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17 January 2025
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Death toll rises to at least 27 people in LA wildfires; more than 12 000 structures destroyed, US
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The death toll in the Los Angeles-area wildfires has risen to at least 27 people, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner said Thursday, 16 January 2025. Ten people were killed in the Palisades Fire and 17 people in the Eaton Fire since the destructive fires started burning on 7 January 2025. The death toll is expected to continue to rise. The medical examiner's office said it may take several weeks before the identification of all the victims can be confirmed. The LA County Sheriff's Department said Thursday there are 24 active missing-person cases in the Eaton Fire area and seven people remain missing in the Palisades Fire area. Several burn injuries were reported and a 25-year-old firefighter suffered a "serious head injury.
Current statistics from Cal FireTotal Emergency Responses: 26 117
Wildfires: 164
Acres burned: 40 695
Fatalities: 24, preliminary pending coroner confirmation
Structures destroyed: 12 300+
Damage assessments are underway for Palisades and Eaton Fires
Palisades Fire, Los Angeles, started 07/01/2025, acres burnt 23 713, containment 22%
Eaton Fire, Los Angeles, started 07/01/2025, acres burnt 14 117, containment 55%
Hurst Fire, Los Angeles, started 07/01/2025, acres burnt 799, containment 98%
Auto Fire, Ventura, started 13/01/2025, acres burnt 61, containment 85%
Little Mountain Fire, San Bernardino, started 15/01/2025, acres burnt 34, containment 0%
Out-of-state assistance
On 8 January 2025, US President Joe Biden ordered the Department of Defence to provide firefighting personnel and equipment. US Navy helicopters were sent from San Diego, and the Nevada National Guard and United States Forest Service sent fire engines. In a press conference that same afternoon, LA County Fire Department chief Marrone said firefighters were arriving from other states: 60 teams from Oregon, 45 from Washington State, 15 from Utah, 10 from New Mexico and an unspecified amount from Arizona. Montana also sent 10 fire engines and 40 firefighters from different counties including: Columbus, Red Lodge, Missoula, Big Sky, Central Valley, Big Fork, Corvallis, Whitefish, Plains, Paradise and Butte. Texas governor Greg Abbott also sent several firefighters and emergency personnel to combat the wildfires, including the Dallas Fire-Rescue Department and from Southeast Texas. The Red Cross from Texas Region also sent four volunteers: three from Austin and one from San Antonio.
On 14 January 2025, the Federal Emergency Management Agency opened two disaster recovery centres to help wildfire victims apply for financial assistance: one in West Los Angeles at the UCLA Research Park (the former Westside Pavilion) and the other in Pasadena at the Community Education Centre of Pasadena City College.
International assistance
On 8 January 2025, the Canadian Government was already preparing for a possible aid response. The following day, Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan offered to "deploy 250 firefighters, aircraft equipment and other resources as early as tonight" as part of a coordinated effort with Alberta, Ontario and Quebec. On January 9, NIFC requested two Canadair CL-415 water bomber aircraft through CIFFC, their Canadian counterpart, which worked with provincial agencies to fulfil the request. Multiple provincial governments pledged their support as well; the British Columbian and Albertan governments offered water bombers, night-vision helicopters, and incident command teams. Two CL-415 water bombers from Quebec were already in California as per a long-term contract with the LA County Fire Department; they have been involved since January 7. On 10 January 2025, it was announced that two additional CL-415s would be sent. The Canadian Government announced on January 12 that 60 firefighters would be deployed to join the firefighting efforts; the province of Ontario promised two water bombers, 165 urban firefighters and an incident management team.
Mexican firefighters arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on 12 January 2025, to help battle the fires. They include firefighters from the National Forestry Commission and the National Secretary of Defence. The Iranian Red Crescent offered to dispatch rapid deployment units to combat wildfires. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has offered to deploy State Emergency Service firefighters to California to help deal with the fires.
Pasadena bus drivers rushed to Eaton Fire, helped evacuate 500 seniors
During the first hours of the Eaton Fire, a group of Pasadena bus drivers headed to the inferno to help evacuate senior living facilities as flames closed in.
Pasadena Transit operations manager Erasmo Rodriguez was the first to jump into a bus that night and race to a spot where he saw a chaotic scene of facilities on fire while firefighters and nurses gathered residents in wheelchairs and gurneys outside.
The evacuated facilities included The Terraces at Park Marino. The staff used a 7-Eleven parking lot across the street as a staging area to help drivers easily load roughly 95 residents. In addition to the busses, authorities tried to utilise any available vehicles to quickly evacuate residents, including an armoured vehicle typically used to transport SWAT officers.
"We were just boarding the buses, putting as many people as we could," Rodriguez said. "It did not matter where they sat on the ground or anywhere; leave your walker or wheelchair behind, fit as many people as we can."
Maintenance manager Adan Moreira said he also saw the fire on the hillside near his home and came back to work to help. Moreira and his colleagues drove four more buses into black smoke with flames around them.
"It was horrible," Moreira said. "A lot of black smoke and fire embers hitting the bus. There was a bush in front of the 7-Eleven that caught fire in front of our eyes."
Moreira said he tried his best to comfort the seniors, many of whom were scared and confused.
Letty Ochoa, Pasadena Transit's general manager, said she staffed 11 buses and sent them out in a caravan as the Eaton Fire grew. She remembered telling her drivers "You don't have to do this."
"They didn't even think about it," Ochoa said. "These guys are heroes — true heroes. Because, they're not trained for that. We're trained to move the city around but not this."
Rodriguez refuses to be called that, saying he did what he had to do. "Someone needs to do it," Rodriguez said.
Sources: Cal Fire, CBS News, Reuters Associated Press and various others
Current statistics from Cal FireTotal Emergency Responses: 26 117
Wildfires: 164
Acres burned: 40 695
Fatalities: 24, preliminary pending coroner confirmation
Structures destroyed: 12 300+
Damage assessments are underway for Palisades and Eaton Fires
Palisades Fire, Los Angeles, started 07/01/2025, acres burnt 23 713, containment 22%
Eaton Fire, Los Angeles, started 07/01/2025, acres burnt 14 117, containment 55%
Hurst Fire, Los Angeles, started 07/01/2025, acres burnt 799, containment 98%
Auto Fire, Ventura, started 13/01/2025, acres burnt 61, containment 85%
Little Mountain Fire, San Bernardino, started 15/01/2025, acres burnt 34, containment 0%
Out-of-state assistance
On 8 January 2025, US President Joe Biden ordered the Department of Defence to provide firefighting personnel and equipment. US Navy helicopters were sent from San Diego, and the Nevada National Guard and United States Forest Service sent fire engines. In a press conference that same afternoon, LA County Fire Department chief Marrone said firefighters were arriving from other states: 60 teams from Oregon, 45 from Washington State, 15 from Utah, 10 from New Mexico and an unspecified amount from Arizona. Montana also sent 10 fire engines and 40 firefighters from different counties including: Columbus, Red Lodge, Missoula, Big Sky, Central Valley, Big Fork, Corvallis, Whitefish, Plains, Paradise and Butte. Texas governor Greg Abbott also sent several firefighters and emergency personnel to combat the wildfires, including the Dallas Fire-Rescue Department and from Southeast Texas. The Red Cross from Texas Region also sent four volunteers: three from Austin and one from San Antonio.
On 14 January 2025, the Federal Emergency Management Agency opened two disaster recovery centres to help wildfire victims apply for financial assistance: one in West Los Angeles at the UCLA Research Park (the former Westside Pavilion) and the other in Pasadena at the Community Education Centre of Pasadena City College.
International assistance
On 8 January 2025, the Canadian Government was already preparing for a possible aid response. The following day, Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan offered to "deploy 250 firefighters, aircraft equipment and other resources as early as tonight" as part of a coordinated effort with Alberta, Ontario and Quebec. On January 9, NIFC requested two Canadair CL-415 water bomber aircraft through CIFFC, their Canadian counterpart, which worked with provincial agencies to fulfil the request. Multiple provincial governments pledged their support as well; the British Columbian and Albertan governments offered water bombers, night-vision helicopters, and incident command teams. Two CL-415 water bombers from Quebec were already in California as per a long-term contract with the LA County Fire Department; they have been involved since January 7. On 10 January 2025, it was announced that two additional CL-415s would be sent. The Canadian Government announced on January 12 that 60 firefighters would be deployed to join the firefighting efforts; the province of Ontario promised two water bombers, 165 urban firefighters and an incident management team.
Mexican firefighters arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on 12 January 2025, to help battle the fires. They include firefighters from the National Forestry Commission and the National Secretary of Defence. The Iranian Red Crescent offered to dispatch rapid deployment units to combat wildfires. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has offered to deploy State Emergency Service firefighters to California to help deal with the fires.
Pasadena bus drivers rushed to Eaton Fire, helped evacuate 500 seniors
During the first hours of the Eaton Fire, a group of Pasadena bus drivers headed to the inferno to help evacuate senior living facilities as flames closed in.
Pasadena Transit operations manager Erasmo Rodriguez was the first to jump into a bus that night and race to a spot where he saw a chaotic scene of facilities on fire while firefighters and nurses gathered residents in wheelchairs and gurneys outside.
The evacuated facilities included The Terraces at Park Marino. The staff used a 7-Eleven parking lot across the street as a staging area to help drivers easily load roughly 95 residents. In addition to the busses, authorities tried to utilise any available vehicles to quickly evacuate residents, including an armoured vehicle typically used to transport SWAT officers.
"We were just boarding the buses, putting as many people as we could," Rodriguez said. "It did not matter where they sat on the ground or anywhere; leave your walker or wheelchair behind, fit as many people as we can."
Maintenance manager Adan Moreira said he also saw the fire on the hillside near his home and came back to work to help. Moreira and his colleagues drove four more buses into black smoke with flames around them.
"It was horrible," Moreira said. "A lot of black smoke and fire embers hitting the bus. There was a bush in front of the 7-Eleven that caught fire in front of our eyes."
Moreira said he tried his best to comfort the seniors, many of whom were scared and confused.
Letty Ochoa, Pasadena Transit's general manager, said she staffed 11 buses and sent them out in a caravan as the Eaton Fire grew. She remembered telling her drivers "You don't have to do this."
"They didn't even think about it," Ochoa said. "These guys are heroes — true heroes. Because, they're not trained for that. We're trained to move the city around but not this."
Rodriguez refuses to be called that, saying he did what he had to do. "Someone needs to do it," Rodriguez said.
Sources: Cal Fire, CBS News, Reuters Associated Press and various others
