the death toll. well, it's just too early to tell. >> 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, where we will be able to bring in canines and other th