Alert – LA declares health emergency following raging wildfires as at least 60,000 homes left without power: Live Updates

Governor Gavin Newsom confirmed that Mexico was sending firefighters to Southern California to help battle the Eaton Fire in the foothills of the Angeles National Forest.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced the mission saying the firefighters would come from Mexico’s National Forestry Commission and Ministry of Defense disaster relief section.

In a scene that could have been plucked from a disaster movie, there is one home that appears to be standing alone, untouched, amidst a sea of smoldering ruins.

The $9 million Malibu mansion belongs to David Steiner, a retired waste-management mogul from Texas and a married father-of-three.

As the Los Angeles wildfires consumed everything in their path, leaving neighborhoods in ashes, incredibly Steiner’s three-story home remained, defiantly intact.

The gleaming white of the building appeared to stand out against the backdrop of destruction. But the survival of Steiner’s 4,200-square-foot, four-bedroom home is no accident, he believes.

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Pope Francis is praying for victims and rescuers trying to control the wildfires in California that have killed at least 11 people and destroyed thousands of homes, the Vatican has said.

His Holiness Pope Francis assures you and the community affected by this tragedy of his spiritual closeness.

Expressing ‘heartfelt condolences for those who mourn their loss’, Francis also offered prayers ‘for the relief efforts of emergency services personnel’ and imparted ‘his blessing to all as a pledge of consolation and strength in the Lord’.

Residents in the zip code 90272 and the area north of San Vicente Boulevard have been issued a ‘Do Not Drink’ notice, as the water is ‘not safe’.

A statement issued the warning over fears that ‘fire-related contaminants that may have entered the water system’.

The notice says they shouldn’t drink or cook with tap water, and to limit the use of hot water until it is lifted.

Bottled water will be distributed rom Westwood Recreation Centre and next to the Brentwood Country Club.

Premier David Eby says crews from British Columbia are joining the fight against wildfires spreading in the Los Angeles area in California.

On social media, Eby said the province had received a request from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for a senior management team to join the fight and that ‘they will be departing imminently.’

‘California has been there for us. We will be there for them. That’s what good neighbours do,’ Eby wrote in a post on X.

At least 60,000 homes and businesses are without power across LA as the fires continue to impacts lives across the county.

The latest estimates from Poweroutages.us show that around 32,000 customers of Los Angeles Department of Water & Power have no electricity, while just over 30,000 customers of Southern California Edison are without power.

The University of California, Los Angeles has asked students to be ready for a potential evacuation, as evacuation warnings for the Palisades fire were extended closer to the campus.

This is NOT an evacuation alert. An evacuation warning has been issued to a zone adjacent to UCLA due to the Palisades fire.

We are asking Bruins on campus to remain vigilant and be ready to evacuate, should the alert be extended to our campus.

Los Angeles authorities have declared a local health emergency for the whole county due to poor air quality, as fire ash and smoke from the wildfires blankets the area.

Authorities add that the fires have forced residents from their homes and evacuations from healthcare facilities, disrupting ‘vital health services and resources’.

The health order also bans the use of power air blowers – such as leaf blowers – as they stir up ash in the air, negatively impacting those with respiratory conditions, older adults, children, and other vulnerable populations.

People are advised to stay indoors, keep windows and doors closed, use air conditioners to recirculate and filter the air, and to wear a mask if going outdoors in smoky conditions. Pets should also be kept indoors.

More than 144,000 people are under evacuation orders in Los Angeles county, local authorities say.

In its latest update on X, the says it has eight shelters for people displaced by the fires and more than 700 people are currently using those shelters.

California’s governor has called for an independent investigation into how critical fire hydrants ran out of water and ‘impaired’ the fight against the Los Angeles area wildfires.

Two men are said to have been caught on camera dumping gasoline and setting it alight immediately before the devastating Palisades fire broke out, DailyMail.com has learned exclusively.

A resident of the ritzy celeb-packed area reported the video to a senior firefighter once the flames had started consuming the area.

‘By then we were too busy,’ the firefighter told DailyMail.com. ‘We told him to take the video to the police.’

News of the video comes amid growing suspicions of arson or foul play after one person was arrested for allegedly starting another blaze, the Kenneth Fire, on Thursday, police said. The man has not been charged.

Two days before that incident, a senior firefighter was one of the first on the scene battling the original Palisades blaze with his crew on North Piedra Morada Drive at the top of the Highlands Palisades neighborhood, when a resident approached him with a shocking claim.

‘We had a resident come to us and said he got a video of two men dumping gas and lighting it off,’ said the LAFD official, who asked to remain anonymous.

Progress has reportedly been made by fire departments, however there are still large areas burning.

• Palisades fire: 21,596 acres, 8 percent contained
• Eaton fire: 14,117 acres, 3 percent contained
• Kenneth fire: 1,052 acres, 50 percent contained
• Hurst fire: 771 acres, 70 percent contained
• Lidia fire: 395 acres, 98 percent contained
• Archer fire: 19 acres, 0 percent contained

The Palisades Fire began moving east late Friday, where fire departments are now fighting the blaze in the Mandeville Canyon area, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

This shift east means crews are now pivoting in that direction, too. Ten aircraft have been diverted toward the Mandeville Canyon, and two additional strike teams have been sent there.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have made a surprise appearance at a food bank as they comforted victims and first responders amid the ongoing fires in LA.

The couple were seen handing out food parcels to those affected by the devastating fires at the Pasadena Convention Centre, which is being used as an evacuation centre, on Friday.

Both Harry and Meghan were spotted hugging José Andrés, the founder of World Central Kitchen, which is distributing meals to victims.

The couple were keen to provide any support they could, according to the Mayor, adding they were ‘great people’ with ‘great personalities’.

‘They really buoyed the spirits of the first responders. We visited the command post at the Rose Bowl and people were very happy to see them,’ the Mayor added.

The FBI Los Angeles Field Office responsible for multiple counties in Southern California has had to kick start its emergency contingency plan.

The plan called the ‘Continuity of Operations’ has seen the country’s security service move its office further south to escape wildfires and heavy smoke in the area.

It has been forced to relocate from from the Westwood area to Orange County in order to continue its 24-hour service.

Jennifer Garner was visibly on the verge of tears as she opened up about the devastating L.A. fires while volunteering to feed communities in the Pacific Palisades.

At one point while talking to journalist Katy Tur, Garner shared, ‘I did lose a friend. And for our church, it’s really tender. So, I don’t feel like I should talk about her yet.’

‘But yeah, I did lose a friend who did not get out on time,’ she continued as her voice cracked over the tragic loss.

Oscar-winning Aussie director and actor Mel Gibson has reflected on how it felt to learn that he had lost almost everything when his $14.5m mansion burnt to the ground amid the LA fires.

Gibson, 69, discovered his house had been consumed by fire just before he sat down to record an appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast on Friday and he has since opened up to Fox host Laura Ingraham, where he took a philosophical view of the tragedy.

‘These are things and they may or may not be replaceable but we’re still here and I just kind of look at it in a weird kind of a way like a purification,’ he told Fox News.

Department of Water and Power boss Janisse Quiñones is being blamed by LA Fire insiders for leaving a nearby reservoir disconnected and fire hydrants broken for months,

Sources told DailyMail.com that since her hiring at LADWP, Quiñones oversaw the shutdown and emptying of a reservoir in th

e Pacific Palisades during brushfire season.

The shutdown meant firefighters battling the Palisades Fire ran out of water faster, experts said.

The Santa Ynez Reservoir is designed to hold 117 million gallons of drinking water. But it was taken offline in recent months to repair a tear in its cover that exposed the water and potentially impacted its drinkability.

Matthew Perry’s former home in the Pacific Palisades, where he died in 2023, was saved by his former neighbors amid the Los Angeles wildfires.

The new owner of the property, Anita Verma-Lallian, who bought the property in an off-market deal in October 2024, confirmed that the late Friends star’s residence was still standing due to the heroic actions of their community.

‘We want to express our deepest gratitude to the brave firefighters, our amazing neighbors, and the entire Palisades community for their help, strength, and support during this heartbreaking time,’ Verma-Lallian wrote in an Instagram post on Friday.

Perry drowned in the pool outside the house after taking huge amounts of ketamine, according to his autopsy results.

Calmer winds which enabled firefighters to start gaining some control of the biggest blazes in metropolitan LA on Friday are set to be replaced by gustier weather over the weekend.

The increased winds spell disaster for the wildfire relief effort, which is entering its fifth consecutive day.

The strong gales have hampered efforts to tackle the blaze which is currently raging in an area which has not seen rain in more than eight months.

The result has been tinderbox conditions which show no signs of abating prompting fears of further death and destruction.

Firefighters are continuing their heroic efforts however.

Several vehicles could be seen lined up the parking lot of Bel Air Church as the ever-expanding Palisades Fire burns towards the Encino neighborhood in Los Angeles.

Anna Yeager said she and her husband agonized over going back to their beloved Altadena neighborhood near Pasadena after fleeing with their 6-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son, their two dogs and some clothes. A neighbor told them their house was gone.

Now she regrets not grabbing her children’s artwork, her husband’s treasured cookbooks, family photos, and jewelry from her mom, who died in 2012, and her husband’s grandmother, who survived Auschwitz.

When the couple returned, they saw blocks of only ‘chimney after chimney’.

‘Power lines everywhere. Fires still going everywhere,’ she said, adding that when they walked up to their home ‘it was just dust’.

Charred grapefruits littered their yard around a blackened tree, a few still hanging from its branches.

Yeager’s neighborhood of Tudor homes was planning to celebrate its 100th anniversary in May.

‘You build a world for yourself and your family, and you feel safe in that world and things like this happen that you cannot control,’ she said. ‘It’s devastating.’

There were remnants of the front porch where Yeager had photographed her children nearly daily since 2020 and had planned to keep doing that until they reached high school. That gave her hope.

‘The porch is still there and it’s to me, it’s a sign to rebuild and not leave,’ she said. ‘You know, it’s like saying, “Hey, I’m still here. You can still do this”.’

Since the flames erupted in and around LA, scores of residents have returned to their still smoldering neighborhoods even as the threat of new fires persisted and the nation’s second-largest city remained unsettled.

For some, it was a first look at the staggering reality of what was lost as the region of 13 million people grapples with the gargantuan challenge of overcoming the disaster and rebuilding.

Calmer winds enabled firefighters to start gaining some control of the biggest blazes in metropolitan LA on Friday before gusty weather returns over the weekend to an area that hasn’t seen rain in more than eight months.

But by Friday evening, new evacuations were issued.

Victor Shaw, 66, is among those who lost their lives across the city, dying amid the flames that engulfed his Altadena home.

He refused to evacuate when his sister Shari Shaw urged him to come with her as the flame closed in on his home of 55 years.

‘Victor, the fire is coming close,’ she said. ‘It’s not safe to stay.’ ‘OK, let me just sit here for a few minutes,’ he responded, lying in bed at 2am.

Instread, he grabbed a garden hose and used it in a futile attempt to defend his property. A neighbor later found his body still clutching the hose.

Shari gave a harrowing account of what happened next.

The Palisades fire is moving east towards Brentwood, another of LA’s wealthiest neighborhoods home to numerous celebrities.

Mandatory evacuation orders were extended into the suburb late on Friday night, though not covering all of it.

Big names with homes in Brentwood include NBA superstar LeBron James, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Disney chief executive Bob Iger.

Gwyneth Paltrow also listed her home there for sale in May, and OJ Simpson once owned property there.

Some rich residents hired tradesmen to coat their mansions in fire-retardant spray to improve their odds of survival should the fire reach them.

The evacuation zone also includes the Getty Center, a museum with priceless art. The Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades survived the fire due to its advanced wildfire suppression methods.

Two new evacuation shelters have opened in Los Angeles where more than 100,000 people remain under evacuation orders due to the deadly wildfires.

The Lanark Recreation Center and Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks Recreation Center are accepting residents, according to officials.

More than a dozen animal rescue centers are also accepting small and large animals.

Los Angeles’ worst wildfires in the last two decade for the last 20 years continued to burn into Saturday.

The devastation has left many people questioning its causes, as well as the response to the deadly flames

Here is what we know about the cause of the devastating blaze so far:

The official number of people killed in the Los Angeles wildfires rose to 11 on Friday night.

Five deaths were due to the Palisades fire, while the rest were as a result of the Eaton fire, accoridng to the LA county medical examiner’s office.

Cadaver dogs are being deployed to comb through flattened neighborhoods as officials warned the true death toll is likely to rise.

Among those who died was 85, who was ordered to evacuate but wante to stay behind with her pets, CNN reported.

Her body was discovered in her car on Wednesday.

Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley is clinging onto her job by a thread sources say, after she hugged staff goodbye and entered a meeting with the mayor.

A source initially told DailyMail.com on Friday afternoon that the fire chief was fired, but the Mayor’s office told ABC7 Crowley still had her job.

The office’s official statement to the outlet said the pair ‘met’, without any reference to whether Crowley remained in her position.

A petition demanding the ‘immediate’ resignation of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has clocked up more than 53,000 signatures in just three days.

Bass is among those who have been hauled over the coals over their handling of the wildfires, which are currently tearing through the city.

There are growing questions about why LA and California officials failed to prepare for the disaster when they had ample warning of encroaching wind.

Governor Gavin Newsom and Mayor Bass have been eviscerated for their handling of the disaster, from empty fire hydrants to a lack of firefighters and empty reservoirs in the heart of the flames.

Helicopters have been battling in vain to try and control the massive Palisades Fire currently ravaging parts of Los Angeles.

The rapidly expanding blaze has now begun to spread towards the celebrity neighborhoods of Mandeville Canyon and Brentwood, partially shuttering the 405 freeway.

As of Friday night, the flames had torn through 21,317 acres and were just 8% contained.

More than 150,000 people also remained under evacuation orders.