Los Angeles officials have told most evacuees from the wildfires to stay away from their homes for at least another week as emergency responders work to remove toxic waste and hazardous materials from the devastated neighborhoods.
The wildfires have burned for a 10th day, and firefighters have withstood recent red flag conditions of high desert winds and low humidity without either of the two monster fires growing. However, the National Weather Service has warned that hazardous fire weather is forecast to return on Sunday.
Frustrated evacuees are eager to return home to assess the damage and salvage any keepsakes or medicine, but officials say it’s too dangerous or too taxing on first responders who are still dealing with the immediate disaster, which has killed at least 27 people.
Landslides have further endangered the devastated hillsides, where leveled structures no longer hold earth in place and water from fire hoses and broken pipes has saturated the ground. The toxic ash created by the blazes and insurance company instructions not to begin a clean-up until the company examines the house means that some people whose homes survived the fires cannot return home.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said that “you can see the emotional toll that this disaster has taken on people, as I spoke to people who had lost their homes or who were not sure the status of their homes or missing pets. The toll you can see mounting on them.”
At least 12,000 structures – many of them homes – have been leveled or damaged, leaving 82,400 people still under evacuation orders and another 90,400 under evacuation warnings. The fires have charred 59 square miles, an area larger than Paris or nearly three times the size of Manhattan.
Los Angeles County officials said some people in evacuation zones will be let home sooner than a week, but for others it may take even longer as officials attempt to recover and identify charred human remains. Damaged or destroyed homes are loaded with hazardous materials, which must be removed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency before local agencies can haul away debris and restore severed utilities.
Private forecaster AccuWeather projects damage and losses at more than $250 billion, which would make the Los Angeles fires the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. The devastation has also complicated the city’s preparation to host major sporting events such as part of the 2026 World Cup, the 2027 Super Bowl and the 2028 Olympic Games.
